Earlier this summer I learned that July is peak bear sighting month in the US. #TheMoreYouKnow. The reasons for this are fairly straightforward: the perennial quest for food (same, ursa, same), and trying to cool down from the dang heat! Based on what our species is doing to the planet, I have a feeling certainty that bear sighting season will be expanding from one month. It already has in California, with a case that unfolded over the weekend. Out for a bike ride in La Verne, a Southern California town near LA, Eric McDonald and Jamie Kirk paused their trek when they heard moaning coming from a water tank. Upon closer inspection (by peering through a small hole on top), the humans discovered a mama bear with three cubs trapped inside. Oh no! What followed was inter-department cooperation among multiple jurisdictions to get those bears out safely, which was successfully done after the bear family spent about 12 hours in the tank. And the likely reason they entered the tank in the first place? Trying to cool down!

Rescue video captured the moments as the mother emerged from the tank, pausing to look around while first responders tried to reassure her.

Glendora residents Eric McDonald and Jamie Kirk were the first to spot the distressed bear family inside the tank around 8 a.m.

“We climbed up top, and there’s a small hole and right away we see a bear staring at us, kind of holding on to the walls because it was full of water,” Kirk said, as reported by ABC News.

Firefighters quickly launched “Operation Care Bear” to save the family, who had been stuck inside the dark concrete structure for over 12 hours.

Authorities believe that the bears were likely seeking water amid the hot and humid weather when they stumbled into the narrow, one-foot-wide opening on top of the cistern.

Before firefighters could act, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife drained the remaining water from the tank to prevent the animals from drowning.

The original opening of the tank was far too small for first responders to enter or for the mother to squeeze through.

The crew members used a power saw to cut a larger access hole into the side of the tank. They then lowered a ladder inside, creating a makeshift ramp for the bears to climb out.

While one brave cub had managed to escape on its own earlier in the ordeal, the remaining three bears required a bit more coaxing.

“They were exhausted, so it took a few minutes for the first cub to come out, then the second cub got out, and then finally the mother,” said LAFD’s Keith Navarre, according to the news outlet.

Authorities confirmed that the lone cub who had escaped earlier was also safely reunited with the rest of the family as they trotted back into the wild.

[From NY Post]

OPERATION CARE BEAR. Stop it! (Don’t stop.) And hey, the California state flag doesn’t have a bear on it for nuthin’! I mean, yes, the Ursus arctos californicus depicted on the flag is the California grizzly bear us Homo sapiens hunted into extinction by the early 20th century… But we’ve evolved since then! (Marginally.) Now when a bear family is in need, we send as many agencies as it takes to help out the galumphs! Except for, of course, the one intrepid cub who got herself out on her own. She reminds me of Lady Gaga’s French bulldog Miss Asia, who said “f–k this” when the horrible dognapping went down in 2021, leaving her brothers to fend for themselves. On the one paw, I admire Miss Asia and Miss Bear Cub’s nerve; the chutzpah to say, “I’m getting myself out of this situation, thankyouverymuch.” On the other paw, what does the family say to each other once the left-behinds and got-aways are reunited? AWKWARD!

Anyway, please waste valuably spend the rest of your day watching the rescue footage below. They interviewed people on scene, like the runners who reported the distressed bears and the firemen. I think my favorite commentary, though, was a third man, whose title was simply captioned as, “Worried About The Bears.” Worry no more, friend. Worry no more.