‘Marty’ the bear found hibernating under family’s deck. Now he’s a social media star
_fitted.png "The black bear has stayed under the deck for multiple weeks hibernating.")
A Plainville, Connecticut, family was in for a surprise when their dog began barking outside.
Vincent Dashukewich went to investigate, and when he popped his head under the porch, looking back at him was a black bear, he told news outlets. The family decided to contact the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to ask what to do, but they were told to let the bear stay.
“They said to just leave him alone, let him be, as long as he’s not creating a disturbance or, you know, bothering anybody,” Dashukewich told WFSB.
The family decided to name the bear Marty and allow him to spend the next few months hibernating under their deck.
A TikTok video, posted by Tyler Dashukewich, shows the black bear sitting under the deck on a pile of leaves, moving his head slowly and sticking out his tongue. The video now has nearly 16 million views.
“The reach has been crazy the first TikTok videos blew up that’s when I created the socials for Marty,” Vincent Dashukewich told WFSB.
So began the Marty.the.Bear TikTok account, now with four videos of the bear reaching tens of thousands of views. The account has a few thousand followers and has posted a longer video of Marty lifting his head and making a soft growling noise from beneath the deck.
Black bear sightings are common in Connecticut, and the population has been growing since the early 2000s. Officials warn against feeding bears and recommend leaving a bear alone if found on your property.
This story was originally published January 11, 2023 at 4:23 PM with the headline "‘Marty’ the bear found hibernating under family’s deck. Now he’s a social media star."
