black bear drinks wine
Screenshot from TikTok

Don't Mind If I Do: Sophisticated Black Bear Helps Himself To Some Wine In Tennessee

As a woman who enjoys a nice glass of wine herself, I can fully empathize with this bear's need to just kick its feet up and enjoy a glass. However I must admit that I would be so shocked, and somewhat pleasantly surprised, if I saw a full grown bear casually sipping some Pinot from a glass. I think the people who witnessed this bear first hand were also surprised. They shared a video of the black bear drinking a glass of wine on their TikTok page.

What A Sophisticated Bear

Gatlinburg, Tennesse is a popular destination. It is home to the Great Smoky Mountains as well as plenty of shops and attractions. When people visit this beautiful area they are fully prepared to encounter some wildlife. After all, The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is home to a plethora of wildlife, including black bears. Whiskey Riff shares just how many black bears are in the area, and it is slightly shocking.

"With wildlife experts estimating that there are somewhere between 1,600 and 2,000 bears living in the forest. That comes out to somewhere around 2 bears per square mile of the park." So, yea no surprise that you may run into a black bear during your time in Gatlinburg. However, it is a surprise to find a black bear enjoying some wine.

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Most people expect to see it milling about in the woods, but this black bear had other ideas. It wanted to show off it's sophisticated side so it climbed onto the porch of a cabin and helped itself to the glass of white wine that was left there.

@cpopp90

Check out this bear in Gatlinburg helping itself to a glass of wine ? at our cabin back in March! #gatlinburg #bear

? original sound - Crystal

Black Bears And Wine A Great Combination

black bear enjoys a glass of white wine

Shutterstock photo by Kichigin

The user @cpopp90 posted the video to her TikTok. In the video you can hear her surprise as she laughs/yells, "It's getting that glass of wine." The black bear meandered onto the porch, probably looking for some garbage to rummage through and found this delicious treat instead.

The black bear stood on its hind legs and begins to sniff the white wine. Then, so delicately the black bear placed its tongue into the wine. Just a little taste. At first, it didn't seem to impressed. I get it buddy, was it a little too dry? White wines will do that to you! However, after a moment the bear dove back in.

It even held the glass with one paw as it greedily gulped down some more. I swear I can hear it's thoughts. If I were a bear mind-reader I would assume it was thinking something along these lines. "Hmmm yes I can detect the subtle fruit notes in this, delicious."

However, eventually the black bear decided it had had enough wine and smashed the glass on the ground. Now, my bear mind-reading powers would suggest he is thinking, "this should have been a glass of red instead!"