VIDEO: North Carolina man gets surprise visit from bear in his backyard

A North Carolina man relaxing outside of his home received a surprise visit by a bear on Tuesday, causing an awkward encounter between the two. 

David Oppenheimer was relaxing in a lounge chair in his backyard in Asheville, scrolling through his phone after work when he got an alert from his camera system. When he checked the camera, which was set up “to see if there’s maybe a bear there,” he didn’t see anything and went back to scrolling. 

A minute later, another alert went off but it was too late. When he turned his head, he was already face to face with the bear. 

“I looked behind me and didn’t see anything. But about a minute later, the bear came along and was practically in front of me.” Oppenheimer told USA TODAY. "We immediately made eye contact."

Oppenheimer, startled to death, immediately grabs a pillow from his lounge chair.

"I was a little frightened because it was right there and I didn't know what it would do," he said.

Fortunately for Oppenheimer, the bear also seemed as surprised as he was and ran away after a few seconds. 

“My eyeballs certainly got a stretch,” Oppenheimer added. 

Bear sightings are frequent in Asheville—black bears can be found in 60% of North Carolina, according to wildlife officials. It is common to see bears in backyards or walking throughout neighborhoods.

 In fact, it wasn’t the first bear Oppenheimer has seen near his home. Earlier the same day, he spotted the same bear in his backyard eating out of a bear-proof bird feeder and then attempting to go through his neighbor’s trash. 

"We are all used to them," Oppenheimer said. "They really don't want to bother people."