When Dean Hornberger and his girlfriend Samantha Eigenbrod saw a photo of a bear who had been struggling with an object stuck on his head for over a month, they decided to try to find and help the bear.

What might have been a straightforward rescue turned into an adventure when they caught up with the bear.

The young black bear had been roaming through Clarion County in western Pennsylvania with what looked like a bucket over his head. According to Krissy Elder, who snapped the photo that Dean and Samantha saw, the Pennsylvania Game Commission was contacted but they told her they could not do anything while the bear was healthy and “mobile.”

Dean, who is an animal rescue volunteer, enlisted help from a few of his friends to help him with the rescue, which took place on Labor Day in 2014. They searched for a few hours for the bear and were about to give up when they saw him on the side of the road.

Dean first tried to wrestle the object off the bear’s head, but it was stuck on too tight and the bear slipped out of his grasp and ran away. The rescuers gave chase and ended up in a giant mud hole. They soon discovered that the “bucket” was actually a rubber air bag normally used to cushion tractor trailers and was fastened tightly around the bear’s neck with a metal ring.

The video is pretty unbelievable and we do not suggest anyone attempting rescues like this—but it is nice to see a happy ending for the curious bear.

Watch what these gutsy men did to help free the bear in the video below and share the rescue with your friends!

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Much like human mothers, mama bears are very protective of their young, however for them, it’s a much more intense world out there in the wild. They have to protect their cubs from everything…

There’s certainly no denying every mother’s connection to their children, regardless of the species, and it’s fascinating to witness in the wild.

Mother bears have a battle with their young right from birth as many grizzly males will possibly attack them in attempt to breed the female again. Cubs typically stay with their mother for 1-3 years, and sometimes as often as 4 years, however she won’t breed until the young bear has separated and went off on its own.

Especially since cubs are also some of the cutest young animals out there, as they come out looking just like teddy bears for the first bit of their life.

This brown bear mother was out catching some fish for her and the cubs, a favorite for bears in Alaska.

As she grabs onto the salmon, her cubs are out in the water learning the ropes. She heads back in and one of the cubs jumps right onto her back and holds on to save some energy on the way in.

As the description on the video explains, this is a very young cub:

“A spring brown bear cub or COY (cub of the year), meaning the cub was born that spring, riding on its mother while crossing an Alaskan river, located within Katmai National Park and Preserve.

They tend to do this when very young and small. Not all cubs and mothers behave this way. Mothers tend to allow this behavior for only a short time.

As the cubs grow it slows her down from getting food and teaching them all the necessities in order to survive.”

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Tough enough to withstand the impact of a train and subsequently father seven in 10 cubs within the area, the world's toughest bear is quite the beast.

Nicknamed "The Boss", the mega-sized, 600-pound bear is believed to be the largest and oldest inhabitant of Banff National Park, Canada, where the beast hibernates and hunts for food.

The Boss is believed to have fathered 70% of the cubs within his territory and sits top of the food chain in the area, with the 43 stone titan even killing other grizzly bears.

Jason Leo Bantle has captured images of The Boss, who "doesn't pose for long" but is known as "one of the last bears in the area" to sleep in the park.

Bantle said: "The Boss, known to be in his mid-twenties, has somehow achieved longevity when many grizzly bears, a species known to be sensitive to human presence, tend to succumb in densely human areas.

"As a result, he is possibly the largest bear in Banff National Park, with an estimated weight of 600 pounds.

Considering one of the few other people to receive the nickname "Boss" is Born to Run legend Bruce Springsteen, the titan that tears through other grizzly bears is in good company.

Bantle continued: "He can be recognized by his right ear, which is missing a portion of the top and distinguishes him from all other grizzlies in the area.

"He spends a large amount of his time along the train tracks foraging for grains spilled from the railcars and foraging off other animals that may have been struck and killed by trains.

Considering one of the few other people to receive the nickname "Boss" is Born to Run legend Bruce Springsteen, the titan that tears through other grizzly bears is in good company.

Bantle continued: "He can be recognized by his right ear, which is missing a portion of the top and distinguishes him from all other grizzlies in the area.

"He spends a large amount of his time along the train tracks foraging for grains spilled from the railcars and foraging off other animals that may have been struck and killed by trains.

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‘We were all a little shocked,’ says eyewitness to family of bears swimming at South Lake Tahoe

Footage has sparked a debate online that showcases a bear and her cubs swimming at a California beach during the heatwave currently engulfing major swaths of the US West.

In the video, a mother black bear is seen swimming in Lake Tahoe with her three cubs on a crowded beach with people trying to beat the heat on South Lake Tahoe. According to new reports, the temperature hit 32C. Temperatures have recently hit as high as 48C.

Some believe the bear was running away from the heat. However, locals have pointed out that bears are not as scared of people as many believe.

Throughout the heatwave, there have been reports of animals being impacted by the record-breaking temperatures the region is experiencing. Habitats have been impacted by the forest fires, droughts and other environmental consequences.

“I live in Lake Tahoe, this isn’t weird. We run into bears at least weekly at my house. More so because I walk my dogs twice a day. They don’t bug people. It hasn’t been over 92 the past week. Yes, that is hot for this time, but not abnormal to see a bear & cubs taking a dip,” wrote someone in response.

“We are in their territory when we’re up in the Foothills and the Sierra [Nevada],” Lt Nelson Resendes from the Placer County Sheriff’s Office told KCRA. “Don’t feed them, don’t entice them, don’t provoke them and, obviously in a setting like this … don’t approach them … respect their space.”

Local authorities, such as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Placer County Sherriff’s Office, are monitoring the situation and working to tackle the problem of bears ending up in areas with high levels of human population.

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BEAT THE HEAT: The record-breaking weekend temperatures in the West drove this bear family to seek relief in the cool waters of Lake Tahoe. https://t.co/CZaiomFtoE pic.twitter.com/D1Vhx4PI9B

— ABC News (@ABC) July 14, 2021

A family of boaters saved a young bear they spotted swimming with a large plastic jar stuck on his head.

Tricia Hurt and her family were fishing on Marsh-Miller Lake in Wisconsin when they spotted the bear with the bin over his head. The bear had been spotted on land by locals for several days in a row, but now the bear was swimming in the middle of the lake and struggling to survive.

Not only was the bear was in danger of drowning as the container was slowly filling with water, but it was struggling to breathe.

Tricia instructed her son, Brady, to steer the boat close to the animal while her husband, Brian, attempted to pull the bin off the bear’s head.

Brian told KARE 11 that he could hear the bear struggling to breathe. He wasn’t able to pull the jar off in their first attempt because the plastic was too slippery.

They tried again as the exhausted and frightened bear swam away from their boat. Tricia directed Brady to get in front of the bear but makes sure to voice her concern that the bear not end up in the boat!


After several attempts, Brian successfully pulls the plastic container off of the bear’s head much to everyone’s relief. Tricia happily tells the bear to, “Swim happy.”

Brian said the bear immediately could breathe more easily when the bin was removed. And Tricia shared on Facebook that she “Never dreamt we would ever do this in our life time,” and added, “He made it to shore after all that.”


The container stuck on the bear’s head was a large bulk Cheesies container and illustrates just how deadly plastic garbage can be for wild animals. For the safety of all animals please make sure to dispose of your garbage properly.
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One couple was treated to an ultra-rare sight on their Albertan road trip. What they thought was just an ordinary family of grizzlies turned out to be more after they realized one baby had an all-white head.

Parks Canada said they're putting "measures in place" to protect the white-headed bear cub. Calgary resident Julia Turner Butterwick told Narcity she and her family were on their way home from Banff National Park when they spotted the strange bear. It was Sunday, June 14.

"We've seen quite a few bears on our drive, we saw probably three or four grizzlies and three black bears that day," she said.

"We came across this mama grizzly she was just right on the side of the highway."

When she noticed the mama had cubs with her, Turner Butterwick took out her phone and snapped a quick picture. It wasn't until later that she discovered one cub's strange appearance.

"We didn't stop, we just kept going, we didn't want to disturb them," she continued. "When I zoomed in on the photo I said yeah, he's got a fully white head I've never seen anything like that."


Turner Butterwick later reported the sighting to Parks Canada. They thanked her for sharing the picture and said it was "really unique."

"They said that they were going to put some measures in place to help protect the family and just asked that I not release the exact location," she said, to stop photographers from searching for the bear.

Narcity has reached out to Parks Canada for comment and we will update this story when we receive a response. Several wildlife experts told Global News that they'd never seen anything like the cub's specific colour pattern.

However, all-white grizzlies have been reported before, and very recently, one had been spotted in Banff.

"I love seeing wildlife, I love animals, and so anytime I see animals in the wild, it's exciting. It's especially exciting for me to see it through my four-year-old's eyes," said Turner Butterwick. "I just wish I took more than one picture."

UPDATE Wildlife experts say the death of a mother grizzly bear and her two cubs — including a rare, blond-headed grizzly — in Banff National Park is a major loss to the population.

Parks Canada has said that an adult bear was struck and killed Sept. 3 by a Canadian Pacific Railway train on a rail line through the Alberta park.

“She was about 10 years old and had been known to Parks Canada,” Dwight Bourdin, resource conservation manager with the agency’s Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay field unit, said in an interview this week.

The bear, known as No. 143, spent most of her time in the backcountry of Banff and the adjacent Yoho and Kootenay national parks in British Columbia, Bourdin said.

She was spotted earlier this summer with two cubs, including the one with a blond head and brown body. But Bourdin said neither cub has been spotted since before the mother bear was killed.

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