WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE?

The bear is affectionately known as "Meatball" and sometimes called "Glen Bearian," because he had become a familiar figure in and around Glendale, California. 

For those of you are are not familiar with the southern California area, Glendale is in the foothills above Los Angeles.  Quite often wild animals will make forays into those foothill towns, mostly at night and mostly on nights before the trash pickups are scheduled.

The bear acquired his name this way:  he became adept at digging edible goodies out of residential trash bins on his first two forays into town; his most amazing fete was to get into a garage, open a freezer and consume a bag of Costco meatballs.

The wildlife authorities kept capturing him and returning him to the wilds above Glendale, but the town's leftovers still called to him and he responded.  However, the third and last bunch of "leftovers" had been planted by the authorities.  He was humanely captured and taken to Alpine, a small town near San Diego, where the "Lions, Tigers and Bears" sanctuary gave him a temporary home. 

As you can see from the picture above, not only does he have good food (sanctuary director Bobbi Brink says he loves avocados and grapes most of all) but he also has his own galvanized cooling barrel, where he can take a dip whenever he wants.  He obviously is taking all this in stride.

It is uncertain at this time whether he will remain at this place (the santuary must expand if he does) or whether he will be placed in a larger facility in Colorado.  Regardless, donations are already coming in from people who are charmed by this little fellow. 

It's nice on a day when it seems the world is falling apart to be able to talk about Meatball and about the kindness of people whose motto is "Live and Let Live."