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California couple found a bear family swimming in their pool
A couple in Sierra Madre caught two cubs and the mother bear swimming in their swimming pool. (Video: Storyful)
SIERRA MADRE, Calif. - A couple in Southern California watched from afar as a family of bears came into their backyard and swam in their pool.
In a video shared by Tiffany Kress via Storyful, the bears can be seen crawling towards the wall of Kress and her husband's, Kevin, backyard in Sierra Madre. When the couple realized the bears were on the wall, Kress can be heard saying repeatedly, "go inside."
"We always grab our dog first and head inside and lock our sliding glass doors," Kress told KTVU.
The two young cubs went to the backyard and entered the pool first. Meanwhile, Kress and Kevin can be heard making comments about the cubs' swim technique.
"The upper body strength is not great," said Kress as one of the cubs struggled to get itself out of the pool.
The couple did not appear to be scared or concerned at all. They enjoyed having the bears as company.
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"We love it! We keep the motto of ‘love them but keep them wild,'" said Kress. "When you take necessary precautions to live well with nature, it takes away a lot of the fear and concerns. We never feed them or entice them in any way but respect them and give them their space."
A few minutes into the video, the mother bear reappeared and can be seen coming down the wall before taking a dip in the pool.
"This is happening," said Kevin when the mother bear jumped the wall and strolled by the pool.
The video was eight minutes, but Kress said the three bears were in the yard for about 15 minutes before they left. They also came back an hour later and four more times within the following week.
The couple is no stranger to bears, having seen many of them in their neighborhood.
"During the late spring and summer, we see bears walking behind our block wall almost daily," Kress said. "Last October, two bears came into the yard and one cub jumped up onto my sliding glass door. And in May, a teen bear came in for a swim by itself."
This story was reported in Oakland, Calif.