Bears Break Into Lake Tahoe Cabin And Raid The Fridge For Snacks: WATCH
Officials warn that these wildlife encounters are becoming more and more common in the popular California vacation spot.
A couple of bears were caught on video helping themselves to the food in someone's refrigerator at a cabin in Lake Tahoe last week.
The home's security footage shows a mother bear effortlessly pushing open the doors to the cabin, then making a beeline for the kitchen while her cub follows closely behind. The animals then opened the refrigerator and spent several minutes rummaging through the food and working to pry open containers.
And since no one was home at the time of the breaking and entering, the bears had plenty of time to feast on whatever snacks looked tasty.
This certainly isn't the first time a bear has been caught red-handed rummaging through a refrigerator in Lake Tahoe. In fact, these incidents are fairly common in the popular California vacation spot.
Just last fall, a man in South Lake Tahoe shared a video of a huge bear hanging out in his kitchen and dumping a bottle of jelly into his mouth.
According to officials, these encounters are most common in September and October as bears are looking to stock up on food before hibernating for the winter.
Jordan Traverso from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife told NPR in 2023 that the department has seen a growing number of cases where mama bears are not only teaching their cubs to hunt for food in the wild — but inside and around people's homes as well. And it certainly looks like that's what was happening with the two bears in Tahoe last week.
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So, just a friendly reminder, if you're vacationing in an area where bears are active, don't leave food or food waste out in the open, and that includes pet food, too. Also, make sure your trashcans, doors, windows and vehicles are locked at all times.
Unless, of course, you want to come home to find an unexpected guest making himself a PB&J in your kitchen.
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