Bears California dreamin’
Residents in Sierra Madre report bears make themselves at home as humans. Some bears even dropping in for visits and stays. Humans are building homes closer to the forest in southern California, and bears are putting their foot, or their paw, down. Residents neighboring the more the Angeles national forest, have had black bears pop in to their homes, cars and yards. “They’re frankly just seeking food, water or shelter and, when they find it, it’s not uncommon for them to either stay for a while or return on a fairly regular basis,” said Tim Daly, California fish and wildlife. “This is the time of year that this activity tends to pick up because bears tend to fatten up for the winter.” A number of mitigation efforts have been implemented, including providing bear-resistant trash cans for residents as bears tend to dig into trash for food. “We get coyotes, deer and the occasional mountain lion, so it’s not unusual to see wildlife because we’re at the base of the foothills,” Aguilar said.
Susan and Bob Nesler, residents in Sierra Madre, who have had a frequent furry visitor under their home for more than two weeks. A black bear has been entering their home daily through an open crawl space and leaving at night. The couple are working with California officials to block the space using a bear-resistant metal screen. The wildlife agency installed a camera to monitor the bear’s movements, helping them track its schedule and plan the best time to install the screen. “He’s a good bear. He doesn’t hurt anybody,” Bob Nesler said. “He’s been very polite, a real gentleman.”
A bear was caught on security cameras breaking into Helena Houlis’ house in Barkhamsted last week, roaming around before zeroing in on her refrigerator. What was it in the mood for? Leftover lasagna from her restaurant, Ana’s Kitchen in Simsbury. Her visitor amble into the kitchen and walk straight to the refrigerator. Standing on its hind legs, the bruin burglar uses its front paws to pull out the freezer section below the refrigerator’s doors, accessing the food so effortlessly it looked like a practiced move. Taking the bag of lasagna in its jaws, the bear steps neatly onto the extended freezer drawer, using it as a stool to hop out of the tight, open window to the deck.
The video below shows the humorous encounter between some up-mountain store clerks and a bear that likes chocolate. No matter how safe or dumb they seem in cartoons, respect that a bear probably is more than twice your weight, can move faster than you and does not understand or care your “normal” human manners.
Bearly Funnies
What do you call a Frenchman who has been attacked by a bear?
Claude.
What do they do at the teddy bear factory?
Stuff.
Why is there only one Yogi Bear?
Because when they tried to create a second one, they made a Boo-Boo.
What do you get when you cross a polar bear with a seal.
A polar bear.
December 19th birthdays
1972 – Rosa Blasi, 1963 – Jennifer Beals, 1981 – Maria Sokoloff, 1972 – Alyssa Milano
1980 – Jake Gyllenhaal, 1944 – Richard Leakey, 1991 – Keinan Lonsdale, 1989 – Alex Sanchez