Hey Bears, How ’bout Some Peanut Butter with That Bread?

They are not pigeons or dolphins or dogs, but they’re begging for food just the same. They’re bears – and among other goodies, they seem to have a taste for bread.

Don’t believe me? Watch this video:

The bears in this video, recorded at Yellowstone Bear World near Rexburg, know how to get the attention – and the food – of visitors to the drive-thru wildlife park. Bears roam free on the preserve, and you can get up close and personal – but not dangerously close – to these magnificent animals.

There’s even the chance for you to bottle feed a cub. How cool is that? There’s also an amusement park and petting zoo. (Don’t worry, mom, no fanged creatures in the zoo; the critters here are free-roaming barnyard animals and birds.)

Bear World is one of those hidden gems that not everyone who visits the Gem State, or even Yellowstone, knows about. But if you’re like me, once you visit once you’ll want to go back.

Something I missed the first time I visited was bottle-feeding a cub. That’s definitely on the list of things to do during my next visit.

What kind of vehicle do you need to tour the park?

“Yellowstone Bear World accommodates all vehicles,” information on the park’s website reads, “including: travel trailers, motor homes, and tour buses. We can also accommodate semi-trucks & motorcycles with the help of a furnished loaner vehicle.”

Cool.

This still leaves me with one other question: Since bears seem to like bread, what kind of sandwich would they prefer, peanut butter and honey or ham and Swiss?