Man Gets Heart-Pounding Close Encounter of the Bear Kind

Sometimes when friends tell us stories about really “insane” things happening to them, they’ll embellish parts for that extra bit of drama. This guy doesn’t need to exaggerate anything for this story. It’s all on video.

According to a video from ViralHog, Teliece Sander was outside “taking a quiet moment after a hectic day” in Lake Mary, Florida. Rain was coming down and Sander was just hanging out under his porch playing a game. Between the sounds of the game and the “gurgling” of the storm drain nearby, he failed to notice a huge black bear come right up to him. Watch:

Sander wrote in the video’s description:

“I was so engrossed in the game, by the time I realized this big guy was there he was to (sic) close for me to do anything but sit still until he decided to leave. I had my phone up in front of my chest. I was able to take pic (sic) texted to my son that was in the house ‘help me.’ He thought I was playing a joke on him until I sent the second message ‘be very quiet.’ I then started videoing, which I believed helped me thru this encounter.”

As Sander films, the bear just seems to be taking him in, sniffing him, curious perhaps that Sander would be his lunch. Luckily, Sander’s son snuck out of the house and came up behind the man, prompting the bear to finally turn and run away.

Sander added:

“I knew that I needed to be still and not make eye contact with this 300 and some pound bear. It appeared that he was going to walk on by me. First, I was starting to feel a little relief, but to my surprise he turned heading straight for me. As he moved closer I could smell him, wet animal odor. I thought if I made any movement, one good swipe he could rip my head/face off. You can see the bear lift his head towards the end of the video. He is actually looking over my head at my 6’6 325lb son that was so quiet when he came out I didn’t know he was there. As you can see he then turns and saunters off.”