Viewer video: Asheville man and bear give each other a scare
By Kelly Doty
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ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — A Ring camera captured the moment an Asheville man and a bear came face to face, giving each other a scare.
People who’ve lived in Western North Carolina for a while 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 stunning 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 jerks back in surprise, which startles the bear.
“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.”
The bear looked back at him with ears pointed forward for about three seconds before turning and running away.
Oppenheimer says he’s lived in his North 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.
The bear seen in the video is also no stranger. According to Oppenheimer, the same bear had appeared a few times recently, including the morning the video was recorded when it climbed on the deck rail to get to a bear-proof bird feeder.
According to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, the black bear population in Buncombe County and Asheville has been booming in recent years. The statewide Wildlife Hotline received 400 bear-related calls from Buncombe County in 2017. That number grew to more than 700 in 2022.
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