Using Home Swimming Pools Without Hesitation
Coexisting with Bears for 2 Years
The image of a mother bear entering a private swimming pool in someone else's home to teach her cubs how to swim has captured global attention.
On the 9th (local time), foreign media such as The Guardian and Sky News reported on a bear family captured at a private residence in California, USA. The group consisted of a fully grown mother bear and two cubs, with the mother entering the pool with her cubs to demonstrate swimming herself.
In the released video, the mother bear is seen swimming skillfully while the two cubs sit side by side watching. It looks as if they are receiving swimming lessons from their mother. In fact, bears, which are omnivorous animals, live in forests and near streams and are known to be very adept at activities such as climbing trees and swimming.
After playing in the water, the bear family rested by climbing a tree near the yard before returning to the forest.
The homeowner who shared the video, Rick Martinez, said he has encountered bears more than once. The first time he came face to face with a bear 'intruding' on his home was in November 2022. At that time, having just moved in, he encountered a wild bear that had come down from the nearby national forest.
Martinez recalled that at first he was very tense, but "I realized the bear was not trying to break into the house but was simply passing through the area," and "we kept our distance from them."
Since then, a 'peculiar coexistence' between Martinez and the wild bears began. The bears occasionally come down near residential areas, but whenever they sense human presence, they invariably disappear or turn back to the forest. Martinez deliberately stayed away from the yard to avoid disturbing the bears and only observed them with cameras from inside the house.
The house was built near a national forest in California, which is originally a bear habitat. [Image source=YouTube capture]
The bears became accustomed to Martinez's garden. Some clever bears even entered the swimming pool or played with a cart. The bear family captured in this video was essentially guests coming to use the 'resting place' Martinez had prepared. However, Martinez said, "This is the first time a bear cub has come to visit."
Martinez explained, "This land originally belonged to the bears. The bears have always been familiar with roaming here, and we have established a balanced boundary with them. When the bears are outside, we stay inside."
He added, "We will leave the bears alone and respect them as they wish. The bears are welcome in our home. The bear family can come here to swim anytime."
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