Employees at the mall in Lake Tahoe’s Zulu Village had just finished setting up the mall’s skating rink when a local stranger arrived to take a night out on the ice.
A black bear nicknamed “Charlie” by locals made its first visit to the rink this year, wearing snow shortly after 10 PM on Thursday, according to staff.
The bear slipped under obstacles ripe for crossing the ice, ignoring the “no skating without a boat” sign posted at the entrance. It’s less about whether lips count.
“The ice was already frozen when one of our employees, Danny, saw Charlie skating and got that picture,” said a spokesperson for the shops in the village of Zuluni, said. “Today is opening day and he definitely took advantage of the new snow. … he got the first tracks of our ice rink.”
A heavenly town – sent About meeting on Facebook, softening thousands of fuzzy skater likes. “Guess Winter Sports Season is officially open! #Onlyntahoe #bearonice,” the post read.
Black bears are often seen in the town of Heaven, which sits at the base of Lake Tahoe. The resort has not reported any attacks in recent years. But sometimes people also pour collider – literally.
A year ago, a snowboarder riding the slopes of Heaven called into a black bear hole in the snow, a situation that was caught on camera by a nearby snowboarder. Fortunately, no one is being watched.
After his turn on the Ice Thursday night, Charlie went solo. But apparently he couldn’t help but come back – probably this time for a meal.
“Charlie was back in town last night but decided not to skate,” said Murin.
“Undoubtedly, the bear is drawn to the Ice Rink in search of food, and the smell associated with food and garbage,” said the writer of wildlife and a wild scientist in Californife and the scientist “. “Since winter has not yet arrived, observations will be normal until the ice flies.”
The Nevada Department of Health has warned Lake Tahoe residents to hide their garbage in the fall and winter as bears will enter homes and businesses in search of food. With easy access to dangerous snacks, there is a risk that bears will outgrow their habitat entirely if they rely on human food sources, the department said.
The event became such a problem that the California Department of Marine decided to launch a program to capture, tag and “Hiza” Lake Tahoe bears, involving beanbackers to reduce bears from populated areas.
Charlie’s Skating isn’t the comic’s first encounter with local mall bears. Several years ago, a small black bear broke into a Nestlé cookie shop to devour the ice cream, Murin said.
“We’re thinking about doing ‘charlie the skating bear’ t-shirts,” said Murin. “He could be our mascot.”
