DULUTH — Among the frozen wilds of the St. Louis River estuary, three bobcats greeted a drone Monday afternoon.

"As I was out on a photography adventure, I stumbled upon a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Duluth photographer and activist Mike Mayou wrote as he shared the video on Facebook. "Down by the St. Louis River, I noticed a few creatures moving across the ice. After flying a drone over to investigate, I discovered that there were three bobcats venturing together!"

The video captures the bobcats, shy but unafraid, on the Wisconsin side of the river and within sight of the Bong Bridge linking Duluth and Superior.

"These cats were very comfortable being up close and personal with the camera, thus this footage," Mayou wrote. "It's quite rare for humans to see bobcats in the wild, but the drone allowed me to interact with these animals in a unique way."

There are about 2,000 wild bobcats in Minnesota and about 3,800 in Wisconsin, according to each state's Department of Natural Resources.

"Few humans ever see a bobcat in the wild," the Minnesota DNR says.