A California vineyard knew it had a trespasser with very good taste.
Night after night, a thief was barging past the fences at Chappellet Winery in Saint Helena and gorging on its Cabernet Franc crops. The intruder was leaving a trail of broken wires, empty vines and grapes behind.
That’s when the Napa Valley vineyard decided to really investigate the smash and grab.
A camera trap finally captured the very hairy culprit.
“When a California Black Bear gets into your vineyard and starts eating your Grapes you must realize just how beary great your fruit is!” the vineyard posted on Facebook.
“Yep, that’s right this guy has been climbing over a seven foot fence to have a midnight snack of our Cabernet Franc grapes,” the winery added.
The folks at Chappellet don’t really mind — and aren’t really worried, but the bear does keep breaking the fence.
So a diversion plan was hatched.
Staff members fixed the fence and placed mounds of grapes outside the fence to keep the bear happy — and the fence intact.
“It has worked so far, he didn’t come back last night,” the winery added.
The camera also snapped images of a fox and a bobcat.
“Last night’s visitor was quite a bit smaller than our Cab-Bear-ney ‘Franc,’ Chappellet posted on Monday.
The bobcat was completely uninterested in the grapes left for the hungry bear.
“We love living and working alongside nature and animals,” the winery added. “Lucky us to live near such beautiful animals.”
Photos Chappellet Winery/Facebook
