Three bears were caught on camera sneaking into a backyard fountain to beat the un-bear-able heat.
A mama bear and her two cubs were captured from various angles — by home security and handheld cameras — quenching their thirst and attempting to cool off in a water feature in the backyard of a California home.
In the first of the two videos, both of which were shot on Tuesday, the mama bear leads the way, moseying into view and drinking from the fountain. Her two brown cubs then catch up, clamber onto the fountain’s ledge and start drinking.
A trio of California brown bears were caught on camera, sneaking into a backyard and attempting to chill out in an unattended water fountain
The bears could be seen wading around in the fountain and drinking from a spout
After a little while, the mama bear decides its time to take a bath and climbs into the fountain, slowly easing herself into the cooling water.
The cubs, meanwhile, develop a fascination with the water spouts, pawing them and sipping straight from them, in imitation of humans taking advantage of a drinking water fountain.
The mama bear watches impassively as one of the cubs frolics in the water while the other leaps from ledge to ledge. At one point, she thwarts her cubs’ efforts to draw her into splashing around along with them.
The bears’ cooldown is interrupted after about two and a half minutes, when a neighbor’s dog starts barking.
As before, mama bear leads the way, reluctantly dragging herself out of the fountain and wandering off. After one final battle with the water spouts, her two cubs scamper after her.
The home owners caught the bears’ fountain frolic from another angle. The two cubs (shown) were wrestling each other when a dog started barking and scared them off
The cubs then parkour over a retaining wall and chase after their mother, who has already left
The second, handheld video appears to have been shot from inside the home.
In this video, the two cubs can be seen wrestling with each other, shortly before the dog starts howling.
The bears look up, see that mama bear is gone, then quickly hare off after her.
From this angle, it’s clear how the bears were able to enter the backyard — there’s an opening between the fence and the yard’s tree line.
In a quick display of ursine parkour, the cubs hurl themselves up and over the yard’s retaining wall and disappear from whence they came.
Bears are frequently caught on cameras by homeowners and security cameras as they take advantage of unattended, man-made, backyard bodies of water during summer months.