Mama bears set up baby nurseries under California homes. See them cuddle their cubs
Mama bears are setting up baby nurseries under homes in California, videos show.
At least three mother bears nestled into spaces under Tahoe homes to give birth to their babies and shelter them until they’re ready to emerge in April, according to the BEAR League, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting bears in the area.
The nonprofit has been monitoring the three families and sharing videos on Facebook of tender moments between one of the moms, Sugar Bear, and her baby, Snowflake.
The nonprofit shared a video showing one of the other mama bears for the first time on Thursday, Feb. 13.
The video shows the bear crawling out of a hole she tore into the side of the home to munch on some snow before she “went back inside to her helpless little two-pound cub,” where she “cuddled him back into her warm, loving arms.”
The league didn’t include the names of the mom and cub, and the video doesn’t show baby bear or the den. But the video still delighted the hundreds of people who watched it.
The league observed Snowflake’s mom Sugar Bear hydrating in the same way, and shared video of the cub waddling around alone inside the nursery.
“In this clip from during the night, Sugar Bear has left Snowflake for a bit, and based on one of our other cameras, we know she was eating snow at the entrance to the den,” the league said. “Mother bears have done this for millions of years, and it’s part of a cub’s upbringing. He gets the opportunity to try out his little legs by climbing around in the nest without mom lying on top of him, building up strength every day that he will need to climb trees just a couple months from now.”
“Some very wonderful homeowners to let mama bear and cub live there,” someone said under the video of the mama bear crunching on snow outside the den.
“OMG the Winnie the Pooh slide back in,” another person said, commenting on the way the bear squeezes itself back into the opening.
The bear had torn through an existing door to turn it “into her own private entry,” the league said in the comments on the post.
“Pretty cute when she climbs back in!” someone said.
This story was originally published February 18, 2025 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Mama bears set up baby nurseries under California homes. See them cuddle their cubs."
