In Gatlinburg, Tennessee, a mom bear and her two adorable cubs made headlines over the weekend when a human family discovered how quickly and where a black bear decided to do her grocery shopping.
The human family’s food had been packed up in the back of their pickup truck when the mother bear showed up; her babies learning a lesson in how to follow mom’s example of going shopping.
The man who owned the truck, along with the groceries, spotted the bear approaching, and common sense reminded him to step away from the black bear. Not only was mom bear shopping for free in the man’s truck bed, but mother bears are known for aggressively protecting their young.
Check out the brief TikTok video posted by CBSNews:
Near by, a woman yelled at the bear, and obviously the sow (mom bear) wasn’t listening. The mom is seen carrying off the grocery bag as her twins follow.
The man, wisely packed up the rest of his groceries quickly – likely not taking any chances the bear could return for some more groceries.
Needless to say the clip went viral, garnering more than 6 million views with thousands of comments; this one being this writer’s favorite though:
Just a single mom trying to provide for her children
If there’s a lesson to be learned, it’s one that warns people not to leave any food around where bears could be hunting. This is the time of year that bears are eating as much as they can in order to store fat reserves for the winter.
And this is also a time for humans to realize our wildlife has been consistently crowded out of their natural habitats, and it is up to all of us to respect all life.
(The story was originally reported by PetHelpful on Sep 20, 2025, where it first appeared in the Pet News section.)
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