Bear nudges Massachusetts man napping by pool in surprising video
It sounds like a jarring dream, but a camera caught it all on video.
A Massachusetts man was poked awake from his poolside nap by a black bear on Saturday.
Dawn Bete’s Ring camera recorded video of the bear quietly making its way through her backyard as her husband Matt was asleep on a lounge chair. The bear dips its snout in the water before sniffing its way toward the sleeping man.
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The video then shows the bear reaching out and touching Matt Bete’s foot with its paw. When he wakes and sits up in his seat, the bear appears to get scared and runs off.
“Matt was just so startled, picked up his phone with no luck of a good picture,” Dawn Bete wrote on Facebook.
Then the bear appears to approach Matt Bete again as he holds up his phone, the video shows.
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“He wasn’t sure how he should react but knew he couldn’t get up that fast but at least he had another chair and table between them if needed,” Dawn Bete wrote. “Luckily, it went running out soon after the encounter.”
The black bear population in Massachusetts has been rising, according to Mass Audubon.
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The animals eat many different foods including berries, nuts, fruits, insects, frogs, snakes and fish, according to the wildlife group. The bears can grow to weigh as much as 500 pounds.
Black bears also eat trash, and they can be attracted to areas populated by humans by garbage, bird feeders and outdoor pet food, Mass Audubon noted.