Bear Caught Relaxing “Just Like a Human” On A Couch Someone Threw Away

In 2017, a black bear caught relaxing went viral when a lady photographed him sitting on a discarded couch at a dump, like someone who had just come back from a long day at work and needed to catch a break [1]. The Northern region of Manitoba in Canada is the total bear planet where black breaks, grizzly bears, and polar bears surprisingly live together. 

The big guy was caught sitting in the perfect binge-watching position as if he was waiting for some popcorn and soda to get started on Season 15 of Criminal Minds. 

The woman named Mandy Stantic and her family were driving around a popular dump in Lac Rochet where bears can often be seen foraging for food. They’d taken their little daughter on an expedition to watch the bears, but what they hadn’t been expecting was to see one of the wild animals sitting on an old couch with his hips curved up in the most human-like position.

It was too hilarious not to take a picture. “You don’t see that very often. He’s just posing, just like a person,” Stantic said to CBC News [2]. 

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“Popcorn and chill”

Stantic’s then two-year-old daughter could be seen poking her head out of the window to enjoy the scene. Stantic said it was a moment she would never forget and she has the incredible photos to always remind her. 

“You don’t see animals kind of imitating [humans] — sitting with their legs crossed, arms over the chair there. You don’t see that very often. He’s just posing, just like a person. [it] was pretty unusual and unique,” she said.

While the dump is certainly not an aesthetic beauty spot, a lot of people from the area and beyond often drive down there solely to watch the bears and their antics. Stantic works as a nurse in South Indian Lake, but it’s a regular part of her activities to drive through Lac Rochet for the wild animals.

“They had lots of lakes, and roads that you could drive on for a good couple miles, despite it being pretty isolated up there,” she said.

At that time of the year, before berries begin to bloom in the forests, the bears would rely fully on the food thrown away in garbage bags at the dump. Whenever a vehicle pulls up and someone takes out their trash, each one would try to outrun the others to see who would get to the jackpot first.

“It’s all forest surrounding the dump for hundreds of miles,” Stantic told The Dodo. “There’s more than enough to eat for them, but the berries aren’t out yet in the spring, and garbage is easy pickings so that’s why they all congregate there.”

You won’t see it in the photos, but Stantic said the bear caught relaxing might have also been staring at a discarded TV from his position on the couch. Perfect!

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Black and grizzly bears seem to have an affinity for exhibiting human behaviors. A few years ago, another black bear was caught on camera, passed out and snoring after downing 36 cans of beer he stole from a park’s campsite [3]. The campers had gone on an expedition and came back to find their site thrashed, with one huge guy lying drunkenly on the ground, his hand clasping the last can his sore head could take. They noticed the bear only drank the Rainier Beer and it took the efforts of a group of rangers to get him out of the place. He couldn’t walk for long and it was such a funny sight when he climbed up a small tree to take a much-needed nap. He reportedly came back the next day for seconds but the park official had been lying in wait. Hilarious!