Can’t go over it, can’t go around it, can’t go under it, but you can hitch a ride on mother bear’s back to get through it.
You’ve got to give credit to this black bear cub. It either thought the water in the Lamar River was too cold, or it just didn’t feel like swimming, and it improvised. The baby animal went from having to swim through a body of water to perching up on its mom’s shoulders like a kid at Disney World.
And when you think about it, Yellowstone National Park is basically nature’s version of a theme park. The only real difference is that where we humans get our thrills from spinning rides and big drops on rollercoasters, animals get their adrenaline going by occasionally running for their lives from bigger animals trying to eat them.
The video picks up after the mother bear had already crossed the river and was waiting for her two cubs to follow her across. With the water flowing and the temperature cold to the touch, the cubs instead stayed back on the other bank, making the big bear come back to get them.
Once she got back over to her cubs, one stopped being hesitant and dove into the water, while the other one (the smart one) climbed onto the mother bear’s back and “got an Uber” across the river. As they approached the opposite side, the one that hitched a ride jumped off onto dry ground, barely ever touching the water at all.
Meanwhile, the other cub who wasn’t so lucky was still “bear-paddling” its way to the other side, and eventually made it, adorably shaking off the water from its fur and catching up to her sibling and mother.
The post was shared by the Instagram account Yellowstone Wolf Tracker, and even though this isn’t a video of wolves, it was still very much worth a share.
The video’s caption states:
“What’s the best way to get across the cold Lamar River?
Hitch a ride on mom!
We spotted this black bear in the river but her two cubs were hesitant to cross so she went back to get them and one of them climbed onboard for the crossing.”
Instagram users in the comments were definitely surprised to see the small cub be so resourceful, saying:
“There’s no place like Yellowstone!”
“This is so cute I can’t stand it!”
“There is no doubt that even animals are spoiled, haha.”
“Fantastic capture, Yellowstone never disappoints!”
