Rhubarb: The Flavour That A Pie-Stealing Bear In Colorado Skipped

Could bear noses detect if a food has highly toxic component such as oxalate found in a plant called rhubarb? That question arises after reports came out over the weekend that a bear in Colorado ate all 24 pies from the bakery owned by the Colorado Cherry Company on Monday but snubbed the one with the strawberry-rhubarb flavour.

To enter the bakery, the bear broke through a window. While the animal gobbled all the pies in a part of the kitchen not covered by security cameras, the giveaway that the pie-monster was a bear was it left two large paw prints on a window, reports Mashable.

To avert another bear break-in, the bakery boarded the glass-less window. More pies could have been stolen had the bear broken into the establishment’s freezer, unless all pies inside the freezer had rhubarb in it.

The bear even took two pies as take-aways, according to Tech Times. Despite the window now boarded up, Mikaela Lehnert, daughter of the company’s owner, is apprehensive the bear may return again when the bakery is closed because it apparently enjoyed the taste of its pies.

“We have a feeling he know it’s here so he’s going to come back,” said Lehnert. Bears apparently like their pies because another outlet of the company in Loveland had also been broken into by a bear, she adds. However, because of the news of the bear break-in, more people are coming to their outlets to buy their pies.

Commenting of Cherry’s Facebook page, Melissa Gatis wrote, “Can’t say I blame the bear! Your pies are awesome. Susan Hamilton added, “The pies are now bear approved!”

Other flavours of its pies, aside from its famous cherry pie, include beef, chicken and pizza. Besides pies, the company also sells butters, chilis and jalapenos, ciders, fruit spreads, juices, mustards, olives, and pickled and marinated vegetables.

Since many animals in the wild sniff their way around, bears probably have experienced eating rhubarbs and suffering from its toxic elements, which could explain why the pie-monster skipped the strawberry-rhubarb flavoured-pie. Oxalate is present in rhubarb, particularly its green leaves.

Some studies identified the compound anthraquinone glycosides, found in the rhubarb leaves, is possibly harmful to people. Oxalate, the base component of oxalic acid – the substance present in writing inks, stain removers and metal polishes – becomes a bleaching agent when combined with oxygen.

Ingestion of oxalic acid could result in weakness, burning sensation in the mouth and death because of cardiovascular collapse. All these point to the possibility that the Colorado bear may have been a thief, but it was a wise and health-conscious pie-monster.

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