Nature Imitating Life

A black bear knows what he likes - Rainier Beer. A black bear in Washington learned to break into campers' ice chest and steal beer, but only Ranier beer.

"He drank the Rainier and wouldn't drink the Busch beer," said Lisa Broxson, bookkeeper at the campground and cabins resort east of Mount Baker.

And, he was darned good at it. So good, in fact, he overdid it somewhat.

When state Fish and Wildlife agents recently found a black bear passed out on the lawn of Baker Lake Resort, there were some clues scattered nearby - dozens of empty cans of Rainier Beer.

They were only able to trap the bear after baiting the trap with Raineer beer.

Agents then used a large, humane trap to capture it for relocation, baiting the trap with the usual: doughnuts, honey and, in this case, two open cans of Rainier. That did the trick.