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By Jack Beresford
Senior Reporter
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Unnerving footage of a man narrowly avoiding an encounter with a black bear outside his family's home has been captured on a doorbell camera.
Footage supplied to Newsweek by Ring shows the moment a Pennsylvania homeowner's son came perilously close to one of the deadly carnivores.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission estimates there are around 18,000 black bears in the state. While these bears tend to have been found in about 75 percent of Pennsylvania, confirmed sightings have been reported in every county.
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According to Elise McDonald, a wildlife blogger and author who works with the National Wildlife Federation, black bears are capable of running "really fast," at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour.
"The top speed is achieved over short distances when they are running quickly from danger or when catching prey," she explained on her blog. "A black bear's powerful hind legs can propel it to such speeds, which is quite impressive considering this mammal can weigh up to 400 pounds."
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The resident in East Stroudsburg managed to avoid the bear by thinking and reacting quickly.
In the video, he can be seen walking down the steps outside the property before quickly heading back to the door. As he begins to head back inside, a black bear becomes visible at the bottom of the steps.
It's no exaggeration to suggest that things could have gone differently had he waited a second or two more before doubling back.
In a statement issued to Ring, the homeowner said: "The video is my son going down to his car. Our house is elevated, so the driveway is below a long flight of stairs. He was going to pick up his brother from work, and his first reaction was, 'Wait is that a bear? And is that bear coming towards me?'"
Searching for Food
According to the resident, there had been an incident at the property involving a bear, which had resulted in their garbage being strewn all over the driveway. In hindsight they suspect it may have been the very same bear captured in the video.
"This is their time of year where they are hungry and they come onto people's property," they explained. When their son told them about the confrontation, the homeowner decided to check whether the Ring camera had captured any of the incident.
"Much to my surprise, we got to see the whole thing from start to finish," they said. "I was mortified when I first watched the video. Thank God my son is young and can react so quickly."
The incident is one of several involving a Black Bear in Pennsylvania over the past few years. In 2022, another Ring doorbell security camera captured a family of bears causing carnage at a property in Pocono Lake while looking for a snack.
Two years earlier, a black bear attacked a family in Pennsylvania, killing their pet dog, while in 2018 a woman was left in critical condition following a bear attack outside her Lycoming County home.
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