What would you do if a bear suddenly crashed your picnic? A Mexican mother made the right decision by sitting still and shielding her son’s face when a black bear jumped onto their picnic table and ate their dinner inches away from them.
The encounter happened at Parque Ecológico Chipinque in Monterrey, Mexico. Silvia Macías of Mexico City celebrated her son Santiago’s 15th birthday at the park when the bear made an unwanted visit. Macías kept calm, didn’t move, and shielded her son’s face, who has Down syndrome. Macías’ friend, Angela Chapa, recorded the video.
“The bear was very close to us,” Macías told The Associated Press. “We heard him as he growled, as he ate. You could smell the bear.”
Macías said she covered her son’s eyes because she didn’t want him to get scared and unintentionally frighten the bear. “Santiago is very afraid of animals, a cat or a dog; any animal scares him a lot,” she said. “I didn’t want him to see it and scream or run. I was afraid that if he got scared or screamed or scared the bear, that the bear would react.”
While Macías and her son sat quietly, she watched the bear swallow up a buffet of enchiladas, tacos, French fries, and salsa. Luckily, Macías said she and her son had practiced what they would do if they encountered a bear at the park.
“We are going to play a game where we cover Santiago’s eyes, and we are going to act like statues,” she said.
The bear retreated after Chapa grabbed a plate of enchiladas and tossed them far away from the table, which gave Macías and her son time to escape. The bear went after the enchiladas, finished its meal, and left. According to the AP, Santiago’s birthday meal was replaced soon after. So, does Macías think of herself as a hero?
“I just think I’m a mother who protected her cub,” she said.