In adorable footage, one of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s two grizzly bears was recently captured on camera catching snowflakes on his tongue during a recent winter storm that blew through the area.
While grizzlies are native to the Rocky Mountains, they’re not found in Colorado – but with all that fur, they’re built to thrive in cold weather.
Watch the clip below:
Emmett and Digger, the zoo’s other grizzly, have been at the zoo since 2007. While they’re not biologically related, they were both labeled as “nuisance” bears to be removed from the wild. In most cases, bears that get this label are euthanized, though these two ended up in the Rocky Mountain Wild exhibit at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on the mountainous edge of Colorado Springs instead.
Contrary to popular belief, recent studies reveal that grizzlies don’t hibernate, says the zoo. Instead, grizzlies enter a state call torpor in which they slow down and sleep more, but still wake up.
While grizzlies can slow down during winter months, the zoo says theirs are “still pretty active.”