Perhaps he was looking for something for lunch or a toy to occupy his time, whatever the reason it was certainly the first time a bear has wandered into the Animal House pet store in Revelstoke.

In all of Tiffany Vigue’s eight years working at the store, she has never encountered a ‘shopper’ of this calibre.

A video taken yesterday and submitted by Braydon Roebuck to Black Press shows a black bear sauntering into the pet store as the front door was open.

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A passerby captures a black bear going into Animal House pet store in Revelstoke at around 2 p.m on June 3. The store said the incident is a first. #animalvideo #revelstoke #bears #ohgosh #bearaware #animals_captures #bearsofinstagram

A post shared by Revelstoke Review (@revelstoke_review) on Jun 4, 2020 at 10:50am PDT

Vigue said she and a coworker were in the back room at the time, getting stock. The coworker spotted the bear first. The two stayed in the backroom trying to upload the live feed of the store’s security camera to see where the bear was in the store.

However, Vigue said the camera wouldn’t upload, so she came out of the backroom with a broom to scare it off. But the bear had already left and nothing was out of place.

Vigue said it was probably the smell of pet food that attracted the bear.

“We’re such an animal-friendly place, even the bears want in.”

The store also has birds and fish.

She said the store is going to keep their door closed from now on.

“Even if it gets hot,” she said.

Two black bears have already been euthanized in Revelstoke this year as they both had become habituated and dependent on garbage.

READ MORE: Two bears killed in Revelstoke so far this year

The Revelstoke Bear Aware Society said black bears have been spotted in every corner of the city this spring and are getting into all manner of attractants.

The society fears the year could shape up for a busy bear year, potentially like 2016, when 26 bears in Revelstoke were killed.

“We’re seeing a lot more activity downtown then we would normally this time of year,” said Maggie Spizzirri, from Revelstoke Bear Aware Society in an interview last month with Black Press.

It’s possible, said Spizzirri, bears are becoming habituated or lingering snow from the winter is driving them into the city.

“The city is like a buffet for bears,” she said.

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