‘We’re going to be famous’: North Carolina man sipping coffee on his porch casually chats with BEAR who sneaks up on him
- A young black bear snuck up on a man sitting outside his house in Asheville, NC
- In the springtime, when bears begin to become more active, Asheville residents see them roaming around all of the time
- The man, David Oppenheimer, was briefly startled but soon began began talking to the bear and watching as it inspected his property
A black bear cub shocked a man relaxing outside his house in Asheville, North Carolina on Wednesday.
The cub quietly padded toward David Oppenheimer, who was sitting on a chair outside his home, drinking a coffee and looking at his phone.
Oppenheimer’s home security camera captured the incident that saw the man remain completely unaware that the bear was moving toward him until the little bear’s nose is just inches from his perched foot.
When he does notice what’s going on, Oppenheimer gasps and jumps in surprise before fast regaining his composure and beginning to comfort the bear, who also seemed to be startled.
The young bear startled David Oppenheimer who had his guard down while checking his phone and drinking coffee outside his house
‘Hi bear,’ he said to the animal that had taken a few steps back. ‘We’re going to be famous,’ he added, perhaps alluding to his immediately developed plans to post the clip online.
Oppenheimer then whips out his phone and begins to capture the bear as it navigates how to proceed.
‘It’s okay, I didn’t mean to scare you,’ he said softly, then telling the young bear: ‘You shouldn’t come this way.’
After pausing for a few seconds, Oppenheimer asked the bear, ‘Which way should I go?’ seemingly looking for a cue from the cub about where to move next.
‘It’s okay, you can walk by,’ he cooed to the timid animal, who ultimately took him up on the offer and meandered past Oppenheimer’s chair and onto his deck.
The bear sniffs around, circles the deck and stands up on its back legs a few times before the video ends.
In Asheville, NC, where this encounter occurred, black bear residents of the territory begin making themselves known to locals in the post-hibernation springtime period.
In most cases, experts say there’s no reason to call for assistance simply due to a bear sighting.
The young bear is seen approaching David Oppenheimer. It was able to get just inches from him before the man noticed its presence
The bear inspected Oppenheimer’s coffee mug before making its way onto his deck
The young bear explored the deck for a while before deciding not to dwell there
‘If you live in Asheville, you live in Bear Country so there’s no reason to call just because you see a bear,’ said Ashley Hobbs, special projects biologist for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
‘Bears should just be moving through your community and not sticking around so there’s no reason to alert us,’ Hobbs told the Citizen Times.
‘But if you did have something where a bear was approaching people or it’s lost its fear of people and is, for example, coming up on the porch and trying to get into doors, things of that nature, then you should definitely give the Wildlife Commission a call.’
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