Things Did Not Go As Planned
When you wake up in the morning, the thought of how a bear’s morning in the wild is going probably never enters your mind. Today, however, that will change. This is a story you will not want to miss. It is a story about a mother bear and her cubs who teaches us a very important lesson. The story involves sacrifice. The story involves fear and loss. It also stirs up a sense of hope. It is a beautiful picture of a bond that is unspoken among every being in nature. It is the loving bond of family and coming together to save a life, even if the family involves a different species.
A Treacherous Lake Crossing
The story began one cold day in Russia. There is a beautiful freshwater lake called Lake Vygozero. It is located in the northwestern region of the country. The lake is in the Republic of Karelia and is about 480 square miles large. It is part of the Vyg drainage in the White Sea. The water can get rather frigid when temperatures begin to dip into wintery weather conditions. Though, the average annual temperature in the region is 2.6 Celsius, or 36.7 degrees Fahrenheit. The water in this lake can get so incredibly cold that the temperatures have been known to fall to as cold as -4 degrees Fahrenheit. That is -20 degrees Celsius.
A Large Frozen Lake
Seeing as how the lake is so large, and the temperatures are below freezing, the water is far too cold for humans or most forms of wildlife. Getting from one side of the lake to the other seems like an impossible feat without succumbing to the bitter cold environment. So, why would a mother bear think she and her cubs could jump into the water and swim to the other side without consequence? After all, mama bears are known for their instinctual maternal protective care. Whatever her reasoning, she had decided to do just that. She and her cubs began their journey through the cold waters.
A Bad Decision
It is unclear what this mother bear was thinking when she made the decision to attempt to cross the bitter cold lake with cubs in tow. She was about to discover that her babies may not be as tough as she may have hoped. Her choice to step into the lake with her two cubs clinging onto her back was about to be tested. The three set off on their journey across the lake. It didn’t take long before it became crystal clear that she would not be able to keep going while holding the weight of the cubs on her back. Was her strength and will power enough to get the trio across the freezing lake?
Some Mamas Have No Instinct
As the mama bear began to swim across the lake, it was not long before the cubs began to struggle to keep up with her. While mother bears are known to ferociously protect their cubs, even being willing to sacrifice their own lives to save their offspring, this particular mama bear did not seem to have that natural maternal instinct. Or maybe, she literally froze in the moment. The cubs began drifting away as they headed far out into the center of the lake. The pair of cubs were attempting to swim for dear life, struggling with no indication of clear guidance of what to do next.
Mama Bear Abandons Cubs To Save Herself
Whatever her thinking, or lack of problem-solving skills, she had now essentially abandoned her cubs. This behavior is puzzling and disheartening seeing as how female bears especially are thought of as ultra protective parents. She began to swim away leaving them flailing helplessly in the bitterly cold water of the lake. It seemed as though her desire to survive overruled her natural maternal instincts. Regardless, the end result was a dire situation where two baby bear cubs were in serious danger. They needed help to get safely to the shore and out of the cold lake waters their mother had brought them into.
The Strong Current Was Too Much To Conquer
Maybe it wasn’t all lack of parenting skills that made mama bear swim off leaving her cubs in danger. The lake did, after all, have a very strong undercurrent. This powerful undercurrent made the lake an incredibly challenging spot to swim across. Apparently, the mama bear did make an attempt to get her cubs safely across the cold waters, but ultimately the current must have been too strong for her. She spent some time battling the current with the baby cubs in tow clung to her back. But, then she found herself losing the fight. Her cubs were being torn apart from her as she swam to save her own life.
Abandoned And Struggling Cubs In Need Of Help
As the mother bear found herself being pulled away from her cubs, she tried to save herself. Maybe she was hoping that the cubs would somehow make it safely back to her on their own. She swam for some time before she safely made it to shore. When she arrived to the dry banks, however, her cubs were far behind and struggling with all of their might to stay afloat. The two cubs were now abandoned by their mother and struggling to stay alive. They were exhausting themselves and were desperate for help to make it across the freezing lake waters to safety.
The Odds Were Against Them
The odds of the two young bear cubs surviving this journey were not very good. They were very young cubs with very little experience swimming in such bitterly cold water. The two were now left on their own. Terror was most likely tormenting the two bear cubs as they fought against panic as the freezing water continued to rush all around and over them attempting to pull them underneath the strong currents into an ice-cold watery grave. If they were to survive the frigid water temperatures and make it safely to the other side on dry land, they would need some help.
An Unsuspecting Rescue
As the two cubs sat flailing in the water trying to stay adrift, a very unsuspecting rescue was on its way. When everything was at the darkest outlook and the idea of the little cubs surviving was extremely grim, there was hope. A boat suddenly appeared on the horizon. The boat had fishermen aboard. When they noticed the cubs struggling in the water, it was very clear that something was wrong. They saw no mama bear anywhere nearby. The fishermen knew it was up to them to do something to attempt to rescue these small bear cubs. Did they have what it took to save the cubs?
The Rescue Boat Came Closer
As the boat containing rescuers in the form of fisherman, grew closer, it was very clear that the cubs were in dire danger. Time was not on their side. The two bear cubs appeared to be incredibly worn out and thoroughly exhausted. They struggled as they tried to continue treading water and swim to keep their heads above the very cold water. The crew of fishermen knew that it was up to them to save them. They just didn’t know how to go about rescuing the bear cubs, Then, an idea came to them. They were, after all, a fishing boat. Onboard were nets and equipment used to haul in fish. This time, they would be hauling in bears.
They Were Being Watched
As the crew of fishermen went about trying to come up with a solution as to how to use their nets and fishing gear to haul in the baby cubs to safety, they noticed that they were being watched. Though mama bear had abandoned her babies in the cold water, she was seen close by on the shore. She was carefully and intently watching to see if her cubs would indeed be saved. The bear was large and intimidating to the fishermen who questioned whether or not they should attempt the rescue of her cubs. They were afraid she may try to climb aboard the ship to intervene.
Coming Up With A Fast Plan
The crew of fishermen were faced with a dilemma, and they knew they had to make a fast decision to come up with a plan. They knew the struggling cubs needed rescuing. They also knew the mother bear could pose a serious threat to their own safety. Even though they needed to act quickly, they waited just a little while longer until mama bear was farther away on the shore. As they waited, they were coming up with a detailed plan to get the cubs out of the water and to safety. They carefully considered every angle as to how to handle the dangerous situation.
Capture The Rescue On Video
The fishermen knew whatever they did had to be done with extreme caution. Anything could turn deadly at any turn for either them or the cubs. The bears they were attempting to rescue were just babies, but they were still wild bears. They also knew that fishermen are known for coming up with whopping tales about their catches, so they wanted to document the entire adventure on video. Otherwise, they feared no one would believe their story. Capturing it on video turned out to be a very good idea. They recorded the entire process of rescuing the bear cubs including the moment one of the bear cubs reached out his paw and tried to climb aboard.