A hiker on Mount Wilson in California came face to face with a black bear in the middle of a trail, but his method of trying to scare away the huge animal was less than successful.
In fact, the man was fortunate to escape injury, or even death.
Cellphone video by another hiker in the Angeles National Forest shows the man trying to frighten the black bear (who was actually brown) by jumping up and down and making noise with bells attached to his hiking gear, KTLA reported.
The video, which was posted on Instagram on Monday by Eric Chiu, shows the bear’s reaction, which was not what the hiker had hoped for, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Instead of retreating, the bear charges at the hiker before the video stops, the newspaper reported. The hiker and the person recording were not injured, but Chiu, whose stepmother filmed the video, was incredulous.
“I was thinking this guy is crazy and I hope nothing happens to him,” Chiu told KNBC. “I’m not sure what was going through his mind to be honest, because the last thing you would think about is somebody would actually walk toward a bear. And at that point, I was a little bit concerned for his safety.”
No one was injured by the bear, and it was a “false charge,” Chiu wrote on Instagram.
Cort Klopping, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s South Coast Region and Inland Deserts Region, told the Times that people who encounter a bear should make themselves look larger and not block the animal’s exit.
They can also back away slowly while maintaining eye contact.
“Odds are more likely that the bear doesn’t want to interact with you any more than you want to interact with it,” Klopping told the newspaper.
Chiu and the other hikers eventually hiked up the mountain after hiding in bushes to allow the bear unhindered passage, KNBC reported.
They also descended the mountain without any other encounters.
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