In three short videos captured by Timothy F. Basso, a mother bear and her five cubs can be seen playing with toys and swimming in the pool.

“I thought maybe they were going to get a drink and then move on,” Mr Basso said.

“But they pretty much started climbing in.”

The American black bear (Ursus americanus), the smallest North American bear, once ranged from Alaska across Canada and throughout the U.S., but it has been extirpated in many parts of its former range.

The present range of this species includes the wilder areas of the northeastern U.S. and Canada; the northern part of the Great Lakes states and western Ontario; the mountainous portions of New York, Pennsylvania, and the South Atlantic states; and the wild forested sections and timbered swamps of the Gulf and South Atlantic states, together with the mountainous regions of Mexico, the western U.S., Canada, and Alaska.

Adults reach a length of 5 – 6 feet (1.5 – 1.8 m), height at the shoulder of 2 – 3 feet (0.6 – 0.9 m), and weigh 200-300 pounds (90 – 135 kg).

Despite its common name, the black bear exhibits considerable variation in coloration, both among individuals from a single litter, and between populations from separate geographical regions. Front claws are generally longer than hind claws. The fur is long and coarse.

While the species typically forages during the night, it is potentially active at any time. Feeding is opportunistic, with a wide variety of foods taken according to location and season. In some parts of this species’ range, as much as 95% of the diet may consist of plant-based foods, such as roots, buds, berries, nuts and fruits.

Although appealing and generally harmless, black bears can injure humans when provoked and should be treated with caution.