392. The Commissary

A bear has trespassed into an Alaska military base commissary, stolen a fresh peach, relieved himself on the floor, and escaped before authorities arrived.

The commissary is on a United States military base in Alaska. Military bases in Alaska exist, among other purposes, to defend against threats from the north and to project force in the Pacific region. They contain weapons, personnel, and logistics infrastructure. They also contain commissaries, which are grocery stores for military members and their families. The bear trespassed into the grocery store. It stole one peach. It then defecated and left.

Authorities arrived after the bear had gone.

I want to document this sequence carefully, because each element is meaningful. The bear identified the commissary as a target. It entered. It browsed, or at least located a specific item it wanted, which was a fresh peach. It took the peach. It then performed a biological function that indicated a level of comfort with the space. It departed before anyone could respond. At no point did the bear encounter consequences.

(The fresh peach is a detail I keep returning to. The commissary presumably stocks many items. The bear chose the peach. This may have been opportunistic. It may also reflect a preference. The bear did not take a can of processed food. The bear took fresh produce. This suggests the bear has preferences, which is information the military base was apparently not in possession of before this incident.)

Military bases have perimeters. They have gates and guards and procedures for entry. The bear did not use the gate. The bear did not have authorization. The bear also did not have identification, a Common Access Card, or any of the documents required of the humans who use the same commissary. The humans go through a process. The bear did not.

The solution would be to prevent bears from entering the commissary. This is presumably being evaluated. Bears in Alaska are numerous. They have been there longer than the military base. The commissary has peaches. These facts are in some tension with each other and will need to be resolved by someone who has more experience with Alaska than I do.

The bear has not been apprehended. Authorities arrived. The bear was not there. These are the facts as they currently stand.