In an effort to minimize bear to human encounters and protect hunters’ kills, an experiment was set up by electrifying a deer carcass that was reclaimed road kill. My assumption of the theory behind this experiment makes perfect sense. Theoretically, the bear would think that he’s coming in for an easy meal. When he attempts to retrieve meat from the carcass, he would be jolted by the electricity, encouraging him to run away and leave the meat. This experiment would, in theory, teach the bears to hunt for themselves and nullify the amount of meat obtained by scavenging, thus encouraging them to stay away from a hunter’s kill. What wasn’t taken into consideration for this experiment was the natural instinct to find the easiest way to accomplish a task. In the real world, it’s obviously going to be easier to devour a fresh kill than it is going to be to track, hunt, overtake, and kill the meal yourself. The persistence to achieve the goal of an easy meal apparently outweighed the inconvenience of the electrical shock, and as you will see below, ended with a rather unexpected result.
The lesson has been learned… It’s going to take a little more than electricity to deter this bear from getting his fresh meal. I have to admit, this video reminded me of Yogi Bear’s misadventures in Jellystone. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. The bear gets zapped, gives it another shot, and is zapped again. For some miraculous reason he decides to smack around the battery, disconnecting the power source. Once the deer carcass is no longer charged, he carefully tests the water. Once it has been decided that all is safe, the determined bear rips the deer down and drags it away to where the meal can be enjoyed in peace.