Kids will be kids, and cubs will be cubs. In an endearing video gone viral, a baby bear cub follows his mother in the falling snow. But, while the mama bear is all business, the cub lags behind to playfully try and catch a few flakes.
The video, shared first on Twitter by user “Buitengebieden,” has sparked adoring comments from thousands of online viewers, and is shown from the vantage point of a Ring security camera, presumably from someone’s front door.
The recording shows a neighborhood resting in the evening light as snow falls outside. There is only a mere dusting of snow on the grass, the promise of more to come, as two bears pass by on the concrete sidewalk in front of the residential camera. The viewers almost wonder what might the bears be doing so far from home, in this paved and sleepy neighborhood.
The mother bear lumbers forward, as if off to find better grass, better food, a place to rest. Perhaps it is her time to hibernate. Her cub trails behind.
Then, in a moment that is both precocious and ingenuous, the cub suddenly stands on his two hind legs and tries to catch snowflakes. He does it with as much curiosity and frivolity as a little child seeing the wonder of snow for the first time. It is as if the snowflakes slip through his paws, and in his childlike enthusiasm, he paws and bats even harder. His head is lifted to the sky, as if to catch them with his tongue. There are so many! What amazement!
And then, in a flash, he is down again—walking as bears do. On all fours, and with his head bent to the path before him, he is shambling after his mother.
In reaction to the video, viewers have commented by resounding the adjectives “cute,” “adorable,” and “precious.” One viewer commented in Spanish that the bear is behaving just like a child would. Another notes that it is a “reminder to enjoy the little things.”
The little cub, in his few seconds on camera, unwittingly elicited thousands of smiles and categorically cheered his audience—and he was simply enjoying the splendors of the world around him.
