If you’ve spent any amount of time on back roads, you know wildlife does some strange things when it gets spooked. Deer freeze in headlights, raccoons climb things they have no business climbing, and apparently, at least once in a while, a full-grown black bear decides a utility pole looks like a perfectly good tree. That’s exactly what happened outside Gladstone, New Mexico, on July 20, when drivers came across a bear balanced several feet up on the crossarm of a power pole.
It’s the kind of scene that stops traffic, and it did. Passersby pulled over, phones came out, and the footage made its way online fast, as these things tend to. One driver, Robin Dawson, posted a video to Facebook and noted that nobody had actually called it in yet, so she and others flagged it down to the authorities themselves.
What started as a wild roadside oddity, the kind of story that gets shared in group chats with a laughing emoji, took a somber turn. Wildlife officials were alerted, but getting the bear down safely turned out to be far more complicated than just showing up with a tranquilizer gun.
This wasn’t a case of anyone dragging their feet. It’s a genuinely tough call anytime an animal ends up somewhere rescuers can’t easily reach, and this incident is a reminder of just how quickly a viral moment can turn tragic.
Why a Tranquilizer Wasn’t an Option
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Here’s the problem with darting an animal that’s clinging to a pole: once the sedative kicks in, gravity doesn’t care how big or tough the bear is.
Dispatchers explained that tranquilizing the animal while it was still up there risked a fall that could have injured or killed it outright, so officials had to hold off.
“Authorities arenāt coming out! I called back and they said no one is coming that the bear will come down when he wants. Well yes thatās true but heāll fry himself as he tries to go down. Very disappointed in Fish and Game!” Dawson wrote on Facebook.
According to Dawson, the plan was for the utility company to cut power to the line before things went sideways. Unfortunately, the crew didn’t get there in time, and the bear was electrocuted before it could be brought down safely.
Crowds Didn’t Exactly Help
Dawson also said a wildlife official told her that the growing crowd of onlookers stopping to snap photos wasn’t doing the frightened animal any favors. It’s a fair point.
A stressed bear stuck 20 feet in the air probably isn’t calmed by a line of parked trucks and camera phones.
Not the First Pole-Climbing Bear
This isn’t the first time a bear has found itself in this exact predicament. Wildlife experts note that bears will treat poles like trees when startled by people, traffic, or dogs.
Back in 2021, a similar standoff in Arizona had a happier ending, with officials managing to get that bear down safely.