Ring camera captures Asheville man, bear giving each other a scare

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Ring camera video captured the moment an Asheville man and a bear came face to face, giving each other a scare, according to reports from WLOS.

WLOS said while people who live in Western North Carolina are used to coexisting with black bears, few get as close of an encounter as David Oppenheimer.

On April 11, Oppenheimer told WLOS that 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 said he looked around to see if one had triggered the camera, but he didn’t see one.

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However, when he turned to look back a moment later he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“It definitely startled me, more because it was unexpected than because it was a bear, and it seems startled, too,” Oppenheimer told WLOS.

Ring camera captured 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.

The bear then looked back at him with ears pointed forward for about three seconds before turning and running away.

Ring camera captures Asheville man, bear give each other a scare

Oppenheimer told WLSO that he has 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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