Wild video shows close encounter with bear for Annandale, N.J. couple and their dogs
ANNANDALE, N.J. - There was a very close call for a pair of dogs and their owner in the wilds of Hunterdon County, New Jersey.
It's bear country there, and when a bear's on the run after you, you better be quick.
This story stars a young black bear, some terrified dogs and a man dressed for bed on the back porch of his Annandale home.
Video shows they all wind within inches of each other.
Joseph Damiani gave CBS New York the play-by-play of his nighttime bear encounter, which took place on May 15.
"I hear a bunch of 'woof, woof, woof,'" he said. "The dogs shoot right past me and then I see the bear ... And then the dogs went in. The bear tried to charge into the house."
You do not see her in the video, but girlfriend Shirley Perlinsky was right at the door.
"When [the dogs] came inside the house, I just tried to lock the door, but I couldn't because the door got caught in the leash. So I was fighting, I was fighting the bear. The bear was pushing the door this way, I was pushing the door that way," Perlinsky said. "That's my boyfriend, and I love him very much, but I couldn't let the bear inside my house."
"They say you're supposed to back off and look the entire time. I didn't do that. 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," Damiani said.
Bear experts tell us when the wild animals interact with us, it's usually something we do to attract them.
The responding state wildlife officials told the couple the bear likely wanted what was in their birdfeeders. Because the bear acted aggressively, there was an attempt to capture it.
"We had a trap set up for eight days ... Unfortunately, they couldn't catch this beast," Perlinsky said.
Now their birdfeeders are kept empty, and their trash gets properly put away.
The couple says let's respect bears, live with them, without them ever getting this close.
