Many American camping zones are riddled with beer intrusions. Any experienced camper knows to secure food away from a tent, especially since bears commonly prowl and invade campgrounds.

At the Baker Lake Resort in the state of Washington, a fun-loving beer caused some problems with its party tendencies. The bear was found passed out on the lawn among 36 scattered empty cans of Rainier beer, puncturing them with its teeth and sharp claws.

Apparently, the thirsty bear had made its way into campers’ coolers before beginning its drinking frenzy.

“He drank the Rainier and wouldn’t drink the Busch beer,” according to Lisa Broxson, a local bookkeeper. Sergeant Bill Heinck also confirmed that the bear tried one single Busch before discarding it and ignoring the rest. It’s hard to blame it…

Wildlife experts attempt to chase the bear away from the campsite, causing it to climb a tree and sleep things off for a few hours – but it was back the next morning. The enigmatic black bear already knows that the campsite is riddled with spoils. Maybe it wants some food, or maybe it returned for some more beer like a 19-year-old frat guy. Either way, back to the drawing board…

This obviously begs the question – do bears even like beer? Is this phenomenon something that’s been studied or observed before?

“Pretty well anything that has an odor and digestible calories, bears will be attracted to. Beer—once it’s open—has its own odor, and that odor could certainly attract bears,” says Stephen Herrero of the University of Calgary, an expert on bear attacks.

According to Outside Online, the animals have been recorded getting drunk on fermented apples in the past, so it’s not too out of the ordinary that they’re also attracted to certain brands of alcohol.

Herrero goes on to say, “I’ve been looking at bear attacks for 40 years plus, and I can’t think of any that were triggered by beer,” implying that an alcoholic, beer-crazed bear is a rather rare sight.

The local wildlife experts start to think outside of the box, using all of the tools at their disposal.

They set up a big, humane trap in order to relocate the bear to a safer area, using bait to lure the bear – classics like honey, doughnuts… and open Rainier beer cans.

The plan works! Sergeant Heinck reflects on the event, stating, “This is a new one on me. I’ve known them to get into cans, but nothing like this. And it definitely had a preference.”

Clearly, it has a soft spot for Rainier beer. This black bear and its bear beer belly is no longer running amok around Baker Lake Resort, to the benefit of a lot of happy campers.

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Source: Outside Online, Animal Channel, NBC News