Happy Bear Plays in Lake Tahoe Snow Just Like a Human Kid
Winter is finally melting away in many places, but it's still going strong in Lake Tahoe. This ski season alone, the popular resort town has seen more than 220 inches of snow, and one black bear decided to take advantage of the powder and have some fun.
The Weather Channel shared a video of the bear enjoying the snow on Tuesday, April 16th. The bear can be seen running up a snow-covered hill and then sliding back down it. If you look close enough, it looks like he even has a smile on his face!
He looked like he was having a blast! Who needs skis when you have claws that you can use to easily climb in the snow! Commenter @Jennifer Kistler571 said, "This is adorable! I love Tahoe." about The Weather Channel's cute video. And in their caption they write, "That is one happy bear!" He sure does look happy!
Related: Cute Video Shows Philadelphia Zoo Bear Cubs Enjoying Their First Snow
Cool Facts About Black Bears
Black bears not only like to play in the snow, they also are strong swimmers, and swim to find food and to cross bodies of water when they are traveling. They've also been spotted swimming for fun, much like these adventure seeking bears at a safari park in England.
While this bear playing in the snow looks like a big teddy bear, don't let its cute appearance fool you. Black bears communicate in a variety of different ways through both vocal and non-vocal sounds. When they are nervous or fearful, the bears make warning sounds by blowing air loudly, huffing, and moaning. That's when you know to back off!
Did you know that bears have a sense of smell even stronger than a dog's sense of smell - it's about seven times more sensitive. They can detect food or other scents up to two miles away. That's a very powerful sniffer!
Here's a fact that might blow your mind: As kids, we were all taught that bears hibernate for months at a time during the winter months, but bears do not actually hibernate! Not in the true sense of the word, anyways. In fact, there are very few animals that actually do. While bears do sleep more, slow down activity-wise, and eat less during winter months, they can still be found up and about looking for food and being bears.
Bears enter a state called torpor instead. Torpor is often referred to as 'temporary hibernation' and is different from the hibernation we all think about. While it might seem like a technicality, there is a major difference: hibernation is voluntary, while torpor is an involuntary act. All these years of thinking about bears hibernating and I find out now that what I thought was true was wrong!
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