Dumpster Diving Bear Cub Rescued After Getting Cookie Jar Stuck On Its Head

(New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection)

While the relationship between Mother Nature and the Human World might be getting a bit too cozy, turning wild animals into bargoers and birthday bashers, which while adorable, is not good for either party involved, it’s still pretty adorable to imagine a bear cub with a cookie jar stuck on its head getting a big rescue.

When someone leaves animal crackers around, wild animals are going to want a taste, which is what happened to a 6-month-old black bear cub emulating Winnie Pooh. He went for a discarded oversized cookie jar in the absence of honey, reports NorthJersey.com.

After he got his head properly stuck in the plastic bin, the little guy wedged himself in a tree, proving to be quite a challenge for rescuers. They climbed 40 feet up into the tree to rescue him and give him a large dose of fluids after his dehydrating ordeal.

“It was an oversized animal cracker jar. We suspect he got it from a neighbor’s trash container. We did find trash on the ground,” said a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

“He was trying to eat what remained in the jar and pulled the jar over his head,” he added. “He got spooked and went up into the tree.”

Various fire departments were also onhand with two of the DEP staff, all coming together to save our hero from what could’ve been an awful outcome.

Rescuers set up netting in case the bear fell, and then tranquilized him so they could cut the jar off his head.

He’s now in safe hands and is expected to be just fine. Here he is taking a nice, cool dunk after his ordeal:

Out of that blasted tree, at last.

Now’s a good time to remind you all: Take care of your trash if you live in an area with foraging wildlife, animal-proofing trashcans and not leaving bins out overnight unprotected, the DEP says.

Bear cub rescued after head gets stuck in cookie jar in Ringwood [NorthJersey.com]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist