So, what happened when the mother bear tried to cross the lake? she jumped into the lake with her two cubs on her back, she was certain that her babies were able to tag along with her.
Her cubs assumed they would be able to cling onto her back but very early on it became clear that the cubs would not be able to keep up with the speed of their mother, and as she too realized that her babies might not make it… at this point something amazing occurred.
The Freezing Lake
In the Northeastern tip of Russia lies the freshwater Lake Vygozero, which is where the story of the mother bear takes place. Given its geographical location, it’s not surprising that temperatures can be as low as -20 Celsius (approx. -4 Fahrenheit).
Freezing temperatures such as these are too dangerous for humans to swim and therefore poses challenges to fisherman on the lake as well as some of the wild animals who like in the area. Keep reading to see living proof of this.
A Difficult Terrain
If you’ve ever hiked in difficult terrain you’ll know how challenging the outdoors can be, especially when the weather conditions aren’t easy, living out in the wild is never an easy affair.
Sometimes, this is the same for animals, and in this story, the mother bear realizes this as she tries to cross a freezing lake with two cubs. However, what she did not foresee was how difficult this would be for her two baby cubs
Breaking Free
Despite everything we know about mothers protecting their young and even sacrificing their own lives for the sake of their babies, this mother bear decided to break free from her cubs and left them in the lake as she continued to swim to the other side alone.
Of course, this isn’t what we expect from a mother, but sometimes in the wild, there are no rules and it’s everyone for themselves.
A Strong Drift
There are always two sides to a story. This mother bear really did try to help her cubs across the lake, but there was a strong current running through the lake and ripped to cubs off the mother bear’s back.
Once the cubs were apart from the mother, she had no choice but to keep swimming to the other side, in the hope that her cubs would follow, and together they would reach dry land.