Family discovers bear under the terrace – and lets him hibernate

Winter rest must be
A bear hibernates with the Dashukewich family – under the patio

A bear has found an unusual shelter in the United States. After a family discovered the animal in their home, they made a decision.

Bears hibernate at this time of year. In the cold, nutrient-poor months in the northern hemisphere, the animals have to sleep a lot, hardly move and consume as few calories as possible.

But you don’t have to crawl into a cave in the wilderness for this, as an example from the USA shows. There, in the state of Connecticut, north of New York, a family had suspected for weeks that they were unknowingly accommodating a secret guest under the wooden planks of their terrace, as the “Boston Globe” reports. Because the family dog ​​kept getting nervous when she came near the terrace. The family suspected that an animal had crept into the cavity below. Maybe a skunk or a raccoon.

Male, tall, sleepy: a bear is lying under the terrace

“Bear” was correct. But not “wash”, as the family remarked on a cold December day when they were playing with the pit bull in the garden and the animal was already restless. A closer look under the terrace showed that a big, dark bear had made himself comfortable there. A black bear, as it turned out later, and probably a male animal.

In addition to the “Boston Globe”, several American and now also German media are currently reporting on the unusual winter guest with the Dashukewich family from the small town of Plainville, who have set up a Tiktok account for “their” bear. “Marty” now has millions of fans there.

Which the sleepy bear doesn’t notice. Because after an initial shock and a call to the environmental authorities, what to do now, the Dashukewichs made a decision: “Marty” can stay and will not be scared away.

Black bear “Marty” has made himself comfortable

That might not have been successful anyway, the family’s bear experts had explained. Because even if you drive away a bear – for example with loud noises – it can come back. Bears don’t find such a cozy and safe shelter every day – especially since there are many of them in the area, who all want to spend the winter somewhere. Bears don’t really hibernate, but they hibernate during the cold months, during which their bodies run on the back burner. But you can wake up from time to time.

Black bears are the most common bear species in North America. They are smaller and lighter than grizzlies and are also considered less aggressive.

However, you should not approach a black bear. The Dashukewich family has now gotten used to the guest and filmed the animal from a suitable distance. “He’s cute,” Vincent Dashukewich, a son of the family, is quoted as saying in the media.

A biologist told the Boston Globe that bears appearing in gardens and wanting to spend the winter there are not uncommon in the area. “But that doesn’t happen all the time.” Overall, bear populations have recently increased in neighboring Massachusetts, and the animals are also becoming more widespread in Connecticut, where there is no hunting season.

“Marty” meanwhile slumbers and has padded his sleeping place comfortably with leaves and a plastic tarpaulin, which he probably found somewhere, as the family said. At the Dashukewichs at home, the bear is the number one topic of conversation these days.

The Dashukewiches estimate he’ll probably be staying for another three months. What they don’t say, but possibly think: Maybe next winter “Marty” will remember where he slept and then come back.

Sources: “Boston Globe“, RTL, tiktok“Landtiere.de“, “24Rhein.de” South Tyrolean state administration on hibernation of bears

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