Video: Attack of the Cardboard Bears!

Low production budgets, lack of bears can't stop Cleveland's Fox affiliate from duplicating a woman's backyard encounter with a bear.

Most of us campers and backpackers are familiar with bears in the wild—even if we haven't seen one, we're still always thinking about how to protect food, alert them to our presence, etc. That's not the case with your average American, so I can't begrudge the city folk of Cleveland's WJW Fox 8 News for getting all whipped into a lather when a black bear visited a local woman's backyard.

But here's where things get interesting. Camera crews missed catching the bear on camera, but instead of filming the story with stock footage of black bears, or even artist impressions, etc., they chose to to reenact the ursine event with—no kidding—a cardboard cutout bear. Watch with wonder as an inanimate cardboard bear climbs trees, hides nefariously behind the bushes, and even cuddles with a nature expert. The effect has to be seen to be believed:



I can't decide what's better—the cardboard "bear" beating a hasty retreat with the help of a poorly-disguised human helper, or the woman's description of "losing it" when she saw the bear stand up.

One question: Did the reporters even consider using a bear suit? They should have:



See? Flawless.

—Ted Alvarez