Family Records Close Encounter With Grizzly Bear In Yellowstone
A Montana family got up close and personal with a grizzly bear while visiting Yellowstone park recently, and they managed to capture the entire encounter on video.
David Peters, who hails from Billings, Montana, was traveling through Yellowstone with his wife, niece, and the daughter of a friend, according to Yahoo! News, when the group encountered several grizzly bears. Traveling along the aptly-named Beartooth Highway on June 19, Peters stopped his vehicle so that the group could take video and pictures of the bears. It was at that moment, however, that one particular grizzly decided to get a closer look at the humans and their car.
“They were just grazing mostly on the grass and weren’t bothering anybody. Then, one of the bears decided to check out the cars across the street and he did,” Peters recalled. “Then he dropped down and bee-lined for our vehicle.”
Family’s encounter with Grizzly bear ‘best day ever’: http://t.co/xcMPyFG7YY pic.twitter.com/P8y0qkyA08
— WSBT (@WSBT) June 28, 2015
Peters, who had exited his car, quickly retreated back into it as the bear approached, according to WKBN. As the grizzly moved to investigate, it jumped up on the front of the vehicle, placing its paws on the hood and its face in front of the windshield. Peters’ wife, Valerie, managed to capture the entire incident on camera.
“We’d seen bears before,” Peters noted. “The bears didn’t show any sign of aggression. They were more curious than anything else.”
Though he managed to make it back into his vehicle safely, Peters nonetheless chides himself for not paying closer attention to the bears, noting that the situation could have unfolded poorly.
“I was kinda playing ‘which way is he going’ with the bears. It’s five seconds of inattention that was really not good. It could’ve been disastrous if that bear had come straight for me instead of the front of the car like he did.”
Earlier this year, tourists in Yellowstone were filmed running from a group of bears. As the Inquisitr previously reported, the onlookers had moved too close to several bear cubs, sparking the ire of their mother.
Speaking with his friend’s 7-year-old daughter after the bear encounter, Peters asked her if the experience would give her nightmares. According to the young girl, however, seeing the bear so closely made it one of the best days of her life.
Luckily, the group were able to leave the encounter with just a few scratches on the hood of their car. When the vehicle’s engine was started, the grizzly bear retreated, running off into the forests of Yellowstone.
[Image: Valerie Peters via ABC News]
