Camper Convinced Cozy Dog Was Actually a 'Bear' Invading His Campsite

When camping in the wilderness, it’s important to be prepared to meet wildlife. I’m always astonished when I see people on campgrounds complain about the woodland creatures they may meet while out and about in the wilderness—this is their home, people. You are the visitors here. Fortunately, most people who enjoy the great outdoors respect the wildlife, making sure to secure their food and to keep a safe distance from the local fauna. And sometimes, they take precautions a little too far—like this camper who was a little overconfident that the creature he saw in the next campsite was a real live bear.

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In this video, a woman is amused to discover the “bear” her first-time camper boyfriend was so concerned about in the next site over is actually just a Doberman in an oversized black hoodie.

Oops.

Related: Bear Caught Breaking Into Car in Condo Parking Lot Like He's About to Take a Road Trip

But it’s a perfectly honest mistake. After all, in that get up, it’s shockingly the exact shape as a bear. Even in the video clip, you might mistake the silhouette for a bear until she zooms in.

“That’s the bear I would choose to be in the woods with,” says one commentator.

Others agree that the poor dog is astoundingly bear-shaped, and maybe the outfit is not the safest one for him to make, lest someone make the same mistake and take a potshot at him.

(Please do not fire your gun in a campground, even at what you suspect is a bear.)

“We Thought It Was a Bear”

In the comments, people share that “I thought it was a bear” is actually a shockingly common scenario when it comes to careful campers.

One says that this mistake cause an actual evacuation on an island campground. “Families were starting to leave because of the bears making sounds,” he writes. “However, it was snoring coming from the other end of the campground—my friend's dad. Also, there were no bears on that island ever.”

Another concurs. “We had a similar story. My husband heard something rustling in the bushes when we went camping in Utah. He freaks out and tells me to hide in the truck. Nothing came, but later we talked with some other campers that said cows roam the area. We call it our bear-cow camp trip.”

Precautions To Take When Camping in Bear Country

But there really are bears in woods and wilderness areas all over North America, and there are precautions people should take in areas where the animals are known to roam.

Keep your campsite clean and, if possible, try to keep your sleeping area and eating areas as far away from each other. Many know about hanging food and even odorous toiletries like toothpaste off the ground in “bear bags” to keep them safe, but it turns out that bears are smart and have begun to figure out how to break into these long-used deterrents. Now, many areas suggest and even require storing food in bear-proof canisters or food lockers.

It’s important to bear-proof your campsite, not only for your own safety, but because bears who get used the idea that campsites are free buffets are far more likely to frequent them and harass campers, which not only endangers others, but also the bears themselves.

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