Do bears drink alcoholic beverages?

[cgundersen]

I kind of asked this rhetorically in a thread Mike M. had going in Backpacking, but I certainly do not have the answer. I tend not to put alcoholic beverages in my bear can (unless they fit easily), and have never lost any to a bear. But, that may be serendipity. Has anyone contributed to the delinquency of a bear, intentionally or otherwise?
CG

[ERIC]

They seem to LOVE beer. On more than one occasion, I've seen the aftermath of a bear getting into a six-pack or more. I'm not sure about 151, but it's been my experience that a bear will bite into just about anything simply to see if it's any good. Whether or not the bear likes it after biting into it doesn't really matter in my book. Whatever it bites into is pretty much destroyed.

[rlown]

my horses love beer. anything stronger puts them off. not saying that's a sign. no bear has touched my 151. left out aside from the pack (i like my pack) .. of course, there's always a first, and go with god if they get into a quarts worth.

I've seen them first hand rip a pack for a tube of toothpaste but never for 151.

[cvr]

I once had my lexan flask of bourbon destroyed, while my friend's vodka that was sitting right next to it went untouched. I am not sure if I was simply unlucky or if the bear was atrracted to the sweeter smell of my libation. There was no sign telling if the liquid was actually consumed or simply drained onto the ground and absorbed. There was a good 8 ounces left, so I hope, for his sake, that the bear did not drink it!

[Haiwee]

Bears love beer. We had a sow get into our cooler once at the Dinkey Lakes trail head. Fortunately there were only three beers left, so I doubt she got too buzzed.

[oldranger]

I think I posted this story once before on another thread but I once returned to an early season spike camp and went to retrieve my single can of beer that I had stashed in a small seasonal stream. You guessed it. The can was on the streambank, empty, with a couple of holes that were obviously made by some large teeth.

Mike

[Allyn]

I'm pretty sure they drink beers. Happened to me when I was out with some friends fishing. When we came back to camp we saw three bears at our tent where we had the beers and they were poking around with them. I told my friends:

"OK guys, I figure the only way to get to the truck is to really tick these bears off. Then they'll leave and we can go home. So, Ed, you take the one on the left, the little cub with the broken leg, and I'll take the one in the middle, the little cub with one eye and a hurt paw, and Joe, you take the one on the right, the huge silvertip mama grizzly bear with blood-encrusted claws, the big teeth, and froth around the mouth"

So Joe says: "Hey, wait a sec, I'm supposed to get this monster ticked off, and you guys get the cubs ? That's not fair!"

"Now, now, Joe. We all have our bears to cross."

I'm sorry but it seemed to fit the thread!!!

[frediver]

Rainier Ale missed a perfect advertising opportunity a couple years ago.
A campground bear was found passed out next to a pile of Rainier cans.
IIRC it was over a case but only one 6pk of a different brand was opened.

[Cross Country]

Once at Laurel Lake out of Hetch Hetchy I saw a bear wade into the lake and steal my beer and drink it. Trust me, that was a real downer.

[East Side Hiker]

I know bears love beer. I think all animals love beer. I have heard of bears and chipmonks and etc. stealing beer when they can.