New Viral Soundbite Just Dropped: ‘Praise God, There’s a Bear in the Tree’

The internet can be a dark, sad place, but every once in a while, it blesses us with a video of a regular person earnestly reacting to an irregular event in their life that is so delightful and entertaining, it permanently weaves itself into our cultural fabric. (The double rainbow guy, the “It look like a Leprechaun to me” guy, and the “I really like corn” kid immediately come to mind.)

And now, I’d like to submit this Washington, D.C., woman—her name hasn’t been reported yet, but if someone knows her, I’m happy to update this piece—as the latest accidental internet star du jour. Early Friday morning, police responded to reports of a black bear running around in Northeast D.C. and eventually climbing a tree. One local resident posted a video of the bear running through city streets and into people’s yards, which, as a former longtime D.C. resident, I can assure you is not a regular occurrence.

Local news reporter Marcella Robertson of WUSA9 showed up with a camera crew to interview some of the neighborhood residents, and one woman went on air and thanked the good lord that the police sirens were just about a bear and not something worse.

“When I walked over here, they said, ‘There’s a bear! In the tree!’ And I was like, praise God, there’s a bear in the tree!” the woman exclaims in the clip. “No crime scene. We have the tape, but no crime scene. So I was excited, I was grateful.”

The police used their sirens to keep the bear, which locals named Franklin after the street he was on, up in the tree until rescuers could arrive. Franklin has since been tranquilized and is reportedly being transported to Maryland by Department of Natural Resources officials.

We thank Franklin and the woman who was so elated to see him in a tree for this much-needed moment of levity today, and we wish them both all the best.