Bear cub can't resist pizza left in convertible

[bobo]

A bear cub sniffed out a barbecue-chicken-and-jalapeño pizza in the back seat of a vintage red Buick convertible at an upper Kingsbury Grade parking lot on Sunday, jolting onlookers and leaving a cheesy mess behind.

About 30 people watched the cub lumber around the Tahoe Village parking lot before it homed in on the Buick and the pizza. Frightened swimmers stayed inside the nearby pool area as the bear - ignoring the car's horn which blew non-stop as the cub pressed the seat into the steering wheel - crawled inside to ferret out the pizza that was on the floor.

"The bear was loping along in the parking lot and then decides to get inside the car," said resident Jerry Patterson, who took photographs of the bear. "People were screaming at him, the horn was going off, but he was completely unaware. ... He did what he wanted to do and the people didn't matter."

The bear remained inside the 1964 Buick Skylark for a good 20 minutes and at times put his paws on the dash as if he were holding on for a ride, Patterson said. Motorists and onlookers outside the pool area snapped pictures and moved in for a better look.

"I knew better than to get too close and so I kept my distance. I respect the bears as wild animals," he said.

The owner of the car, David Ziello of South Lake Tahoe, took the excitement in stride. Once the bear left for a nearby Dumpster, Ziello and his son, David Jr., inspected the car for damage. Fortunately there wasn't any - sans some cheese and jalapenos on the seats and floor.

But the bear wasn't through yet. He returned to the car from the Dumpster and tried to crawl back in as Ziello was inside.

"At that point I was thinking of the $5,000 paint job I had done on it last summer and the new interior I was going to be getting sooner than I thought," he said. "I was like, 'OK. The party's over. Move on.'"

The cub stayed in the parking lot for a few more minutes, licked himself and moved on. Ziello quipped to onlookers how the Fox and Hound - the bar and grill on Kingsbury Grade that made him the large pie - has the best jalapeno pizza in Tahoe.

"They make a great pizza. Even the bears love it," he said.

Fox and Hound Manager Kevin Brent said he was the one who made the pizza for the Buick owner and his family earlier that afternoon. He said the pie was actually a barbecue-chicken pizza loaded with jalapenos.

Having worked at the upper Kingsbury bar and grill for years, Brent said he's seen his share of bears, including the one that crawled into the Buick. In fact, the same one is believed to have gotten into a breadbox at the restaurant earlier that day.

"I guess the bears find our food pretty tasty and will do anything to get to it," Brent said.

Besides the pizza, the cub managed to finish a half cup of a Jack Daniels mixer and half of an Absolute vodka and tonic. There was also a beer missing.

"I swear he ran off with the can from the cooler," Ziello said. "The bear's an alcoholic."

Between a dozen and two dozen bears live between upper and lower Kingsbury, according to Nevada Division of Wildlife's Carl Lackey, who tracks and relocates bears on the Nevada side of the Tahoe basin. The juvenile bear is one of many whose mothers have dispersed them into the wild this season.

While there's not an overall increase in the number of bears in the Kingsbury area, the residential area sees more of them because they've found a primary food source from Dumpsters and people who leave their food and trash in the open.

Lackey warned visitors against keeping food inside their cars as bears will find anyway they can to get to it.

"When you are in bear habitat, regardless of the time of year, you cannot leave any kind of food out - whether it's food inside the car, trash inside or outside your car, or pet food. Bears will find it and in doing so, it is increasing your chances of serious conflict."

http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/2.../NEWS/107040027

[trinacriabob]

That's a riot. He looks like a big dog that couldn't hurt you. But those aren't waters I'd want to test! I don't think this would happen at South Lake Tahoe or Incline Village where the population density is a little high...and there are more than a few Starbucks, but way up on Kingsbury Grade, it's a definite possibility.

In fact, if one approaches the lake from Carson City on US 50, there's a road sign with the bear graphics (much like the Cali flag) and the words BEAR XING. Now, coming up from the California side, on 50 or 80, there is no such sign.

I would have loved to have seen that occurrence in person. Too funny.

[Sixty8panther]

I'd expect more of classic Buick owners.

1964 Skylark... would that still have a 215?

[ocnblu]

What a great story that ended well. Edited July 7, 2006 by ocnblu

[Black and Blue Landscaper]

pooh bear musta gotten stoned and started lookin for munchies...

Edited July 7, 2006 by Black and Blue Landscaper

[trinacriabob]

The part that gets to me is how oblivious they are to having all those people around when they are in a quest for food. I guess it shows how fearless they are. Good thing he was "dispersed into the wild" by Mama Bear. None of this would have been very pretty had she been around.

[tmp]

the only way that story could be funnier is if the bear hot-wired the car and drove off...