A bear walked into an ice cream parlour. The strawberry never had a chance

The deputies startled the bear, which stopped eating but could not find the exit. They shouted and shone their lights. Finally, the animal lumbered through the front door and back into the dark, authorities said. The deputies followed to shoo it away from nearby buildings and into the forest.

The shop itself suffered little damage. The bear “caused barely any property damage, and there was barely any clean-up”, the sheriff’s office wrote in a post on Facebook, accompanied by images of the bear behind the counter.

Camp Richardson’s ice cream parlour is a favourite summer stop, often with a long line of vacationers extending out the door. After the bear’s visit, stools and napkin dispensers stood undisturbed. Only the ice cream was lost, every tub tossed before another summer day could begin.

“We’re pretty sure he didn’t wash his claws before he came in, so all the ice cream had to be replaced,” said William Boas, vice president of operations for ExplorUS, which operates the Camp Richardson Resort.

The parlour reopened later that day after employees finished a deep cleaning.

While this one stood out because of its setting, encounters with bears are not uncommon in the Tahoe Basin, which is home to one of the country’s densest black bear populations. In the past two years, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office has responded to nearly 650 bear-related calls: cars broken into, doors pried open, kitchens raided.

‘We’re pretty sure he didn’t wash his claws before he came in, so all the ice cream had to be replaced.’

Sergeant Kyle Parker, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, recalled an incident from 2018 in which a black bear entered a car through an unlocked door in search of food and left through the back windshield after it found itself trapped there.

There are about 500 black bears in the Tahoe Basin and around 60,000 in California, according to Peter Tira, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Tira said residents and visitors should never feed bears, always give a bear an avenue for escape, and avoid getting between a mother bear and her cubs.

“I would not say to ‘stand your ground’ if a bear approaches,” Tira said. “Make yourself look big, make loud noises and continue to back away.”

Alexia Ronning, a Tahoe Basin bear specialist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that, over time, black bears in the area have become addicted to human food because it’s easier to come by. Why root for berries or grubs when there is pizza or ice cream to be had?

As for Fuzzy, which flavour did he appear to enjoy the most?