Black Bear Breaks Into Lake Tahoe Cookie Shop And Goes To Town (Video)

Lake Tahoe black bear

iStockphoto / Paul Low


A black bear broke into a Nestle Toll House cookie shop in South Lake Tahoe in a scene straight out of a cartoon. The bear quickly made itself at home, climbing over the counter and going straight for the cookies in the kitchen.

Onlookers both inside the cookie shop and outside were stunned by the brazen antics of the Lake Tahoe black bear. There is some colorful language in the background of the video. You can hear one employee questioning what he’s supposed to do as the bear helps itself to the Nestle Toll House cookies.

Black Bear Breaks Into Lake Tahoe Cookie Shop And Goes To Town

A local news story from KCRA News made light of the situation. They joked that this ‘black bear was working for free’ as it was pictured hunched over the counter admiring all of the delicious cookies:

The report states ‘there were people inside’ when the black bear wandered into the South Lake Tahoe cookie shop. That much was obvious from the video footage. What might be as obvious to people outside of the South Lake Tahoe area is just how brazen these black bears can be.

The video is relatively short. After the camera turns off, the police arrive on the scene and they are able to lure the Lake Tahoe black bear out of the store and back into the wild.

Bear activity in Lake Tahoe area

This area is a national hotbed for black bear activity. Almost exactly a year ago, a massive black bear went wandering into a 7-Eleven store near Lake Tahoe leading to some incredible viral videos:

And here was the local news report on that encounter:

It seems that close encounters with bears in the greater Lake Tahoe area are virtually a party of everyday life. I’d never encourage anyone to seek out bears in the wild. However, if you have never seen a bear in the wild and want to check that off your bucket list then the Lake Tahoe area might be a good place to start.