Black bear dines on Thanksgiving trash in San Gabriel Valley

Friends and family weren’t the only ones to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, although this entree was significantly less traditional.

A black bear was spotted rummaging through a trash can for a Thanksgiving meal at a home on the 400 block of Wedgewood Court in Duarte.

The bear was seen around 1:30 p.m., climbing on walls and walking through the street as it searched out a holiday banquet.

Footage captured at the scene showed the bear searching for scraps in a neighborhood trash can, sniffing around a discarded Taco Bell bag, before casually strolling through the neighborhood and then retreating to the nearby hills.

The neighborhood is located just outside the Angeles National Forest, so wildlife interactions are likely common. But authorities still urge residents that live in and around lush forests to secure their trash bins and avoid attracting visitors.

“Bears learn quickly and will return to areas where they find food. Not only can this be dangerous for people, but it is also harmful to bears,” the National Park Service says.

Fall is among the most active times of the year for bears to seek out food, as black bears enter a temporary state called “hyperphagia,” also known as the fall feeding frenzy, in which bears consume as much as they can in preparation for the winter.

For information about how to properly secure your trash receptacles to avoid attracting bears and other wildlife, click here.

Friends and family weren’t the only ones to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, although this entree was significantly less traditional. A black bear was spotted rummaging through a trash can for a Thanksgiving meal at a home on the 400 block of Wedgewood Court in Duarte. The bear was seen around 1:30 p.m., climbing […]