Mama bear and her ‘huge’ cubs found nursing in North Carolina backyard, video shows

Does a bear nurse in the woods? Yes, but this mother black bear decided a woman’s backyard was the ideal spot to feed her three cubs — and the homeowner caught the tender moment on video.

Video captured Monday shows the mama bear rolled over on the grass as the three cubs gather around to feed in a backyard in Asheville, North Carolina.

Bears wander past Diana King’s house all the time, she says, but the size of the cubs caught her attention.

“These cubs were huge and that’s why it surprised me that she was still nursing them,” she said.

Listen closely and the bears can be heard making a motor-like humming noise.

“I thought it was a helicopter,” King said, before realizing where the sound was coming from.

That’s pretty standard behavior for happy black bear cubs, according to the USDA.

While adult black bears are generally quieter, cubs more often express their feelings, “readily scream in distress, whine when approaching their mother, or give a tremulous hum when nursing or comfortably warm.”

Black bear encounters and sightings are fairly common in North Carolina.

In July, firefighters in Mooresville responded to a black bear that got itself stuck in a tree in someone’s yard.

A Camden County man had an unexpected delivery in February when two cubs inside a box turned up at his door.

Another North Carolina black bear gained some notoriety online for his generous proportions, though commenters offered less gentle descriptions, like “tubby,” and “humdinger.”

“Despite this example, black bears are the smallest of North American bear species and weigh less than a pound at birth,” the Fish and Wildlife Service said regarding the ursine celebrity.