Black bears are such a funny animal. They are too smart for their own good, often finding the easiest source of food which is… people. Whether it’s garbage cans, food you left in your car, or a backyard BBQ that you’re right in the middle, nothing stops them from finding an easy meal.
These bears need a lot of food, with some even consuming 20,000 calories in a day right before they get ready to hibernate. Their whole lives are about finding as much food as they can, as easy as they can get it. This leads to a number of human interactions as people tend to make it pretty easy for them. A bear can catch a whiff of a smelly garbage can, or even just a wrapper with a crumb from a couple miles off and come running in.
Once they learn the ways of the easy food, it’s impossible to get them to stop unless you get rid of their food source.
This one all went down on Lake Harmony in Pennsylvania, where it appears that a handful of people were celebrating Labor Day by the lake. Grilling, drinking, boating… all your usual Labor Day activities.
This bear was clearly very comfortable with people, and he wandered into this lakefront gathering. Quickly, the people didn’t want the bear there and one man (who seems a bot overserved) is even seen kindly escorting him away.
The bear followed right to the gate that the man had opened but let him know that he wasn’t happy with a quick swipe on the way out. The man successfully scared the bear off, but took a some claws to his ribs as a lovely parting gift.
After the bear leaves, he lifts his shirt up and shows two large scratch marks that the bear left…. not deep, not bleeding, but it definitely won’t feel good in the morning. Hey, the good news is that he lived to tell the tale, and he has the video (and the scratch marks) to prove it.
