WATCH: Bear cub reunited with its mother after falling into dumpster

ABOVE: Watch as wildlife agents and police try to lure a mother bear away – in order to rescue her young cub, trapped inside a dumpster

A young bear cub has been reunited with his mother after falling into a dumpster in Pasedena, California Thursday morning.

An NBC Los Angeles news helicopter tracked the entire ordeal as the anxious mother hovered close to where her young cub had fallen in.

Meanwhile, wildlife agents and police waited nearby, faced with a delicate predicament: how to rescue the baby bear from the confines of the dumpster, without drawing the ire of mom?

Eventually, a wildlife agent decided to use a tranquilizer gun to render the mom unconscious, but it’s not clear if he actually fired. The bear scampers away moments after he draws a bead, and her later activity lends credence to the notion that she wasn’t struck.

With the way now clear, authorities extend a ladder into the dumpster, providing a helping hand for junior to escape his refuse-filled prison.

Once out, the cub high-tails it up a tree, where he was eventually re-united with his mother a short while later.

The story doesn’t end there, however. Apparently satisfied that the danger had passed, mother and child take a leisurely stroll through the San Gabriel Valley community, even stopping to take a drink out of a pool.

WATCH: Mother, baby bear wander streets of Pasadena

Judging from the lack of humanity present, we’re guessing authorities gave them a wide berth after their close call earlier that day.

According to NBC news, bear sightings in this neighbourhood are not uncommon, especially on garbage day when the hungry scavengers come looking for a quick snack.

Here’s hoping that next time, the bear follows the example of this industrious would-be-Yogi and instead of climbing into the dumpster, simply takes the whole thing away with him.