Hiking in some parts of the world is idyllic. You’ll see nothing but butterflies, bunny rabbits, and the occasional baby deer.
In other parts of the world, however, hiking can be a whole different scenario. Venturing into regions that aren’t typically inhabited by humans means for a much greater likelihood that you’ll come across a pretty frightening wild animal or two.
Most of us have our own horror stories about the sorts of animals we’ve encountered while in the middle of the woods, but can you ever say that you’ve been investigated by a bear?
That’s exactly what happened to a group of hikers in Mexico, when a black bear approached them while they explored San Pedro Garza García.
SUSTO 👀en Chipinque en Mty NL. Cada vez es más frecuente ver osos en la zona de chipinque que entran a casas o se topan con humanos. Que TEMPLE de esta jovencita 😱 pic.twitter.com/ruyjXvWRZo
— lázaro Ríos (@lzaroRos5) July 18, 2020
Now, these women have probably all seen the cute videos of bears playing together, itching their backs on trees, and disciplining their little ones. But having a full-sized black bear approach you is an entirely different story.
Black bears have been known to kill humans in the past, though they usually react out of fear. But that wouldn’t lift our concerns about the size of their claws and teeth if we ever found ourselves in the company of a black bear ourselves.
In the video, the bear can be seen sniffing around one woman in particular, standing on his hind legs to sniff her face while his paws are wrapped around her waist.
We have no idea what the woman is thinking in this moment, though she seems to be acting deliberately calm, continuing to use her phone as if nothing is happening.
The two other woman standing near to her are also pretending to be disinterested in the bear, though one is clearly nervous, and slowly edges away from their new friend.
The bear hops down onto four paws, wanders around the woman, then hops back up again. This happens several times, leading us to think that she’s either wearing an enticing bear-attracting perfume, or her blood just smells particularly tasty.
Interestingly, the women are doing the exact opposite of what you’re supposed to do to scare a bear away. According to Humane Society, you should always stand and face the bear directly, spread your arms out to look as big as possible, and make lots of noise.
Perhaps these women didn’t actually want to scare the bear – or maybe they simply didn’t know how best to react to it. After all, if you’ve never encountered a bear before, it’s unlikely that you’ll be an expert on what to do if one suddenly gets too close for comfort.
In a video taken from another angle, the woman who seems to be the bear’s favorite can be seen snapping a selfie while the big guy sniffs her hair. Hey, she might be frozen in fear, but her friends are never going to believe that this happened without photographic evidence.
Luckily, though there seems to be a mutual awkwardness between the bear and the hikers, the situation eventually resolves itself and all are unscathed.
According to the video’s caption, the bears in the local area are becoming more daring, and encounters between bears and humans is now more common than ever. Perhaps we’ll take this one off our hiking bucket list for now.
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