It turns out, bears love hot tubs!
The winter of 2020-2021 seemed like a longer one than usual. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was exhaustion from the still-going pandemic. We are not sure why, but it was a rough one. We envy all the bears that got to go to sleep in the fall and are only just now starting to wake up from their long slumber as the weather is getting nicer.
It seems the bears are just now waking up in the Smokies down around Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Because a vacationer captured one out on the deck of a rental house. The bear's appearance forced Todd Trebony back inside as the bear walked across the deck.
The next thing they knew, the cunning bruin had torn the cover off a hot tub which just happened to be nice and toasty. Realizing how good the water feels, the bruin plops himself down for a good soak as the stunned humans watch through the windows!
This is one of those things that no one would have believed in the days before camera phones became a thing. That bear seems to genuinely be enjoying his soak. He even seems to scare the human away so he can keep enjoying himself. It probably felt good after being stuck in a frozen den all through the winter months.
Here at Wide Open Spaces, we see plenty of funny bear videos. We have seen plenty of bears on decks and in pools, but never one in a hot tub that was functioning at the time. That is one lucky bear to discover this. Although we do hope he does not return later, simply because too many human-bear encounters are never a good thing.
However, we cannot blame the bruin. We are always a little groggy and cranky waking up in the morning too. A good soak in a hot tub sounds like a nice pick-me-up to get us going. The bear should have drunk his coffee too while he was out there.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
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