Althouse: "Bears are 'incredibly adept with their hands,' capable of opening latches and doors.... 'They know what refrigerators look like, and they know what’s in them.'"

August 7, 2023

"Bears are 'incredibly adept with their hands,' capable of opening latches and doors.... 'They know what refrigerators look like, and they know what’s in them.'"

From "Hank the Tank, a 400-Pound Bear Behind Lake Tahoe Break-Ins, Is Captured/A female bear — and one of three known as Hank — was captured with her three cubs by California wildlife authorities. She was responsible for at least 21 home break-ins, officials said" (NYT).

29 comments:

Narayanan said...: female bear >> known as Hank the Tank >>> has any one seen together with Stacy Abrams?; 8/7/23, 5:55 AM
rehajm said...: The bear in out community in Carson City crushed the under counter fridge at an outdoor kitchen. Now there’s electrified mats and line surrounding. Did you know bears can jump vertically and hover in mid air and leave contrails like a cartoon character?; 8/7/23, 5:56 AM
rehajm said...: It sounds like CA is now trying to impose gender dysphoria on its wildlife..; 8/7/23, 5:58 AM
Leland said...: I thought that type of theft in California was considered petty and not worth detaining the suspect.; 8/7/23, 6:10 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: Hank seems smarter than the average bear.

MarcusB. THEOLDMAN; 8/7/23, 6:29 AM
Dustbunny said...: I’m in the Blue Ridge Mts in North Carolina. I woke up one morning to find my fridge door open, contents spilled all over the floor, yogurt containers ripped open and flung about, there was a trail of half eaten food leading back to the open door, out the backyard. No other cabinets or drawers were open, just the refrigerator.; 8/7/23, 6:34 AM
tommyesq said...: Because the bear took less than $1000 worth of goods, it was immediately released back into the same neighborhood.

Right?; 8/7/23, 7:18 AM
rhhardin said...: That bears have hands should give us pause.; 8/7/23, 7:29 AM
Rusty said...: Again. Behind a paywall.
I do have an opinion on this matter. Of course I do. When you build your house in bear habitat you will get bears. Bears smell your cooking. They smell your garbage. They can get the scent frome miles away. I'm assuming the artical is about black bears. Because brown bears are extinct in California. Thank god.
When you have a moritorium on killing bears you will get more bears. Black bears females get two to four cubs a year. The mama teaches the cubs where the food is and how to get it. Soon where there was one bear now there is a dozen. That is the problem with relocating black bears. You have to remove all of that bears offspring as well because she has already taught them where and how to get food. Bottom line. When you live in bear country either get used to your gear getting torn up or learn to shoot. I'm told black bear ham is very tasty.; 8/7/23, 8:06 AM
Skeptical Voter said...: There was a story several years back about bears at Yosemite. A bear found an unlocked minivan in a Yosemite Village parking lot. The van had a lot of food in it. The bear chowed down on a bear bonanza and passed the word to his or her "bear buddies". For the rest of the summer the Yosemite bears ripped open minivans for chow. But they only did it to vans that were the same make--and color--as the first minivan.; 8/7/23, 8:15 AM
wild chicken said...: Yes by all means, let's save all the bears, and the lions, and the wolves.

Funny how I felt a lot safer in the woods 40 years ago.; 8/7/23, 8:31 AM
Mark said...: There are three bears known as Hank?

Like Mrs. McCave who named all her sons "Dave"?; 8/7/23, 8:36 AM
gilbar said...: pic-a-nic baskets would solve ALL of these problems.
IF rangers would just set out pic-a-nic baskets full of goodies, bears would learn to leave houses alone; 8/7/23, 8:42 AM
mikee said...: Bears have paws, not hands. Or so I learned watching Boo-Boo and Yogi steal pic-a-nic baskets in Jellystone Park. That said, bears who don't fear humans are a problem, and need serious re-education or elimination from the area. Or, if the local humans are too weak-willed to accomplish this, the bears need to be accepted for their unique culture of eating anything they can obtain and not letting anything stop them from doing so. Can't mess with culture, right?; 8/7/23, 9:05 AM
Vonnegan said...: I can't see anything about bears without hearing this Lyle Lovett song in my head

https://youtu.be/_T4SaNuxZO8

It gets more attention in this house likely because we have a Baylor student and a Baylor grad. We like bears.; 8/7/23, 9:16 AM
Moondawggie said...: Due to the paywall, I can't see where they will be relocated.

But I'd suggest Market Street in San Francisco is appropriate: lots of free food available, and no law enforcement unless they eat more than $1000 worth of goodies at each sitting. Maybe they could also sample a little cocaine from SF's "street vendors" to spice things up a bit...; 8/7/23, 10:12 AM
Rusty said...: rhhardin said...
"That bears have hands should give us pause."
Now THAT's a dad joke. kudos; 8/7/23, 10:40 AM
YoungHegelian said...: Not only about bears adept with their paws, they are also unbelievably strong.

An adult grizzly bear is capable of ripping a locked car doors off its hinges in order to get into a car to look for food items. Imagine what strength it takes to get that sort of torque on the metal parts of a car door lock!; 8/7/23, 11:04 AM
jaydub said...: A Yosemite park ranger once told me black bears can read, particularly the word "Colman," so if you have a cooler or food in your car or van or camper, make sure it is not visible. I've done that for the last 45 years and have never had a black bear mess with my vehicles.; 8/7/23, 11:11 AM
Curious George said...: "Narayanan said...
female bear >> known as Hank the Tank >>> has any one seen together with Stacy Abrams?"

When Stacy Abrams goes camping the bears hide their food. (h/t Sopranos); 8/7/23, 11:47 AM
Big Mike said...: I’ve seen a YouTube video from a household security cam where a black bear entered a house by turning a doorknob with its mouth. It came halfway into the house, looked around, then backed out pulling the door closed behind it with the doorknob again in its mouth. Black bears are pretty damned bright, and now and again we humans can find ourselves on their menu. Screw relocation. Breaking into a dwelling or a vehicle needs to be a death sentence, for the safety of residents.; 8/7/23, 11:54 AM
natatomic said...: I once heard a story somewhere (can't remember where now) about someone who asked a park ranger why it was so hard to develop a trash can that bears 100% couldn't open but people could use. His response was, "Well, there's a not-insignificant overlap between the smartest bears and the dumbest humans."; 8/7/23, 12:03 PM
Quaestor said...: mikee writes, "Bears have paws, not hands."

The semantics of paws and hands has many components, some science-related, others derived from the anthropomorphic obsessions of American suburban culture. The science-related usages arose from dinosaur paleontology, specifically research into the Triassic origins of the clade. Within the last 50 years has been firmly established that all dinosaurs, whether ducks or horn-faced ceratopsians, are descended from an obligate bipedal ancestor with hands rather than paws. In the semantics of dinosaur research, the carpal structure at the distal end of a forelimb is a hand if its ancestral function is primarily food-getting, or a foot (or paw) if primarily locomotor. A hand remains a hand even if the derived form serves only locomotor functions. For example, the Patagotitan mayorum, perhaps the largest land animal ever to live supported half its 75 tonnes on its hand -- correction, on its fingers! The Patagotitan was digitigrade on its forelimbs and semi-digitigrade behind.

When the concepts of digitigrade and plantigrade posture were first defined in the 19th century it was assumed that these distinctions were related to the weight of the animal -- the heavier animal walks on its heels and toes, while the lighter critter walks on its toes alone. But that's false. Weight has nothing, or almost nothing, to do with it. Instead, it has to do with ancestral anatomy. Dogs are digitigrade, which is easily seen from a dog's footprints. Whether forepaws or hind paws, the tracks are fundamentally the same -- four toes and the metacarpal or metatarsal pad. Dogs aren't very heavy, but they are generally much more massive than a weasel or ferret, fellow members of the carnivore clade along with dogs but entirely plantigrade fore and aft. The Procyonidae, the raccoons, coatis, and kinkajous, are also plantigrade -- flatfooted fore and aft, but able to able to use their paws like hands just like the members of their sister clade, the Ursidae.; 8/7/23, 1:22 PM
Tina848 said...: The NYT needs to get out more. This happens in North Jersey and PA ALL THE TIME. The bears are not small, either. About 150-500 pounds depending on age.

The bears know how to open garage doors, swim in pools, and get food.
In PA, we have a hunting season, 3 days before Thanksgiving, 2 weeks during Deer season (you can hunt both) in the overrun parts of the state; 3 days in the rest. NJ doesn't have a season.

Guess who has more of a problem?; 8/7/23, 1:23 PM
Free Manure While You Wait! said...: "The captured bear was responsible for at least 21 DNA-confirmed home break-ins and extensive property damage in Tahoe Keys dating back to early 2022, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said"

So the bear got nailed by its DNA. It's a pity rape kits aren't processed as swiftly.; 8/7/23, 1:50 PM
EAB said...: Yeah, a friend of ours with a house on the north shore of Tahoe had a bear break-in when they were out. Smashed its way in and raided the fridge. When we rented there on the west shore, we always closed the blinds on the kitchen sliding glass door so the refrigerator wasn’t visible from the outside. And we never left even the slightest bit of food in the car.; 8/7/23, 2:20 PM
Kevin said...: Clare: Have you decided who you're bringing yet?

Michelle: I've narrowed it down to two. There's big Johnny Kells who works in Dunnes. Thick as fuck, but a massive, massive ride. Then there's this other fella, he's not as thick, but he's also not as hot, although I have heard he is really good with his hands. And when I say he's good with his hands, I'm not talking about putting up shelves, girls. I'm talking about...

James: Everybody knows what you're talking about, Michelle!; 8/7/23, 3:46 PM
traditionalguy said...: Da Bears.; 8/7/23, 6:51 PM
Narayanan said...: what kind of evolutionary event when bear meet exploding EV battery during maraud spree?; 8/7/23, 9:50 PM