Video: North Carolina man, bear give each other scare

(ABC 6 News) – A Ring camera captured the moment an Asheville, North Carolina man and a black bear came face to face, giving each other a scare.

ABC-affiliate, WLOS, reports people who live in western North Carolina are typically used to coexisting with black bears. However, few get as close of an encounter as David Oppenheimer.

At the end of the day on Tuesday, April 11, Oppenheimer said he was relaxing in a chair in his carport when he heard his Ring camera chime.

Given the prevalence of bears in his neighborhood, he says he looked around to see if one had triggered the camera, but he didn’t see one.

A moment later, when he turned to look again, he could “bear-ly” believe his eyes, and the moment was captured on camera.

The video shows Oppenheimer lounging in the chair, looking at his phone when the bear wanders into the frame. Both seem unaware of each other’s presence. As the bear continues walking through the carport, Oppenheimer finally notices the bear and reacts which startles the bear.

Oppenheimer tell WLOS, “when it happened, we made eye contact, and I was thinking you’re not supposed to make eye contact with a bear, but we were making eye contact, and I wasn’t sure what to do next,” Oppenheimer recalled of that moment. “I thought to move my eyes to look a little bit away, but I wanted to be prepared to scare the bear if it came at me.”

Oppenheimer says he’s lived in his Asheville home for 15 years and has noticed the bears appearing more frequently and more during daylight hours. He says they’re generally peaceful, and the neighborhood has acclimated to living alongside them.