A bear got a bit of a frosty reception when it dropped by a Port Coquitlam home on Tuesday, Dec. 12.
Lexi Verano said her Ring doorbell camera captured an amusing interaction between the wandering bruin and a giant inflatable snowman next to her front door that’s part of her family’s Christmas decorations.
In the video, the bear emerges from some trees next to Verano’s home, ambles toward the smiling snowman then gives it a playful swat.
When the snowman bounces back at the bear, it takes a little nibble at its mitten and heads off on its merry way.
Verano, who lives in the Oxford Heights neighbourhood of north PoCo, said bears are frequent visitors to the area, sometimes wandering through a few times a week.
But with the onset of colder weather, she said she might see one every couple of weeks now.
Bears are currently fattening up for their winter torpor, a process called hyperphagia.
According to the North American Bear Centre, the animals are particularly active in the weeks leading up to their winter’s retreat as they look to satisfy their insatiable appetite to consume up to 20,000 calories a day that will give them the fat reserves required to tide them over until spring.
Torpor is a state of semi-hibernation during which bears shelter in their den with reduced circulation, breathing and heartbeat but are still alert enough to defend their turf and females can even give birth.
According to Science World, they can stay in this state for more than 100 days.
