A mountain home fit for a senator, complete with hot tub, views — and bears

A family of bears wandering out of hibernation joined U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) in Western North Carolina Tuesday morning.

A tweet from Tillis on Tuesday made the rounds with 14,000 views on his photo showing two bears near a home he was staying in.

A member of his staff later shared a video with The Charlotte Observer showing there were even more bears on the property.

Six bears — two adults and four cubs — circled a covered hot tub in the mountain home’s backyard, according to Adam Webb, Tillis’ communications director.

Two inspected a truck parked in the mountain home’s driveway. One hopped in its bed, backed up by a cub planted at the front wheel.

“Always enjoy the hospitality in Western North Carolina, the senator tweeted, “including free car inspections.”

It’s not clear which town or area Tillis was staying in on Tuesday. He lives in Cornelius.

Bears in North Carolina

April marks the start of increased sightings across the state. The bears typically emerge from hibernation in spring on the hunt for convenient food, said Ashley Hobbs, a North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission special projects biologist.

People have called the commission with bear sightings as early as January, but calls volumes peak in April, especially out west — especially near Asheville.

The tourist beacon made up about 700 of 2,000 bear sighting calls across the state last year, according to Hobbs.

“People think that we would like to have a call about every single bear,” Hobbs said, “but there’s so many bears — that’s not necessarily the case.”

The bears are a spectacle in one way, though. They aren’t like the ones from the movies.

North Carolina black bears actually go into “false hibernation,” according to Hobbs.

While the bears generally enter their dens between November and January and emerge in March or April, the state’s temperate climate means they don’t completely recluse in caves for months on end.

They’ll come out for food in winter, or they’ll go for garbage, bird feeders and loose food, Hobbs said.

Its important to secure bear attractors to reduce unwanted run-ins, Hobbs said, and people should call if they need more information about bears or think a bear is unhealthy, injured or in danger.

For information on bear safety, visit bearwise.org. It’s O.K. to snap a photo if the bears are at a safe distance doing “normal bear things,” she said, but if they start approaching it’s important to maintain a distance and back away.

Black bears are found in approximately 60% of North Carolina’s land area, according to NCWRC’s website. The bears’ comeback from low population levels and remote dens in the mid-1990s is “one of wildlife management’s greatest achievements,” according to the commission.