Now-viral video shows the moment a family boating on a Wisconsin lake saved a black bear swimming with its head trapped in plastic.
The scene unfolded on Marshmiller Lake, just north of Eau Claire, as Tricia, Brian and Bradley Hurt came across what they believe was a baby black bear with its head stuck in a plastic tub.
"Never dreamt we would ever do this in our life time. Out on Marshmiller Lake yesterday with Brian Hurt and Brady Hurt when we spotted this poor bear," Tricia Hurt wrote on Facebook.
Tricia Hurt recorded footage of the rescue as Brady Hurt steered the boat and Brian Hurt repeatedly pulled the plastic to remove it from the bear's head.
With their first attempt unsuccessful, the family circled back around for a second try to get the plastic off.
"Just don't want him crawling in here once you get it off," Tricia Hurt can be heard saying in the video.
A couple tugs later and the bear was free from the plastic.
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"We saved our little bear," Tricia Hurt says in the video.
She later reported the bear made it safely to shore after the ordeal.
According to Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources, the state is home "to a thriving black bear population estimated at more than 24,000 bears."
"The black bear's primary range is located in the far northern third of the state. Due to a growing population, bears are becoming much more common in the lower two-thirds of the state than ever before," the department's website reads.
