Have You Seen This? Bearly clothed swimmer invades family pool

A black bear takes a dip in a backyard swimming pool in New Jersey in August 2021.

A black bear takes a dip in a backyard swimming pool in New Jersey in August 2021. (ViralHog via YouTube)


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THE PATIO — It seems that having a backyard pool is often more trouble than it's worth. All the neighbor kids are going to want to swim in it, you'll spend a fortune trying to keep it clean, and leaks are something you'll always have to fear.

What's not on most people's list of reasons to avoid getting a pool? Bears. But as this video shows, homeowners with pools need to keep their heads on a swivel.

I love how comfortable the bear looks in there. It's not like he's floundering around, confused by this angular, above-ground structure. No, it looks like his family definitely had an Intex pool growing up and, now, he just loves hopping in them to reminisce about the good ol' days.

"My wife happened to look out the window and see a black bear in our daughter's swimming pool," explains the caption. "The previous year we had a similar pool destroyed by a black bear, so I wanted to scare it off, but saw that this bear was just hanging around. … After a while, it seemed that it might damage the pool, so I yelled at it to scare it off."

Speaking of damage, it seems there are plenty of other things in that backyard that might endanger the pool and any human swimmers. For starters, why is an enormous saw sitting next to the pool? And a tipped-over gas can on top of an extension cord?

That whole yard looks like an accident waiting to happen. I'm just happy that the bear was able to escape safely.

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Grant Olsen joined the KSL.com contributor team in 2012. He covers outdoor adventures, travel, product reviews and other interesting things. He is also the author of the book “Rhino Trouble.”

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