Smokey? Black bear busts secret Utah pot farm

'This bear is definitely law-enforcement minded,' sheriff says

Video

Bear shuts down pot farm
Sept. 5: Utah officials raid a marijuana farm, but teeth and claw markings show a bear had already scared the farmers away. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.

msnbc.com

Archival Video

Bears caught on tape
June 30: New surveillance cameras reveal what bears do in their spare time. NBC’s Michael Okwu reports.

Today show

Get weird & wonderful news on Twitter

Looking for more strange and fun stories and oddball videos? Follow @msnbc_wow.

Video: Weird news

Suspect eats evidence
Nov. 24: Police in Twinsburg, Ohio pulled over a man on suspicion of bank robbery but the suspect ate the incriminating evidence.

Smell of success: Poop jewelry returns

Nose down landing in Calgary

Police cam: Suspect eats possible evidence

Flying ham hits Paula Deen

Monkey roams neighborhood, evades capture

Benefits lost over Facebook pics

Slideshow

Guinness World Records
See the biggest rubber band ball, oldest bungee jumper, longest ear hair and much more.

more photos

Discuss odd news on Newsvine

The horrifying moment a bear mauls a man who climbed into his zoo enclosure

Retiree crushed beneath store Christmas tree while shopping

Darwin book worth up to $100,000 found on shelf, bought for a few shillings

Arnold Schwarzenegger Caught Parking His Car Illegally

Man Marries a Videogame's Virtual Girlfriend

Get even more oddness on Newsvine!

updated 10:07 a.m. ET Sept. 5, 2008

PANGUITCH, Utah - One Utah community is cheering a special bear — but don't call him Smokey.

Investigators say a large black bear raided a clandestine marijuana growing operation so often that it chased the grower away.

"This bear is definitely law-enforcement minded," said Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins. "If I can find this bear I'm going to deputize him."

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Deputies found food containers ripped apart and strewn everywhere, cans with bear teeth marks, claw marks and bear prints across the Garfield County camp on Tuesday.

Perkins said the operation on Boulder Mountain included 4,000 "starter" sacks of pot and 888 young plants.

"This particular bear apparently was not going to give up and basically chased these marijuana farmers away," Perkins said. "Our county is so tough on drugs that even the wildlife are getting in on the action."