When a cat is stuck up a tree, you call the fire department. However, who do you call when bear cubs are stuck in a garbage dumpster? Any brave person with a truck and a ladder, apparently.
As reported by ABC News, that’s exactly what husband and wife, Tom and Shirley Schenk, were caught on camera doing one day in Ruidoso, New Mexico – rescuing bear cubs from a dumpster.
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After listening to the cubs’ anguished cries the night before, the Schenks knew exactly what they needed to do. Early the next morning, the couple loaded a ladder onto their truck and drove over to the dumpster. Shirley wasted no time lowering the ladder into the dumpster for the cubbies. She didn’t dare get off the truck to do so, and for good reason. The mother bear hadn’t strayed very far away from her little ones and was likely distraught.
With the ladder in place, the Schenks quickly drove away. As seen in the video, not one, but three cubs almost immediately start crawling out of the dumpster. After reuniting with their mother, we see the bears in the video stroll away in the opposite direction.
Shirley Schenk told ABC News it was the third time they had needed to help bear cubs in such a situation. She also told reporters that black bears are a common sight in the area, but are rarely aggressive.
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You can see the daring rescue in the video below. SHARE if you like it!