VENTURA COUNTY, Cali. — A black bear cooled off in a residential swimming pool in California Saturday evening, police said, and a bear — likely the same one — entered someone else’s kitchen Sunday morning.
Saturday’s sighting was reported shortly after 6 p.m. in northeast Simi Valley, said Simi Valley Police Department Sgt. Josh McAlister.
A resident called police after seeing a small bear in their swimming pool and watching it rummage through trash cans, the department said. Officers responded and also contacted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday, a resident in the area of Cochran Street and Mount Sinai Drive said a black bear had entered the kitchen through an open back door.
When officers arrived, the bear was still in the kitchen. It was eating some food that had been left out, McAlister said.
The bear soon left through the back door and scampered up a backyard tree, he said.
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The department has gotten other calls from residents in the vicinity who have seen a bear. The sightings have been in the same general area, where homes near the northeast edge of the city adjoin open space.
McAlister said it was likely the same bear that entered the pool and kitchen, but there was no way to know for sure.
Wildlife officials were contacted again after Sunday’s sighting.
Authorities reminded people not to approach a bear or block its path.
“Bears will generally find food and go back to their habitats,” department officials said in a release. “Please do not approach any bears if seen. Although cute, they are still wild animals.”
