A Nanaimo woman almost lost her freshly baked Christmas cookies after bear cubs attempted to break into her outdoor freezer.

Siobhan MacPhail heard noises coming from her backyard early Tuesday morning and she went to check it out.

When she went out on her deck she found two black bear cubs going through her garbage.

“I must have caught their attention because one of them looked at me,” said MacPhail. 

As she scrambled to get her phone ready to take a few photos one of the bears decided to help itself to the food in the freezer. 

MacPhail says the cub went straight for her peanut butter cookies she had baked for the holidays. 

“He didn’t get a chance to eat them. I spent a lot of time making those for my family so I shook the front door and banged on the window and I managed to startle them, to scare them off,” MacPhail said. 

The Nanaimo woman contacted conservation, which suggested she put away anything that might attract the animals. She now keeps all her garbage and recycling in a locked shed.

As for the peanut butter cookies, MacPhail says her freezer is now under lock and key.