A bear in Colorado took hundreds of pictures on a wildlife camera a few months ago, surprising officials.

Local authorities have said that a black bear in Boulder, Colorado, was the subject of about 400 of photos on one of its wildlife cameras in November.

“These pictures made us laugh, and we thought others would, too,” Phillip Yates, a spokesperson for Open Space and Mountain Parks, reportedly said in a statement this week.

The camera had around 580 photographs on it, but around 400 of them were “bear selfies,” the department said in a tweet.

Recently, a bear discovered a wildlife camera that we use to monitor wildlife across #Boulder open space. Of the 580 photos captured, about 400 were bear selfies.🤣 Read more about we use wildlife cameras to observe sensitive wildlife habitats. https://t.co/1hmLB3MHlU pic.twitter.com/714BELWK6c

— Boulder OSMP (@boulderosmp) January 23, 2023

The Open Space and Mountain Parks for Boulder put nine wildlife cameras up in order to help them learn additional details about animals that live in the area, while keeping employees out of the habitats. The devices are placed in the Open Space and Mountain Parks system, which is an area of 46,000 acres.

The photos were also put up on Instagram a few months ago.

“In this instance, a bear took a special interest in one of our wildlife cameras and took the opportunity to capture hundreds of ‘selfies,’” Yates noted.

The photographs “provide us with a unique opportunity to learn more about how local species use the landscape around us while minimizing our presence in sensitive habitats,” Yates said.

“The motion-detecting cameras provide us a unique opportunity to learn more about how local species use the landscape around us while minimizing our presence in sensitive habitats,” Will Keeley, senior wildlife ecologist for Open Space and Mountain Parks, said.

“These cameras play an important role in helping OSMP staff identify important wildlife areas. The information we collect from them is used to recommend habitat-protective measures to help protect sensitive natural areas,” Keeley added.

The group also puts the cameras in places where animals will likely pass through, and they also put them in locations where there is evidence that animals have been.

When a creature gets in front of the camera, the device takes a photo and the camera can then record footage for ten to thirty seconds.

“Sometimes we put cameras in locations where we think we’ll encounter enigmatic fauna like American beavers or black bears,” Christian Nunes, a wildlife ecologist with OSMP, added. “We are fortunate to live in an area with a rich diversity of wildlife species, and these cameras help us to learn what animals are really out there, and what they are up to over the course of a day, a week, or even years.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced legislation this week that will dramatically increase the punishments faced by child rapists and drug criminals.

The governor’s new legislative proposal is aimed at improving Florida’s “50-year record low crime rate” through a variety of measures that take on woke initiatives like abolishing cash bail and increasing the penalties for serious crimes, especially those that target children.

“Other states endanger their citizens by making it easier to put criminals back on the street,” DeSantis said. “Here in Florida, we will to continue to support and enact policies to protect our communities and keep Floridians safe. Florida will remain the law and order state.”

Among the top items included in DeSantis’ agenda are reducing the number of jurors required to sentence a person to death, punishing fentanyl traffickers with mandatory life sentences for targeting children, strengthening Florida’s bail laws, making child rapists face either life in prison or the death penalty, and increasing penalties against those who attempt sex crimes.

The state released the following information highlighting what is in the agenda:

Reforming Florida’s death penalty statute to ensure that those convicted of the most heinous crimes are punished accordingly. Current law requires a unanimous jury recommendation to impose a death sentence. This proposal reduces the number of jurors required for a recommendation of death from unanimity to a supermajority jury recommendation. Addressing the ongoing fentanyl crisis that is plaguing our country by imposing additional penalties on fentanyl and other drug-related crimes when the drug’s appearance resembles a piece of candy, including making it a first degree felony to possess, sell, or manufacture fentanyl and other controlled substances that resemble candy and adding a mandatory life sentence and $1 million penalty for trafficking such substances that target children. Additionally, Governor DeSantis is allocating $20 million in local support funding for law enforcement agencies to increase efforts to interdict and apprehend the illicit sale and trafficking of fentanyl. This builds upon last year’s increase in fentanyl trafficking mandatory minimums and will protect vulnerable children who might be deceived by what has been dubbed “rainbow fentanyl.” Strengthening Florida’s bail laws by limiting who is eligible for release prior to first appearance, making sure that a judge is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to detention, and requiring a detention hearing be held prior to trial for dangerous crimes. Petitioning the Florida Supreme Court to establish a uniform bond schedule that all state courts must follow. Requiring convicted child rapists to serve at least life in prison and exploring options to make them eligible for the death penalty. Toughening penalties for sex criminals by expanding the list of crimes ineligible for gain time by adding all inchoate offenses (attempted crimes) of sexual misconduct, such as attempted sexual battery. Requiring law enforcement to report missing persons to the National Missing and Unidentified Person’s System. Currently, they are only required to report it to the Florida Crime Information Center and the National Crime Information Center. Dedicating $5 million in the upcoming budget recommendations to continue the successful interdictions by the strike force announced last year. To date, these interdictions have resulted in more than 200 felony charges, nearly 40 human smuggling charges, 66 drug charges, and more than $625,000 worth of illicit drugs seized.

Attorney General Ashley Moody responded to DeSantis’ agenda by saying that Florida was going in the opposite direction of woke states that are going soft on crime.

“While some states are adopting soft-on-crime policies that increase lawlessness and decrease public safety, in Florida, we strive to strengthen our laws, keep violent criminals behind bars and take proactive steps to keep our communities safe,” Moody said. “I want to thank Governor DeSantis for always standing up for the rule of law and taking action to fortify public safety measures to ensure we continue to be the best state in the nation to pursue the American dream.”