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Bear necessities: Back-scratching black bear gets down

Sometimes arms just aren't long enough to scratch an itch — especially if you're a bear in the wild.Thankfully, one black bear in Okanogan County, Washington found a solution in the form of a tree, as evidenced by a viral video captured by the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife.The back-scratching results were so conclusive that the animal kept shimmying its back up and down the tree trunk,
Bear Itch
A black bear in Okanogan County, Washington, was caught on tape scratching an itch.Today

Sometimes arms just aren't long enough to scratch an itch — especially if you're a bear in the wild.

Bear Itch
A black bear in Okanogan County, Washington, was caught on tape scratching an itch.Today

Thankfully, one black bear in Okanogan County, Washington found a solution in the form of a tree, as evidenced by a viral video captured by the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The back-scratching results were so conclusive that the animal kept shimmying its back up and down the tree trunk, yielding some pretty sweet wildlife dance moves in the process.

The clip was posted to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's Facebook page on Monday and has already been viewed by more than 2 million people, according to department spokeswoman Madonna Luers.

"This clip on our Facebook wall may be a record for us," she told TODAY.com via email. "[It's been] shared by over 12,000 of our more than 27,000 followers, including 160 comments — mostly 'LOL!'"

Luers said wildlife biologist Scott Fitkin set up the remote video camera that captured this moment, adding that it's one of many cameras designed to detect wild carnivores in the county. According to Fitkin, she said, bears' back-scratching maneuvers are common and often caught on camera.

"It reminds us that people love animals," Luers wrote, "and especially ones doing what looks like silly things."

The bear could not be reached for comment.

Follow TODAY.com writer Chris Serico on Twitter.