A small bear cub in the US state of Wisconsin recently found itself in trouble when it managed to get a plastic jar stuck on its head. Luckily, help was at hand for the animal. Tricia Hurt and her family were fishing when they came across the baby bear struggling to swim with the plastic container stuck firmly on its head. The Hurt family decided to lend a helping hand and the result of their rescue operation was one happy bear and a heartwarming video that is winning praise on social media.
According to Insider, Tricia Hurt and her family were fishing at Marshmiller Lake in Wisconsin on Sunday when they caught sight of the small bear struggling to swim. The family initially thought it was a dog, until Tricia Hurt, 52, realised it was something else entirely.
"I said, 'That ain't no dog. I think that's a bear,'" Tricia Hurt told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "We got closer and I said, 'Yeah, that's a bear that got hungry and got its head stuck in a bucket.'"
The black bear was struggling to breathe with the jar stuck on its head, so the Hurt family began a mission to rescue it. While Ms Hurt's son Brady maneuvered their fishing boat to get closer to the bear cub, her husband Brian leaned over the edge to grab the container and managed remove it after several attempts.
A video of the rescue operation was posted on Facebook. Watch it below:
Since being shared on Facebook on Sunday, the video has collected nearly 9 lakh views and hundreds of comments.
"Great job folks! Made my day to see kind-hearted people like you all do what you did to save a life," wrote one person in the comments section.
"You are awesome! Thank you for helping that poor bear," said another.
According to Ms Hurt, the bear swam back to the shore after the plastic container was removed from its head. "We just happened to be in the right place at the right time," she said.
"We honestly believe if we hadn't run into that bear, it wouldn't have made it to shore," Tricia Hurt added. "It was so disoriented, it didn't know where shore was and it was so tired."
