A New Jersey couple got quite the scare when they encountered a black bear — right in their yard. Joseph Damiani and his girlfriend, Shirley Perlinsky, heard their dogs barking outside. When they went to go check on them, they realized the commotion was due to a bear that was chasing the pooches. And then to make the frightening encounter even more scary, the bear almost made its way into their home.
You can see the moment everything unfoldeded on footage captured by a security camera. Joseph is seen going to let his dogs in the house when he realizes there's a bear chasing them. At that moment, he jumps out the way and runs into the backyard.
The bear is seen nearly making its way into the house, right behind the dogs. But Shirley closes the door just in the nick of time. However, the dogs' leashes were caught in the door, so she couldn't lock it.
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“So I was fighting, I was fighting the bear. The bear was pushing the door this way, I was pushing the door that way,” she explained. She also felt guilty about leaving Joseph without a way to get back in the house. "That’s my boyfriend, and I love him very much, but I couldn’t let the bear inside my house," she added.
Thankfully, neither the dogs nor the couple were hurt during this very close encounter with the black bear. They were told that the animal probably ended up at their house because of the birdfeeders they had out.
“They say you’re supposed to back off and look the entire time. I didn’t do that,” Joseph explained of the situation. “I just turned around and without even looking back, I went down the steps there, came in through that gate, that white fence and came around the front.”
Joseph was able to stay out of the way of the bear until the animal gave up and eventually left their property. This was a lucky situation for both the homeowners and their pooches.
The couple have since cleared their property of any outdoor treats. They have also sealed off their trash to avoid any more run-ins with the bear.
The bear has not been caught since the incident. “We had a trap set up for eight days … Unfortunately, they couldn’t catch this beast,” Shirley said.
