Employees at Lake Tahoe’s Paradise Village store had just finished preparing the mall’s ice rink when an unusual local arrived, ready to skate on the ice at night.
A black bear known locally as “Charlie” made his debut as the rink’s first guest this year, gliding across the ice just after 10 p.m. Thursday night, according to staff.
The bear climbed over a rope railing and across the ice, ignoring a “No skating without skates” sign posted at the entrance. Whether claws count is up for debate.
“The ice was probably just freezing when one of our employees, Danny, spotted Charlie skating and took this photo,” Paradise Village store spokesman Dreu Murin said. “He really took advantage of the fresh ice on opening day today. … He got his first track on our rink.”
paradise village release News about the encounter was posted on Facebook, earning the furry skater thousands of likes. “Guess the winter sports season has officially begun! #OnlyInTahoe #BearOnIce,” the post read.
Mullin said that in late fall and early winter, black bears often appear in Paradise Village, located at the foothills of Paradise Mountain Resort, a popular Lake Tahoe destination. The resort has not experienced any attacks in recent years. But sometimes humans and bears do collide.
Last year, a skier collided with a black bear cub running across the snow while skiing on the slopes of the Tianshan Mountains. The scene was captured on camera by a nearby skier. Fortunately, neither the man nor the bear was injured.
On Thursday night, Charlie took to the ice and left on his own. But he apparently couldn’t resist and came back – this time probably in search of a snack.
“Charlie came back to the village last night but decided not to skate,” Mullin said.
“There’s no question that bears are attracted to rinks for food and the smells associated with food and trash,” said Steve Sayles, a wildlife writer and California bear expert known as the “Bear Whisperer.” “With winter not yet here, bear sightings will be common until the snow falls.”
The Nevada Wildlife Department is warning Lake Tahoe residents to hide their trash during the fall and winter months because bears can break into homes and businesses in search of food. With snacks so plentiful year-round, it’s possible for bears to skip hibernation entirely if they become dependent on human food sources, the department said.
The phenomenon has become such a problem that this year California Wildlife Service decided to launch a program to capture, tag and “haze” Lake Tahoe bears, which includes using noisemakers, paintballs and bean bag bombs to deter the bears from traveling to densely populated areas.
This isn’t the first time Charlie Skate has had a hilarious encounter with a local bear at the mall. A few years ago, a smaller black bear broke into a Nestlé cookie store and ate ice cream, Mullin said.
“We’re thinking about doing ‘Charlie the Skater Bear’ T-shirts,” Murin said. “He might just be our mascot.”
