British Columbia·Video

Black bear takes a break from B.C. heat in backyard swimming pool

A Nanaimo, B.C., man was surprised to see a black bear taking a dip in his backyard pool this morning.

'He beat me to it!' said Brian Irwin, who just cleaned the pool at his home south of Nanaimo, B.C.

RAW: Black bear cools off in a backyard pool

9 years ago
Duration 0:50
A Nanaimo, B.C., man was surprised to see a black bear taking a dip in his pool

Brian Irwin is used to catching bears, raccoons and even cougars on the surveillance camera at his property south of Nanaimo, B.C.

But they've never taken a dip in his pool before.

Just after 7 a.m. PT, a black bear wandered up to his backyard pool and decided to go for a swim.

"I looked at it and, 'holy smokes!' I burst out laughing," said Irwin when he watched the surveillance video an hour later.

"I thought 'There's that darn bear, he's in the pool just after I finished cleaning it and putting all the chemicals in, I was ready to go for a swim myself and he beat me to it!'"

Temperatures reached 25 degrees in Nanaimo today, and Irwin wonders whether the bear wanted to cool off.

A few years ago, another ursine visitor peeled back the pool cover for a drink, he said.

With files from CHEK News