When it’s this hot in summer, even California’s bears like to take a dip in the lake
The bears of summer are back, and they are enjoying every moment by basking in the California sunshine — no matter who’s watching.
In Lake Tahoe, families got close to a trio of bears who were caught on video wading through the water.
Unfazed by the crowds of kayakers and children swimming, these bears, like every other family vacationing there, splashed and bathed in the cool lake. Video shows the mother bear and her two cubs as they submerged themselves and occasionally played with one another in the water.
The display of ursine affection was unbearably adorable for one little girl, who gushed, “They are giving each other a hug.”
This bear adventure wasn’t the first documented sighting this summer to draw a bevy of “awws.”
Videos of bears splashing in bird feeders, roaming in Malibu and taking a dip in home pools have captivated people looking to learn more about the creatures.
The sightings could all boil down to one thing: Summer is prime time to be a bear, according to Andrew Hughan, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
When the weather gets nice and toasty, teenage bears usually abandon their dens in search of food and water, or whatever other shenanigans they get themselves into.
In Mammoth Lakes, Rodney Ginn got the fright of his life when a bear roamed into his home last week. As the bear nosed around, Ginn ran through his home — all the while screaming and shooting shaky video.
Arcadia police released a video last week taken by one of its residents whose pool was used by a mountain bear to cool off as temperatures soared past 100 degrees.
Police also jumped at the chance to remind residents that bears are usually harmless.
“Please do call us if you encounter wildlife in your yards or neighborhoods. The majority of the time, the animals will venture off without trouble, but we like to keep tabs on their actions,” the department said.
For some bears, no pool is too small for a cool-down.
On Tuesday, two bear cubs sought relief from the heat in a small bird feeder at a home in Pasadena.
The adorable cubs cozied up to each other as they splashed in the water.
The National Park Service also said Tuesday that evidence of a black bear had been found in the Santa Monica Mountains, an area that hasn’t had a bear population since the 1880s. In Los Angeles County, most bears are found in the Santa Susana and San Gabriel mountains, the park service said.
Finding a bear south of the 101 Freeway is “extremely rare,” they said.
Cameras set up in Malibu Creek State Park also captured images of a black bear roaming the woodlands on July 26.
“Malibu Creek State Park is over 8,000 acres of open space and is connected to a much larger network of habitat,” Craig Sap, district superintendent for the Angeles District of California State Parks, said in a statement. “If this bear decides to stay, let’s see what we can do to coexist with it.”
Bears, Hughan said, aren’t going anywhere.
As neighborhoods expand and begin encroaching into forestland, Californians will continue to have encounters with bears, he said.
“It’s not a bear problem; it’s a people problem,” Hughan said.
Drought and a lack of food have also been driving bears into communities that aren’t used to seeing wildlife, Hughan said. Residents, he said, should begin learning how to get along with bears by safeguarding their homes.
“The reality is we are still in a very serious drought,” he said.
Most bears, Hughan said, are harmless and just looking to venture out.
“Luckily, black bears in California are practically afraid of their own shadow,” he said.
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