Sleeping with the fishes: Alaskan bear nods off in river after catching salmon

By Lee Moran


Dozy bear: Rick Sheremeta snapped Yolanda falling asleep after she had caught a salmon


It's usually a case of 'You Snooze, You Lose' - but not for this brown bear who managed to grab 40 winks after landing a salmon.

Yolanda, as she has been named, could bear-ly keep her eyes open when she was snapped by wildlife photographer Rick Sheremeta.

This incredible picture shows her nodding off in a river, unchallenged by other bears, while still clutching her tasty snack.


Sheremeta had spent four days watching brown coastal bears at McNeil River Falls, on the Alaskan Peninsula, 290 miles south west of Anchorage.

He said: 'Yolanda was particularly interesting to watch. Not only was she fairly high up the bear pecking order, allowing her unchallenged access to her favourite spot, she was an excellent fisherwomen snatching fish time after time.'

'She would snare a large fish and walk it into the shallows where she would sit and consume it at her leisure. '

Snapped: Rick Sheremeta spent four days watching brown coastal bears at McNeil River Falls, on the Alaskan Peninsula, 290 miles south west of Anchorage


He added: 'She did this time and time again but we never saw her leave the water to take a nap break like all the other bears routinely did.

'I guess all this frantic activity finally got the best of her. She finally wandered into the calm pool just as she had done numerous times before, sat down, cradled her catch under her arm and promptly nodded off.

'Unfortunately, her nap was fairly short lived since her little slumber pad also happened to be an active byway for other bears travelling to and from the River.

That woke him: Tempers get out of control at times as these large bears vie for the best Salmon fishing spots


'After a few moments of blissful slumber she was rudely awakened by other some other denizen splashing through the water.

'Even though the scene was short-lived, it was a once in a million moment that I was lucky enough to document and capture with my camera.'


source:dailymail