LOOKING FOR THE “BEAR” MINIMUM

Wildlife seems to be getting wilder lately. A few weeks ago I told you about a shoplifting squirrel at Disney World. The next week I followed up with a tale of a skyscraper-climbing raccoon. I didn’t expect anything to come along soon to top those two stories.
I was so wrong. On July 4 I read a newspaper account of a bear apparently looking for Club Med. It sounded like he found it.
According to Mark Hough of Altadena, California, he was lounging in his hot tub, sipping his Friday afternoon margarita when he began hearing noises in the bushes in his backyard. He ignored them, thinking they were just sounds made by his next-door neighbor. But when the noise level escalated, he went over to see what was going on in those bushes and met up with a bear who was climbing over the fence.
That is a sight you don’t see all that often. And that was only the beginning. Initially Hough retreated indoors where over the next few hours, he watched the bear as it enjoyed the backyard, the hot tub and the abandoned margarita. The bear, he said, thoroughly loved the hot tub, “bobbling away in the Jacuzzi enjoying himself.”
The homeowner recorded a video of the bear happily lying in the hot tub with the jets on. The furry invader enjoyed playing with the chlorinator and tossing the thermometer in the air. He must have thought he had found Club Med.
Altadena is a community that straddles the city and wilderness. Bears are frequently seen there. Apparently they have scoped out all the good places to hang out.
After a brief dip, the bear emerged from the spa and lumbered about the backyard, checking it out. Then he popped out of the bushes, ambled up to the margarita, knocked it over and slurped it up. An hour later, the homeowner spotted him napping on a branch in a tree, apparently sleeping off his alcoholic indulgence.
Hough reported that the bear eventually hustled down the street, having availed itself of all the amenities the “spa” had to offer.
What do you do when your relaxing Friday afternoon is disturbed by a large, furry critter looking for Club Med? The best advice seems to be “don’t poke the bear!” Just let it chill out until it gets bored and leaves. (And hope he doesn’t tell all his friends what a neat place he found.)
Mark Hough fixed himself a margarita and commented, “It was an interesting Friday to say the least.”
That might be the best understatement of the year. To see the video, go to “bear in hot tub.”