Bears find power poles very tasty

Imagine a 300-pound beaver with a propensity for power poles.

That's essentially what they're dealing with at Bigfork in northern Minnesota.

It seems that tough-mouthed black bears there have a strange hankering for wooden power poles. The bruins are standing on their rear feet and chewing the poles to the core about 6 feet above ground, threatening a bear-induced blackout.

About 22 poles owned by North Itasca Electric Cooperative might need to be replaced, at a cost of up to $60,000.

Local officials are stumped.