Of all the places you don’t want to run into a black bear… “on a bridge” is high up on the list.
This terrifying footage below was taken in Glacier National Park in Montana. Wildlife is abundant there, as over 70 different mammal species call the national park home, and mule deer are often easy to spot across the beautiful landscape. More than three million people visit Glacier each year to try and catch a glimpse of the variety of wild animals (like bears, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep).
These tourists got more than a glimpse… they accidentally found themselves in an interactive, close quarters experience with a black bear.
Your best bet to not be mauled by a bear is to not get close to them in the first place. However, not every outdoorsman (and outdoorswoman) has that luxury. Sometimes, as much as you can try to avoid bears, the big furry creatures end up finding you. This group of tourists standing face to face with a black bear was just a matter of wrong place, wrong time.
It was also a matter of “nowhere to go” since the wild animal met them in the middle of a bridge.
This particular black bear was rather young and looked curious more than anything else. It wasn’t in attack mode, and instead seemed to just be feeling out the tourists that were standing on the national park bridge. You know the old saying of “They are more scared of us than we are of them?” That looks to be ringing true in this video.
That being said, it doesn’t make the encounter any less heart-pounding. The woman with her back against the bridge in the video stared right into the eyes of the apex predator at one point, and I’m sure there was a whole lot running through her head (like whether or not she had her affairs in order).
Fortunately, the black bear got spooked by someone speaking in a loud voice on the bridge, and eventually trotted back off in the direction it came from. If a bear ever does get close, experts advise that you make yourself as large as possible (standing tall with your arms over your head) while speaking in a very low, deep voice. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Hey Bear!” mentioned as a go-to saying in desperate time.
Bear spray is also a necessity when you are trekking through bear country. It doesn’t appear that these tourists had any, because if they did… I’m sure they would have deployed the repellant. These Glacier National Park tourists are very lucky to walk away from this close call unharmed.
Granted, black bears tend to be the most docile of the wild bears. But they are still bears, and this one could have enforced its power if it wanted to. Instead, it just got up close and personal with one of the tourists, and the sizable wild animal getting within inches of the woman on the bridge made for quite the viral video:
“A group of visitors reached a standoff with a black bear as the animal tried to cross a pedestrian bridge in Glacier National Park, Montana.”
