As summer comes to a close, there a couple of things we won’t miss. Among them are mosquitoes. We take time during the spring and summer to repair holes in window screens or doors to make sure the bloodthirsty insects don’t slip through. Sometimes successfully, other times not so much. As it turns out, in Big Sky, Montana, there are much larger creatures that windows and doors should be secured from.
At Buck’s T-4 Lodge in Big Sky, one such intruder got into the hotel via shimmying its way through a ladies’ bathroom window that was apparently ajar. The culprit, a young black bear, got into the bathroom and, instead of leaving, it chose to hop onto the bathroom counter and lie down for a snooze in the sink.
Hotel employees sought to let the bear leave on its own terms, but it was very comfortable napping in the bathroom sink. Eventually, the hotel called Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks to come retrieve the sleepy bear. When they arrived, they FaceTimed the bear asleep from the window it snuck through, then they were able to safely tranquilize and relocate it to a more remote location than a hotel bathroom.
“The bear seemed very comfortable and showed no signs of leaving, Game wardens along with Gallatin County Sheriff’s deputies tranquilized the bear and carried it safely outside. FWP plans to release the young bear in a more remote area. The bear was not injured, and there was no reported damage,” Montana FWP wrote in a Facebook post with full video footage of the extraction.
The hotel staff responded in kind, giving Montana FWP a shoutout for keeping everyone safe (bear included) while responding to a fairly unusual situation. We say fairly because this isn’t the first time a bear has gotten itself into mischief out west. Earlier this summer, another young bear snuck into a house, got stuck, climbed into the top of a closet, and took a nap, much to the surprise of the homeowners. Certainly not akin to finding homeless kittens in a garage. Even with 26,000 small animal hospitals and veterinary clinics around the nation, these juvenile bears are still large, potentially dangerous creatures best left to trained wildlife professionals.
You’d think bears are easier to keep out than bugs, but these crafty cubs certainly proved more cunning than their clumsy appearance suggests.