Video 550-pound bear finally scurries away after wildlife expert crawls under home to flush it out
Video captures a 550-pound black bear bolting from a crawl space beneath a Southern California home after successful removal efforts by the BEAR League. (BEAR League)
A black bear in Tennessee decided to abandon the great outdoors for indoor plumbing.
In a video that’s now circulating widely, officers from the Gatlinburg Police Department responded to a rather unusual call in the Smoky Mountains this week after a black bear found itself trapped inside a bathroom at the Quality Inn & Suites in downtown Gatlinburg.
The Smoky Mountains are home to approximately 1,900 black bears. (iStock)
According to the police report obtained by OutKick, officers were dispatched to the motel around 2:33 a.m. Friday following a report from an employee about a bear inside the bathroom. Officer Quayvaughn McCollum documented that an employee “observed a bear enter an exterior bathroom and lock itself inside.”
Heaven forbid someone desires a moment of solitude!
The footage shows officers cautiously opening the bathroom door, after which the bewildered bear calmly ambles out and heads down the sidewalk to safety, while officers and onlookers quickly move aside. One officer claps sticks together while both shout to discourage the animal.
From the looks of it, however, the bear had no desire to interact with the humans.
Scenery from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is visible in Tennessee on November 10, 2018. (Patrick Gorski/NurPhoto)
Fortunately, the officers managed the situation expertly, and no one sustained injuries during the incident. The entire event concluded with only minor property damage.
The report indicates that officers noted “a broken mirror on the floor, which the bear had caused.” The estimated cost of the damage was $50.
As any resident of East Tennessee knows, it’s not uncommon to see black bears roaming through Gatlinburg neighborhoods, parking lots, and hotels around this time of year. However, one trapping itself in a hotel bathroom? That’s certainly a novel occurrence.
A black bear mother rests on a rock. (Chris Mathein / Getty Images)
I suppose it does offer an answer to the age-old query: Does a bear relieve itself in the forest?
Not always.