Apparently this black bear has eaten one too many salmon and thinks he’s a stronger swimmer because of it.
Some backpackers spotted two black bears in Yosemite and started making noise to scare them off. The camera man, who was camping nearby, joined in on helping to make them leave and one ends up jumping into the water.
The bear fights hard, as you can see in the video, but it ends up not being strong enough and gets pulled down a short waterfall and into some rapids. The bear eventually manages to pull itself out of the water after it gets tossed around for a bit.
It looks like it could use a few more tips from the salmon if it wants to ever try this again!
“As I am filtering my morning water around 10am where I made camp the night before, I hear a couple other passing backpackers start to shout and clap. After a moment I realize what’s happening and I turned around to see two curious adolescent sized black bears approaching. After I joined the other two backpackers in making sure they don’t get any closer, the first one veers off from us and hops in the stream a short ways from where we’re standing near a bridge over that same stream. I started laughing when I initially realize it’s fighting hard against the current. Obviously my amusement turns to nervous laughter as it starts getting pulled toward me, still assuming it’s going to be strong enough to pull itself out. By the time the bear and I both realize it’s not getting out, the current has already sucked the bear down the waterfall behind me and shoots the whitewater rapids tumbling end over end until the video ends. You can see it occasionally surfacing if you look close. It took me a moment to get over my shock as I look for it without scanning for it with my phone. I shut off the video fearing the worst when the bear scampers out on the opposite side of the river as far as I can see.”
