California man doing yard work surprised by bear

May 2 (UPI) — A California man’s home security camera recorded his too-close encounter with a bear that wandered into his yard while he was doing work.

Dave Ellison said he was doing some “spring cleaning” yard work at his Arnold home on Saturday when the bear made an appearance.

Security camera footage Ellison posted to YouTube shows the bear wandering into the yard while Ellison’s back was turned.

The bear runs behind a tree, where it stops Ellison in his tracks.

“[I] wasn’t sure what I was seeing,” Ellison told KRCA-TV. “At first glance, I thought it was our black dog Kodi — then it hit me! It was a bear!”

The video shows Ellison, who recently underwent hip replacement surgery, slowly and carefully making his way into the garage before the bear runs off.

Ellison said knew there were bears in the area, but Saturday’s encounter was unusual.

“Never had one just stare at me and hang around in broad daylight before,” he said.

He said the encounter was “too close for comfort when you can’t run!”