Imagine the scene. There you are, just trying to have a quiet and enjoyable picnic with your family to get away from the stresses and strains of the world when you're joined by a wild bear:
Yep, you saw that right. Kaitlyn Nesbit, 29, and her family had sat down at a picnic table on 6 August when a wild black bear joined them at the cabin where they were staying in the woodland spot.
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Not only did the bear seem appreciative of the company, but it also seemed keen on the peanut butter sandwich that one of the party made it and which it then ate straight out of their hands. Which makes them a lot braver than us. Or maybe more stupid. Probably a bit of both.
Nesbit - a bridal store manager - posted the video on TikTok. In the clip, one member of the group motions to the bear to sit and wait for food - which it does, on the end of the table - before fixing it up with a peanut butter sandwich as other nearby onlookers can be heard expressing their shock and amazement.
The man then holds the sandwich out in front of the bear, who slowly takes it from his hands. A second man then starts making a sandwich to do the same, though the group is sure to take down their stack of beers and protect that part of the picnic.
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"This is a f***ing joke, right?" nearby onlookers can be heard saying as the incident unfolds. Which is probably the correct reaction to have. But Nesbit said she'd heard of the bear being around before.
She said: "This was a friend's cabin and they said that the bear is always around and never really bothers them.
"Some of our group are used to being out in the wild so we were all told to not make sudden movements and stay where we were. Most of us were scared to death and filmed from the deck but the brave tested their luck."
The group's actions have been criticised on social media by people who, probably quite rightly, have warned that bears shouldn't be fed in this manner - both for their own safety and for the safety of humans.
In fact, it's actually illegal to feed bears in Maryland in order that they don't start to associate people with food and then become a problem and/or threat for local residents.
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According to advice issued by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, people are meant to scare black bears away if they come into a camp looking for food.
The advice reads: "DON'T FEED IT! Scare it away. Make loud noises, bang pans, or yell. Seeing bears can be very enjoyable. However, having a bear in camp can lead to problems that will persist long after you have gone home. If a problem becomes serious, your safety and the bear's safety may become jeopardized."
While this group definitely got some cool selfies out of the encounter, it seems they were lucky to have avoided a more tragic outcome.
Featured Image Credit: Caters/@Kaitlynnesbit