A black bear dropped in at its neighborhood 7-Eleven last weekend, startling employees at the Olympic Valley, Calif., store.
The chunky bruin pulled the door open to check out the inventory and sniff an automated hand-sanitizer dispenser. A few drops plopped onto its nose. As employee Rachelle Ducusin recorded the video and yelled at the bruin to get out, it sniffed what appeared to be a freezer, stood up on its hind legs and looked around as if waiting for some service. Ducusin screams, but the bear is undeterred.
Eventually, the animal left the doorway and climbed into an open dumpster outside, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. A deputy from the Placer County Sheriff’s Office scared it off with a non-lethal round.
A yellow tag on the animal’s ear suggests it was among bears the fish and wildlife agency has been keeping an eye on over the summer.
The video had been viewed nearly 10 million times on TikTok by Wednesday afternoon and inspired more than 62,000 comments.
There are about 30,000 black bears in California, and they often damage property or injure pets as they search for food.