Bears are notorious for following their powerful noses toward food. But a hiker in Alaska said he stumbled upon a bear cub that got his whole head stuck where it didn't belong: in a plastic jug.
Michael Schuler said he was hiking up Ketchikan's Deer Mountain with his dog when he spotted something wiggling around in the snow about 10 feet from the peak, the Ketchikan Daily News reported.
"I knew it wasn't a marten ... so I thought it was either a bear cub or a wolverine," Schuler told the newspaper. "A bear cub I can handle, but if it's a wolverine and I pull that thing off, I'm toast."
According to the publication, Schuler walked up and saw that it was a snow-covered bear cub with a jug stuck on its head. He attempted to call wildlife authorities for help, but wasn't able to gain a cell signal on his phone.
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He told the newspaper that he approached the cub only after looking around for its mother, tried to pull the cub out and then attempted to shake the jug loose -- with no success.
Schuler said that's when he pulled out his ice axe and tried to cut the jug open.
"I was basically able to sit on him, hold him by the scruff and make a slice into the neck of the jar," Schuler said.
He said the cub then popped out of the jug hole, and ran off into the trees.
Schuler said the jug was just some trash that someone had left at a campsite.
"His future was pretty said and done," Schuler told the newspaper. "He wasn't going to move. He probably would have lain there until he died."
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