bear

Over the past week, the employees of Katmai National Park have been asking people to vote, March Madness-style, on which bear has grown the fattest over the summer. The park has posted picture matchups of bear pairs on its Facebook page, and the public got to choose the fattest with their "likes." This yearly contest began in 2014, and every year it becomes even more of a viral sensation. 

Today, a day the park calls "Fat Bear Tuesday," the contest is over. A most-round bear named 435 Holly took the grand prize.

"She is fat," the park's announcement of the winner reads. "She is fabulous. She is 435 Holly. ... All hail Holly whose healthy heft will help her hibernate until the spring. Long live the Queen of Corpulence!"

This is crazy! Can you imagine, you're in the living room watching some late-night TV and all of a sudden you hear the fridge open and beep in the kitchen. You think, maybe one of your parents got up for a midnight snack? Seems logical, right? You would never think in a 100 years that the person in the kitchen, who opened the fridge, wasn't a person at all. 

It was a bear. A black bear. 

That's what happened to these two teens from Truckee, California around 12:30 a.m. this past Saturday. 15-year-old Hayes Sherman told CNN, "I heard footsteps, and then I heard Tupperware being opened really loudly and aggressively. The fridge started to beep because it was open too long." Sherman continued, "I was really scared. I wasn't exactly sure of what to do. I was watching TV with my friend, and I turned the TV off. We both went to the sliding door to hold it in place so that the bear couldn't get in."

A Nest camera in the living room happened to capture the bizarre scenario. In the video below, you can see the black bear stand on its hind legs, sniff around and dig through the fridge. The bear broke the Tupperware to devour some taco meat, and it is said that the bear's late-night snack also included two pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (Half Baked and The Tonight Dough flavors), and some crackers. 

This bear has some good taste in late-night snacks! 

Sherman's mother was sleeping upstairs, completely unaware of the drama that was unfolding downstairs. Soon enough, the bear bumped into the door where the teens were hiding out and tried to open it multiple times. Sherman and his friend held it shut and realized they didn't have their phones with them. While Sherman's friend held onto the shaking door, Sherman used his Apple watch to call his mother. 

"I whispered to her, 'Mom, there is a bear in the house. Don't come downstairs,'" Sherman then called 911 as his mother called a security guard. 

"It was very difficult, because I was whispering to 911 on my watch in a very dark room while trying to hold the door closed so the bear couldn't get in," said Sherman. 

The police arrived in 13 minutes but it felt like an hour to Sherman. 

His mom, Susan Mohun, said she fought every urge to race down the stairs.

"That is the worst-case scenario as a parent to have a bear between you and your children. I am glad that I didn't run downstairs, because that probably would have just agitated the bear," Mohun said.

Placer County Sheriff's Deputy, Allyson Prero, opened the door, got out of the way and let the bear leave the house, according to the sheriff's office. "We came out, and we went to hug her, and we took a photo with her because we were just so grateful that she came to save us," Sherman said.

Story via CNN

Bears are one of the cutest animals out there. Teddy bears are stuffed animal versions of them, and what's cuter than a teddy bear? NOTHING. Check out these bear GIFs if you agree that bears are the cutest, and you secretly want one as a pet. 

"Hello, I am a bear"...that's how this bear starts his intro on his twitter page before he goes on to share his daily life as a bear living freely in the forest. We just love him! 

'Just pay off the dog' proves to be an effective strategy for bear snacks. @JesseNeon's dog gets free bones. Bear gets free trash. @JesseNeon gets to clean up. There's a clear loser in this exchange.

Global warming and pollution are two of the biggest threats our home planet has ever faced. This illustrated project by WeSupply brings the cutets bear in order to show us that together we can make a difference. WeSupply is the socially & environmentally conscious marketplace that empowers you to make a difference in the fight against global warming & pollution. For every item we purchase, sell and rent, they pledge to clean up 1 pound of trash & plant 1 tree by using scalable, automated solutions. Big like from us! 

All by the brilliant Good Bear Comics