Hungry Bears Rob Human Graves in Northern Russia

Flickr user ucumari

A bear

We don't usually write about what bears eat here on the blog, but we happened across a story this morning with a bit of a Halloween-appropriate twist. According to CBS News, bears in northern Russia are so hungry -- thanks to a blisteringly hot summer -- that they're digging up human graves. The bears have eaten, "at least one body."

Last summer, Russia had its hottest summer on record, causing these brown bears to look for food closer to human settlements before their winter hibernation. Since the summer, domestic pets and livestock have been done in by the bears, leading to more fences being built in the area.

But the most disturbing image, of course, comes from the thought of desperate, starving, grave-robbing bears. Here's what CBS had to say about the incident:

A top-selling daily newspaper, Moskovsky Komsomolets, reported that one body was devoured in the village of Verkhnyaya Chova over the weekend. Two visitors to the cemetery shrieked at the shocking sight of the animal tearing into half-decomposed flesh, scaring the bear away, the paper reported.

Fortunately, we don't have to worry about bear attacks much in Los Angeles -- though we do occasionally have to keep an eye out for mountain lions. Our advice? Prepare yourself in advance, by learning how to cook bear, lion, and a few other strange meats (just in case).