Bear Wanders In Wisconsin Grocery Store, Chills In Beer Department
We know that it's not good for bears to be be too dependent on human food, but one black bear in Wisconsin took things even farther, wandering inside a grocery store, heading straight for the liquor department, and taking a leisurely nap on a shelf in the beer cooler.
Store Manager Jon LeBlanc said there were no customers in the department at the time; the sole clerk closed off the area, and employees called wildlife officials.
The bear sat on the shelf for an hour, until Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officials tranquilized and removed it from the store.
We can't help but be impressed that this animal has discovered what may be the single greatest hibernation spot on the world. Just a little early.
MORE PICTURES: 'Beer bear' causes ruckus at Hayward grocery store [KQDS]
Post a comment
Comments:
So...the bear was just hangin' with his Bud?
OK, I'll bite... No Bear Department?
The bear was sent by Lovie Smith on a reconnaissance mission.
Beer. Bear. Obviously a misunderstanding of pronunciation!
Maybe the bear just wanted a drink.
Duh - where else would he hang out? I know if I'm going to wander into a store and just chill somewhere, it's usually by the beer. Who's with me?
@Slave For Turtles: down where i am they are both pronounced 'bar' anyway, so maybe it was a southern bear?
I usually chill by the beer section, too, but I told my little nephew Johnny he was too young! Silly cub...
Someone needs to call Mr. Adams.
They should have stop being greedy and give the bear some food. Most stores have a small deli, they could have at least made the bear a sandwich.
Hrm, I wonder if they really tranquilized it. I worked at a summer camp and they shot the bear that came in there, claiming that they couldn't tranquilize it because federal (Canadian) regulations were against that because one could never be sure of the exact dose and allegedly some park rangers had been mauled after thinking they'd knocked the bear out when really it was just groggy.
They could have been lying. Then again, it would shock me if they weren't and stories like this have been fed a more cuddly PR line.
If any of you reading actually know about such things, I'd love to hear some truth on it.
@H3ion: Not American beer. It'd only make him angry and want to pee. And a Canadian pissed-out bear is an unholy sight to behold.
Even he wouldn't touch the bud light.
@kaceetheconsumer: When a largish juvenile decided to do a tour of my neighbourhood's recycling bins, the police were the first responders. They tracked it to the best of their abilities through incoming complaints and a car in the area, but were keeping their distance until Animal Control could get there or it got close to someone. This was this past summer, so either the people you spoke with were lazy and full of it, or the local RCMP division didn't give a crap about federal regs.
If that stupid ranger would have just let him take one more pic-a-nic basket this could have been avoided.
@RandomZero: It wasn't local police who came, it was some kind of wildlife control, not just regular animal control (they came on the first call but then called in bigger and more literal guns).
I suspect lazy and full of it and possibly being paid off by the incredibly rich camp owners. :(
Thank you for the info. It is appreciated.
If you interchange the words 'Bear' & 'Beer' in the headline, it becomes that much more interesting!
I tried to think of a funny pun involving Yogi Bear and Yellowstone park, but had no luck. Sorry, guys.
This whole thing smacks of a cover story for a bear that woke up in the middle of the woods with a headache smelling like labatt.
What I meant was they should have made a sandwich for the bear. The economy is bad and a bear cant get any income in todays economy so they should at least be kind and give the bear some free food.
The poor fella was just looking for a good Leinie's Honey Weiss. He was bummed that they were out, so he went in to chill for a bit while making another selection.
I have actually been in this very walk-in cooler, and Wisconsinites don't mess around. "Gogitcheruown" I believe it's pronounced. The bear was just following local traditions. Party at my mom's bird feeder tomorrow night! Grrrroar!
@kaceetheconsumer: The local Department of Natural Resources, a state run agency, wes the group that came in and got the bear. My dad works in the Hayward WI DNR office, the town where it happened (although he's a fisheries biologist and had nothing to do with catching the bear) and he didn't actually mention anything about tranquilizing the animal when I talked to him this weekend. He was under the impression that they cordoned off the area and gave the bear a single point of exit that it eventually took. Tranquilizing an animal indoors seems pretty dangerous, and I doubt any of the animal control officers would've taken that risk if they felt the bear could leave of its own volition and wasn't causing a threat to any shoppers.
In the past, I recall them setting live traps for bears that could potentially cause problems for humans and then tranquilizing the animal once caught, if needed, to move it to a more forested area. My memory on all of this, however, may be a little hazy and my dad may not have given me the whole story.
Pleeze! I can't BEAR all this.
And we want the government to run health care?
@kaceetheconsumer: I stand corrected. My dad emailed me back and indicated that they actually did tranquilize the bear. I think part of the reason they may have been able to do so because he was so young/small.
Now we know what happened to the Hamm's Beer spokesbear. Sad ,really.