Employees at the Shops at Heavenly Village in Lake Tahoe had just finished preparing the mall\u2019s skating rink when an unusual local arrived to take a nighttime spin on the ice. <\/p>\n
A black bear that locals named \u201cCharlie\u201d made his debut as the first guest on the rink this year, sliding across the ice shortly after 10 p.m. on Thursday, according to staff. <\/p>\n
The bear crawled under the roped barriers to cross the ice, ignoring the \u201cNo Skating without Skates\u201d sign plastered at the entrance. It\u2019s debatable whether claws count.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ice had probably just frozen over when one of our employees, Danny, spotted Charlie skating and got that photo,\u201d Dreu Murin, a spokesperson for the Shops at Heavenly Village, said. \u201cToday\u2019s opening day and he definitely took advantage of the fresh ice. \u2026 He got the first tracks in our ice rink.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heavenly Village posted<\/a> about the encounter on Facebook, garnering thousands of likes for the fuzzy skater. \u201cGuess winter sports season is officially open! #OnlyInTahoe #BearOnIce,\u201d the post read.<\/p>\n Black bears are frequently spotted at Heavenly Village, which sits at the base of the popular Lake Tahoe destination Heavenly Mountain Resort, in late fall and early winter, Murin said. The resort area hasn\u2019t reported any attacks in recent years. But sometimes humans and bears collide \u2014 literally.<\/p>\n Last year, a snowboarder riding down Heavenly Mountain\u2019s slopes crashed into a black bear cub darting across the snow, a situation that was caught on camera by a nearby snowboarder. Fortunately, neither man nor bear was harmed. <\/p>\n After his turn on the ice Thursday night, Charlie walked off on his own accord. But he apparently couldn\u2019t help but return \u2014 likely this time in search of a snack. <\/p>\n \u201cCharlie was back at the village last night but he decided not to ice skate,\u201d Murin said.<\/p>\n \u201cUndoubtedly the bear is drawn to the ice rink in search of food, and the odors associated with food and garbage,\u201d Steve Searles, wildlife author and California bear expert known as \u201cThe Bear Whisperer\u201d said. \u201cAs the winter has not arrived yet, bear sightings will be common until the snow flies.\u201d<\/p>\n