Motherless bear cub was sleeping on Virginia family’s porch, peeping in the windows

A Virginia family recently found itself in a predicament, when a black bear cub waddled onto its porch and decided to stay.

This included not just sleeping on the porch, but shamelessly peeping at them through the windows, with its little nose pressed to the glass.

The year-old cub had lost its mother, leaving it alone, sick and malnourished, according to The Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro. The center is about 100 miles northwest of Richmond.

It was coincidental but opportune that the family’s neighbor is also the center’s president, Ed Clark, officials said.

A video shared Feb. 22 on YouTube shows it took Clark just seconds to scoop up the cub, a feat accomplished by taking the door off a crate and sitting it in the 31-pound bear’s path. The cub walked into it, the video shows.

“Normally, yearlings depart from their mothers in their second spring (roughly 16 months of age),” said Amanda Nicholson, vice president of Outreach & Education at the center. “This bear could’ve survived on his own without mom, though he is currently suffering from a case of mange (caused by mites).”

The homeowners who played host to the cub were not identified, and the center did not say how long it stayed on the porch before they decided to call Clark.

A medical report issued by the center says the cub “was bright and feisty, through very thin” when admitted on Feb. 16. Its prognosis is listed as “guarded,” the report said.

“The bear had significant hair loss all over his body, as well as some crusting of the skin, a classic symptom of mange,” the report states. “No other significant injuries were found.”

The center is a wildlife hospital and veterinary educational facility dedicated to “native” species in Virginia, including birds, mammals and reptiles.