UnBEARable

An adventurous bear in Snowmass, Colo., didn’t need surgery, just a ladder. Apparently hoping to do some rad riding, he dropped into the town skate park’s bowl. Unable to skate vert, he was then busted down there, with no way out. One can imagine young onlookers confusing him with some shaggy old-school skater, before realizing their mistake. Quick-thinking town parks officials brought a ladder, dropped it into the bowl, and the bear climbed out and wandered off.

Though some view skateboarding as a crime, local law enforcement didn’t pursue the bear. Other Aspen area bruins have been less fortunate. Just a week before the skate park incident, a black bear broke into an Aspen home and swiped the owner across the chest before fleeing. The bear was caught trying to break into the same home 48 hours later and was killed by wildlife officers. Meanwhile, over the hills in Vail, a bear broke into a car, bit into the steering wheel, pooped on the seats and deployed the airbags. “My car was shaking back and forth,” Jeff Leistad, the owner of the car, told the Vail Daily. “The windows were steaming up and the bear was growling pretty badly.” Police officers rushed to the scene, opened the car door, and shot a pepper ball at the bear, which then wandered off into the woods.

Photos from the Denver Post.