This shoplifter was beary selective.
A mischievous Canadian bear was nabbed on security video sniffing around inside a Vancouver convenience store — and making off with, of all things, a pack of gummy bears.
“Then this little bugger has the nerve to sit at the end of my driveway, look at me and eat it,” Jay deGoesbriand, who owns Tiptons Gas Bar, told the Vancouver Sun.
“He just decided to come in and do some shopping … without paying!” the storeowner said.
DeGoesbriand had finished sweeping up inside the shop around 6:30 a.m. on Monday and was sipping his morning coffee when he spotted the black bear strolling into the shop.
He said the furry critter sniffed around a bit before he made his selection, then wandered outside for a quick snack.
“That’s definitely a first for me,” he told the outlet. “He wasn’t aggressive at all. He didn’t knock anything over. He never even looked at me. It was pretty weird.”
The close encounter of the bear kind isn’t entirely foreign to Lake Cowichan, where the store is located.
According to the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service, there were more than 6,000 bear complaints in August alone, nearly double the 3,500 sightings in August 2022.
Bears typically forage around for food to gain weight before their hibernation, although it’s unlikely this shoplifting bear will be stuffed after a measly 75-cent pack of gummy bears.
Karen deGoesbriand, the shocked shopkeeper’s wife, was thrilled by the whole thing.
“He had a sweet tooth,” she told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “I know it’s a wild animal – I just wanted to give it a hug. I just thought it was awesome.”
Meanwhile, Jay deGoesbriand said the Monday morning heist wasn’t the last time he spotted the sticky-pawed thief, who returned to his store on Tuesday.
This time he kept the door closed, he said.
With Post wires