For a few surreal hours on Facebook this month, the internet decided that Wyoming had reached peak “only-in-the-West” absurdity. The story: a man allegedly arrested for drunk driving.

Right. So? Big deal…

Well, it apparently happened while the suspect rode a grizzly bear near Yellowstone National Park. The images that fueled it, a burly man in a fur hat astride a bear with flashing police lights behind him, looked straight out of a fever dream.

And that’s because it was.

The viral DUI arrest post came from a Facebook page called Casper Planet

The page bills itself as a source of satire and “Snews that doesn’t matter.”

Its Oct. 5 post described a 38-year-old named Lars McCready cruising down Highway 14 on bearback at seven miles per hour, open vodka bottle in hand.

The page claimed the Park County Sheriff’s Office caught the spectacle on body cam and even released the bear afterward, “unimpressed but cooperative.”

The punchline was pure shallow internet gold. McCready allegedly told officers the bear was his “designated walker.”

Despite all the telltale signs of parody (like a quote from a “Wyoming Game & Fish & Insects” spokesperson) many social media users didn’t catch the joke.

The DUI story spread across Reddit and other platforms, sometimes stripped of its satirical context.

Before long, Snopes began receiving questions about whether the DUI arrest actually happened

It didn’t.

Snopes traced the story back to Casper Planet and confirmed that no such incident ever occurred.

There were no legitimate reports from Wyoming law enforcement, no arrest records, and no human–bear DUI traffic stops near Yellowstone.

The “body cam” images were actually AI-generated, first appearing on another page that claimed a similar scene happened in Russia

Within days, other accounts recycled the same images to claim it took place in Oregon.

Snopes also pointed out some of the telltale digital quirks. For example, mangled letters and unreadable text in the corners of the pictures. That stuff’s still classic giveaways of AI.

For all its absurdity, the “bear DUI” hoax is a reminder of how quickly made-up pictures can find traction

Especially when the visuals are “convincing” to enough folks and the premise is entertaining enough.

Wyoming drivers, meanwhile, can rest easy knowing none of its resident bears were harmed. Though I’m sure some drunk idiot might actually try it at some point, if anyone hasn’t already.