The National Park Service Facebook Posts Are The Funniest Thing I’ve Read Today

It's not often that I come across a post from a Government website that makes me laugh out loud. But this one definitely did!

It was released this week on the National Park Service Faceook page as a follow up to an earlier post put out a few days ago. The original post featured an image of one silhouetted person shoving another silhouetted person down. The captions which ran across the picture read "Friends Don't Use Friends As Bear Bait!"

This is a great example of a great number of things, not the least of which is: if you want people to remember the information you're giving them, make how you give it to them memorable! One fabulous way to do this, we have learned, is through humor. And whomever it is that the National Park Service put in charge of their social media accounts is employing this technique brilliantly. So brilliantly, in fact, that it's unlikely I'll ever forget these useful tips on how to evade a bear in the wild.

From the opening line, they had me hooked:

"READ: Please don’t run from bears or push your slower friends down in attempts of saving yourself.⁣⁣"

But then the post goes on to offer some good, sound advice on what to do if you happen to end up face-to-face with a bear.

Along with recommending that you not run or climb trees, as these are both activities that bears will undoubtedly be better at than you are, The National Park Service suggest that if a bear does approach you, you should stop and stand your ground:

"Help the bear recognize you as a human. We recommend using your voice. (Waving and showing off your opposable thumb means nothing to the bear) "

In case you need more information, the writer added some great links to the post, so if you want to investigate further, you can.

But if you go through some of the other posts on their page, it's clear that humor is not only used when referring to bear tips. A quick scroll through and I found a Bobcat/Speed Limit post, an Arctic ground squirrel post and a Wildlife Petting Chart (a most humorous guide on where not to touch a Bison) that had me in stitches, too.

Great information with a great delivery, and definitely a great distraction for your next lunch break!