Don’t mess with the bear cub, Clemson police warn. ‘This is not Boo Boo’
A bear has taken to hanging out around an apartment complex in Clemson, South Carolina, police say. But don’t mess with it, they warned in a post on Facebook.
“This... as if it wasn’t obvious by the lack of hat or cute little tie... is not Yogi. This is not Boo Boo either. This... is a small, likely cub, bear,” the department joked. “A small bear that is likely a cub like this one usually has a much larger, more protective bear close by. Yet another reason to keep your distance.”
A neighbor captured the bear on a surveillance camera at an apartment complex near Clemson University, police said.
“This is the kind of bear that will generally leave you alone and run away until you come outside to feed it by hand or attempt to catch it so you can tame it for your twisted little circus. You should not do that. It’s cruel to the animal and detrimental to your health,” the police warned, albeit with a little dark humor.
“Being a bear in public isn’t an offense in South Carolina, so we won’t be arresting him,” Clemson cops said, but they do want to keep Department of Natural Resources officials updated on what the bear is up to.
“If any pic-i-nic baskets come up missing, or you have an obvious incident of bear vandalism, we’d like to know that also... so we can once again notify DNR and Ranger Smith, and maybe send a note to the bear’s parents about its inappropriate and bear-like behavior,” the department said.
Bears in the Southeast are not entirely uncommon in populated areas. As many as 200 bears live in Asheville, North Carolina, according to a 2018 Charlotte Observer story. They’ve been seen stealing from kitchens and lounging around in hammocks in the mountain city.
Late last year a bear made its way into downtown Gatlinburg, Tennessee, McClatchy reported in October, causing tourists to scramble (and at least one person to get video of the encounter).
Also last fall, a black bear with three cubs killed a 75-year-old woman who was walking her dog in Swannanoa, the Charlotte Observer reported.
This story was originally published February 1, 2019 at 11:26 AM.
