A B.C. resident was able to film video of a baby black bear playing with a dog toy in the family’s backyard.
The family has asked for privacy and doesn’t want to share their last name, only that their property is in a rural area in Greater Vancouver.
“We have a lot of wildlife that we share the space with,” said Ron.
On June 21, he looked outside their window from inside and saw a mother black bear and her two cubs.
“Sure enough, there they were playing with the zipline ball that I put up for my dogs, and I just started to howl. It was so wonderful to watch,” he recalled.
Ron’s wife filmed the encounter, which shows a black bear cub on its hind legs barely reaching up to the ball.
“She was absolutely amazed,” he said. "She was awestruck by how these two little characters were playing with that ball. It was National Geographic at its best."
He described how the cubs were like two toddlers running around the bush.
“They're inquisitive, they're rambunctious. They just have a good old time, and poor Mom's got to try and deal with that.”
The bear family has passed through their property three times this week. Each time they come to visit, the family makes sure they’re not disturbing them.
“We share it with wildlife, so they're more than welcome to to enjoy it with us,” he said.
Ironically, Ron was considering taking down the dog toy the day the bear started playing with it.
“I just said, ‘Well, I guess there's my answer. I'm not going to be taking that down,’” said Ron.
He hopes other people will give bears lots of space too, keep control of attractants and have situational awareness.
“We do have common sense. We just have to use it,” he said.
