Newly released footage shows the hilarious moment a black bear inadvertently filmed himself stealing a bird feeder from a residential backyard in Maine.
The much-feared predator could be seen trying to steal some sunflower seeds from a feeder placed on a pedestal at a home in New Gloucester.
But when the bear was unsuccessful in its attempts to swipe the meal, he can be seen knocking the feeder down and tearing off its attached camera.
By the end of the video, the ‘vlogger’ animal can be seen walking away with its prize as the camera continues to record his movements.
After reviewing the footage, camera owner Jeff Meissner has decided to make it a bigger challenge for the bear to steal seeds in the future.
‘I’ve got the alarms turned on now. I’ve got a motion-sensing sprinkler set up there, so he’s going to get a shower, some loud noise and more pictures.
‘So it’s a challenge and I love a challenge and I’ll beat the bear,’ he told WMTV.
Maine is known to be home to the largest population of black bears in the eastern United States.
According to the state’s Department of Wildlife, the bears are mostly active between April 1 to November 1 in the area and usually venture into backyards in search of easily accessible food such as bird feeders, garbage, grills and pet foods.
Officials recommend homeowners to remove such food sources in order to prevent visits from the predator.
They also clarified that attacks are very uncommon and bears rarely become aggressive when encountered.
Earlier this year, a possum was seen stealing a 15-year-old’s birthday cookies late in the night in Texas on CCTV footage.
The CCTV footage, which was posted by the Southlake Police Department on their social media, shows a blue balloon, a gift bag and a pack of cookies lying on the front porch.
According to officials, one of the unknown family’s friends had sent Tiff’s Treats icing, cookies and their never-deflating balloon on January 26, while the family was out celebrating the teenager’s birthday.
‘A friend of the family sent a scrumtrelescent gift of Tiff’s Treats, complete with one of their patented never-deflating balloons from the 1980s grocery check out lines.
‘The gift came a little late in the evening when the fam was probably out celebrating, so it went unnoticed into the night…which set up a seemingly impossumable theft,’ the department wrote.
The department further wrote in its post: ‘Dr. M’s son was a little shocked the next morning when he saw a bag of Tiff’s Treats icing and a balloon, but no cookies.
‘After a little junior detecting, the family found the mangled and empty bag of cookies in the side yard. They checked the cameras and found THIS.’
Officials also clarified that they were not bad-mouthing the animal.
This article by Ishita Srivastava was first published by The Daily Mail on 25 July 2024. Lead Image: Robert Winkler / IStockphoto / Getty Images.
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