Same grizzly bear cub… same.
I think we’ve all been in this exact same situation before, right? We walk into a restaurant or some other establishment, take one good look around, and then nonverbally say, “NOPE.” In the latest examples of humans and animals not being so different, that’s exactly what this little grizzly bear cub did at Grand Teton National Park.
There’s an abundant variety of wild animals that call Grand Teton National Park (located in northwest Wyoming) home. Visitors are likely to see bald eagles and ospreys flying above, bighorn sheep traversing the mountainous terrain, and animals like elk, moose and bison wandering along in the flats of the property.
There’s also a fair amount of black bears and grizzly bears that live throughout the park of the Teton Mountain Range.
I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this, but just in case, if you plan on visiting the national park (or any national park, really) soon, stay away from the bears. Keep at least 100 yards between yourself and apex predators… that’s the National Parks Service guideline, and I always do my best to pass that life-saving advice on.
In this video below, it appears that a grizzly cub walked into an area where people were already. It’s hard to avoid a bear when they do that, but as you’ll see, it looks like everyone stayed inside their respective vehicles. T. Lyn Neufeld, a wildlife photographer in the area, captured the baby grizzly as it thought about walking across a road within the national park.
It hilariously took a look at what was in front of it, got overwhelmed, and turned back in the direction that it came from, as Neufeld explained in the caption for the footage:
“One of Grand Teton grizzly #1063’s first cubs taking one look at the big world and deciding, ‘Nope, that’s not for me!'”
As I touched on earlier… I think we’ve all been there before.
If you watched that video and thought, “Where is the grizzly cub’s mama?” the answer is close by. It’s a mother bear’s duty to raise her young until they are able to fend for themselves out in nature. That process usually takes around one to two years, and obviously looks different from sow to sow. This little cub is very young, and still has a lot to learn (and a lot of growing to do) before it can live out on its own.
That being said, it already has the art of adulting (A.K.A. saying “NOPE” to certain situations) down, and social media users that stumbled upon the video went straight to the comment section to voice their support of the grizzly cub’s decision to turn around and not face the world so soon:
“Smarter than the average tourist.”
“Wish I could just ‘Nope’ out like that.”
“Don’t blame that baby at all.”
“That’s how I feel about going to work on Mondays.”
“Adorable and wise baby.”
“I’m with you little cub, it’s a scary place out there.”
