A truck and bears and a potato, oh my!

It sounds like the start of a joke: A bear walks up to a 4-ton Idaho potato ….

Nothing to see here. Just a bear checking out a 4-ton Idaho potato.
Nothing to see here. Just a bear checking out a 4-ton Idaho potato.
(Courtesy Idaho Potato Commission)

It sounds like the start of a joke: A bear walks up to a 4-ton Idaho potato ….

But it happened, as the Big Idaho Potato Truck and its Tater Team were winding down the 2019 harvest tour. The truck was allowed to tour Bear World in Rexburg, Idaho, according to a news release.

There are 72 black bears at the park, and members of the Tater Team snapped pics of many of the curious bears checking out the giant tuber.

“Wherever the Big Idaho Potato Truck goes, it attracts attention,” Frank Muir, president and CEO of the Idaho Potato Commission, said in the release. “Folks can’t help but stop and see if it’s real. Apparently, this is true for bears, too!”

Although the truck has traveled across the country during its eight years of touring, recently it toured around Southeast Idaho during the annual harvest, hitting 23 stops during the 13-day tour, according to the release.

Growers are dealing with the effects of an “unfortunate and untimely” freeze in Idaho, according to the release.

Related stories:

Mother Nature deals setbacks to Idaho, North Dakota potatoes

Big Idaho Potato Truck Rolls on, superheroes turn in capes

“Student driver” and the Big Idaho Potato Truck

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