Screenshot/StoryfulA lineman in Cochise County, Arizona, is being praised after safely coaxing a stubborn bear off the top of a utility pole before it could be electrocuted.
Werner J Neubauer told Storyful he was alerted to the situation after receiving a call about a bear perched dangerously close to live equipment.
“I de-energized the equipment and worked with a fiberglass stick to get her to climb down,” Neubauer said. “My wife Tina filmed the incident with my phone.”
Viral footage shows Neubauer carefully engaging with the bear while maintaining his distance, nudging the animal just enough to encourage it to move without hurting it or himself.
After a brief standoff, the bear finally slipped off the pole and comically slid down to the ground, clawing at the wood on the way down.
The animal wasn’t injured and immediately took off toward another pole, briefly considered climbing it, then changed its mind and wandered away.
This isn’t the first time Neubauer has handled a high-risk rescue like this. In 2021, he responded to a similar call involving a young bear dangerously close to being electrocuted on a utility pole.
And bear-pole encounters go back even further. In 1989, a black bear climbed a pole in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after being chased by police.
She was shot with a tranquilizer meant to knock her out, but instead hit a transformer on the way down, causing an explosion. Despite the scare, she survived and was reunited with her cub days later.
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Not every viral bear story involves electricity, though. In November, a Japanese chef got into a fight with a bear and only survived by using a judo throw on it. The chef quickly returned to making ramen, even with blood pouring down his face.