Gatlinburg Tourist Idiotically Slaps Black Bear From Behind, Promptly Gets Charged

They are just letting any idiot walk around in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, eh?

If I’ve learned anything perusing internet videos that focus on the outdoors, it’s that morons and wildlife don’t mix. Fortunately, a lot of encounters end up being harmless, and just make for scary-but-funny, what-not-to-do examples of humans and wild animals coexisting.

Every time a bear is involved though, the stakes are a little bit higher.

It’s estimated that around 400,000 bears live in the United States, and in certain parts of the country, residents have to always be on alert and keep an eye out for bears. Black bears make up most of that total number (around 300,000), and one place where you are almost guaranteed to see them is in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Millions of people flock to Smoky Mountain National Park every year to take in the beautiful scenery and witness the incredible wildlife (and moonshine tastings) that Gatlinburg has to offer. In fact, the National Park of the Great Smoky Mountains in the most visited national park in the country.

In the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a family-friendly tourist destination. Those that have been before know that there’s no better place to go look at mountain, stay in a cabin, eat pancakes, and get drunk off of moonshine tastings (in no particular order).

Former Gatlinburg visitors also know there’s a good chance that you’ll cross paths with a black bear while you are there. It’s best to keep your distance from any wild animal, and that’s especially true with bears. The National Park Service – as well as basic common sense – advises tourists to stay 100 yards away from bears, and to never approach the apex predators.

So with that in mind, you can basically watch this video below and know that this guy is doing the exact opposite of what he should be doing. In fact, everyone that’s walking around within 100 yards of this sizable bear should know better. Even the person that captured this footage with their phone should have been a lot farther away than they were.

After the sun had set on a rainy day in Downtown Gatlinburg, a bear had wandered into the bustling area during the Christmas parade. One man single-handedly decided that he was the one that needed to handle it, and took it upon himself to try and escort the bear across the street and back into nature. It may have seemed as though he had things under control initially, but then he got cocky, and took things a slap too far.

The moron slapped the bear on the butt as if it was a pet dog that needed to get out of the kitchen. Whereas a dog might get the memo and scurry off, this big ol’ bear took it as an invitation to fight. The large wild animal whipped around and let out a growl that would intimidate even the toughest of creatures, then charged at the man.

It was then that this guy knew he was in way over his head, and he’s fortunate that he didn’t end up becoming this bear’s dinner. The wild animal pulled up just as it got within inches of the man, and allowed for the guy to live to be dumb another day. Instead of entering into an ugly brawl (in which the animal would have won), the black bear turned away and ran off into the night.

And the bear wasn’t the only thing running away after this scary face-off:

Alright, that’s it. Stop the voting. The official “Moron of the Year” award goes to THAT GUY.

What, did he think he was just going to magically guide the black bear off the main strip of Gatlinburg? Who died and made him the bear whisperer? Well… I guess he almost died himself, but that wouldn’t have made him the bear whisperer. That just would have made him the guy who got mauled by a bear after slapping it in the rear end.

If you are reading this, and you have any plans of going to Gatlinburg soon (or anywhere else where bears live), please leave the bears alone and keep your distance. Do not, under any circumstance, act like you know more than everyone else and crown yourself as “Bear Patrol.” Trust me, that doesn’t ever end well… even when you miraculously get away scot-free like this guy.The post Gatlinburg Tourist Idiotically Slaps Black Bear From Behind, Promptly Gets Charged first appeared on Whiskey Riff.