A Lake Tahoe got quite the surprise on July 4 after he encountered a bear outside his cabin.
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The encounter was captured on home security footage provided by Cortlandt Koerwitz to Storyful, and shows the man using bear spray to deter the bear.
Koerwitz told Storyful that he was getting ready to spend a day on his boat with his family when he noticed the bear.
“I went into the garage to investigate, and had grabbed a canister of bear spray that we keep by the garage door. The bear then rushed me from the left,” Koerwitz said.
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Koerwitz said that he was left a little “scared and confused” during the encounter, as “bears in Tahoe don’t normally aggressively rush people.”
“This type of encounter is rare. Normally bears around Tahoe don’t want anything to do with humans,” he added.
How to safely use bear pepper spray
The National Park Service (NPS) says bear pepper spay can be used defensively to stop an aggressive, charging, or attacking bear. Although it’s used in the same way you would use mace on an attacking person, NPS says bear pepper spray and human pepper spray are not the same.
NPS says to make sure you select an EPA-approved product that is specifically designed to stop aggressive bears. It is not a repellent, so do not apply to your body or equipment.
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