Man's Up-Close Encounter With a Black Bear Is Scary Yet Hilarious At the Same Time
It's not every day that you run into a bear while out and about, but when it happens you're probably gonna want to tell everyone about it. Just like TikTok creator @paolozee21, who shared his own recent brush with wildlife online and now people are buzzing about the scary footage.
The TikTok creator frequently shares his travels in the great outdoors on his page, but we're sure there was nothing that could've prepared him for coming face-to-face with a giant bear. "I survived my first encounter without bear spray," the onscreen text reads. In the footage, @paolozee21 seems to be trying to create a little distance between him and the bear by hiding behind a tree. At first things seem friendly enough, but by the end the man was just a little freaked by something the bear did.
"He took my jacket," the screen's text overlay reads. Thankfully, the man doesn't appear to have gotten hurt, but his close call attracted almost 4 million views online.
"My toxic trait is thinking I could pet him," @work_shenanigans_ joked in the comments section. "If not friend.. why friend shape," @billyjack00 wondered. "In [the] future with Black Bears, make noise as soon as you see it, speak to it at all times," @seanking821 advised.
But some people wondered if the bear was just rude. "Bear encounter : Keep saying HELLO and you will be fine," @jas.kai teased. "You said hello like five times, what is that bears problem man?" @superhev wondered. "I love how this hello tactic worked hahahahaha he must be bad with conversations," @xaanderhammy teased.
According to the National Parks Service, if you ever run into a bear you should speak slowly and identify yourself as human to the bear "so the bear knows you are a human and not a prey animal."
So saying hello was actually pretty smart. Success!
