Hey, did you hear the one about the hitchhiking lion who got picked up by a police cruiser?
This is not the set up to a joke. It’s something that actually happened this week along Pacific Coast Highway in Northern California!
The young animal was discovered around 1 a.m. Sunday, just south of Fort Bragg and approximately a quarter of a mile from the ocean, according to Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies
"Due to the darkness and the dense fog the animal was very difficult to see and would have certainly been struck by a vehicle if the deputies had not stopped," the department said via press release.
The tagged sea lion was described by authorities as “extremely friendly,” even “rubbing against [the legs of deputies] for attention.”
Because the pup was not in any distress, police officers were asked by the Marine Mammal Center to bring him back to the ocean.
So they actually placed him in the back of the cruiser, buckled his seat belt and gave him a lift home, naturally taking the above photo along the way.
Because how could they not, right?!?
This is the best sea lion story we’ve heard since that fella who grew concerned when his friend tripped and fell at the aquarium.