Hungry Bear Treats Family's Bird Feeder Like an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
We've covered it here before: Bears love eating bird food. Black Bears have a mixed diet of fruits, seeds, plants, insects, and yes, even honey. While these big beasties might sometimes spend 20 hours a day eating, this individual discovered a life hack when he happened upon a bird feeder. It certainly makes searching for food easier when you can just pull up to people's yards and feast.
The footage of the bear comes to us from ABC News, which captioned the video, "Authorities in Springfield, Massachusetts, warned locals to be on alert over the weekend after a bear was spotted roaming town-with this one seen prancing across a street and snacking on a bird feeder." Maybe leave your bird feeders empty for now until he skips town.
@abcnews Authorities in Springfield, Massachusetts, warned locals to be on alert over the weekend after a bear was spotted roaming town - with this one seen prancing across a street and snacking on a bird feeder.
original sound - ABC News - ABC News
In the video, we get to see him loping through the suburbs and then pulling the feeder off its hook. Trust us, the anti-squirrel mechanisms are no match for this tall guy. As long as he doesn't try to go inside and get into anyone's fridge, we're good.
Related: Bear Cubs Wrestle Outside North Carolina Home-Then One Tries To Let Himself In
Why Bird Feeders Attract Bears
As mentioned, bears eat a varied diet, and so they can munch on all kinds of available morsels. The Audubon Society explains, "As smart, opportunistic omnivores with a diverse and flexible diet, hungry bears are drawn to feeders for the same reasons as birds: Filled with seeds, feeders mimic natural food sources in easy-to-access containers. A standard 7-pound feeder is jam-packed with as [many] as 18,000 calories." If a bear goes house to house, he might never need to actually look for food again.
The Audubon Society warns that the bears' attraction to bird feeders can actually be a hazard, calling them "gateway foods" for the animals. Black Bears who live close to humans might also lose some of their natural fear of people and decide to stick around the neighborhood. It could start with birdseed and then lead to trash, pet food, or your grill.
Hopefully, we don't see a follow-up video of this guy opening up compost bins.
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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 6:20 AM.