A Bear Walked Into an Ice Cream Parlor. The Strawberry Never Had a Chance.

The New York Times ^ | Aug. 22, 2025 | Mark Walker

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The black bear, which the authorities named Fuzzy, caused little damage but cleaned out much of the inventory at a popular parlor on south shore of Lake Tahoe.

Early Sunday morning, hours before the first waffle cone of the day was topped with a scoop at an ice cream parlor near the south shore of Lake Tahoe in California, a security guard heard a noise.

At first, he thought it was coming from a dumpster behind the parlor at Camp Richardson, a 128-acre resort in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. But when he aimed his flashlight in the container, it was empty.

Then, as he circled the building in search of the source of the noise, he lifted the beam toward the front window and saw a large black bear staring back at him. The bear was standing behind the counter next to the cash register, as if he were an employee waiting to serve a customer.

At 4:11 a.m., the guard called the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies arrived to find the bear behind the counter in the middle of a taste test.

The bear had slipped through the front door and gone straight for the ice cream, the authorities said. The ice cream parlor at Camp Richardson, about 60 miles south of Reno, Nev., offers 20 flavors and 13 toppings.

They have the classics, of course: vanilla bean, chocolate and strawberry. For the more adventurous, there’s coconut pineapple and strawberry cheesecake. Even green tea.

The bear, which the sheriff’s office nicknamed Fuzzy, sampled as many flavors as it could get its paws on, the authorities said.

Tubs lay overturned, ice cream half eaten, the authorities said. Paw prints stretched across the black-and-white floor like stick stamps.

The deputies startled the bear, which stopped eating but could not find the...

[Bookshelf]

Booooring.

[GreenHornet]

Was it them again Boo-Boo?

[Peter ODonnell]

He was charging the bear minimum for cones.