A California man says a black bear charged at him outside his Lake Tahoe vacation home over the Fourth of July holiday, prompting him to deploy bear spray in a dramatic encounter captured on video.

Cortlandt Koerwitz of Sacramento told KCRA 3 that the encounter began after his daughter spotted the bear rummaging through a garbage can inside the home’s garage.

Wildlife Encounter

Koerwitz said he grabbed bear spray and went outside to investigate, but the encounter escalated within seconds when the animal rushed toward him.

Video obtained by KCRA 3 shows Koerwitz approaching the garage before the bear suddenly charges toward him. Moments later, he deploys the bear spray, and the bear turns away and runs off.

Koerwitz told the station that bears frequently wander through the Lake Tahoe area in search of food and often get into trash cans or unlocked vehicles, but he described the aggressive behavior in this encounter as unusual.

According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, black bears are common throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin and are often drawn into neighborhoods by unsecured garbage and other easily accessible food sources.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.