What would you do if you were enjoying a relaxing morning on your porch when a group of bears decided to join you? Would you run away, or would you try the creeping-slowly-toward-your-front-door tactic? We reckon we’d go for option number two because as fascinating as it would be to see a bear up-close, we don’t fancy taking our chances.
But for one man in Asheville, North Carolina, it has become incredibly common for him to see a family of bears on his porch. In fact, it’s so common that they’re all completely comfortable around each other!
To prove this to us all, he managed to capture some amazing footage one morning of the bears coming to visit – and you don’t want to miss it!
For Patrick Conley, the sight of bears on his front porch has become as common as seeing a bird or an insect. He lives in a secluded, woody area in North Carolina, surrounded by lots of trees and nature. In other words, a great place for bears to live!
Around December of 2017, a mama bear began to pop onto Patrick’s porch to say hello every morning – and she wasn’t alone. She always brought her three cubs along with her, and we think it’s amazing that she trusts Patrick enough to be around her babies.
Patrick managed to capture the bears’ visit on camera one morning, and he shared the amazing footage onto his YouTube channel. Within no time at all, the post had racked up over one million views as people stared in awe at the bears that seemed to be perfectly at home on Patrick’s porch!
The video begins with the mama making her way confidently up the porch steps as if she’s done this lots of times before.
Patrick calls out a cheery, “Good morning!” But the mama barely acknowledges him as she sniffs around on the porch. Next to follow is another brown head – though a bit smaller this time! This is the most confident of the three babies, and she follows her mom’s footsteps around the porch.
A third bear then makes his way up the steps. He’s a little more hesitant, but he knows that if he sticks with his mama he’ll be safe. The other baby is a little shyer, and she stays just below the porch, watching her family.
In contrast, the first cub is incredibly confident. So much so that she wanders off from her mom and approaches Patrick. She comes right up close to sniff his camera, causing Patrick to move back and say, “That’s a little close, come on.” We think Patrick is a lot braver than we would be!
The bears then leave Patrick’s porch and retreat back into the forest. But how amazing must it have been to experience that!
On July 8, 2019, Patrick posted an update into his caption to let us know more about his visitors. He said:
“For those of you unfamiliar with the channel these four bears have been visiting the property in Asheville, NC since at least August 2017 and most likely earlier. The mother, Maïté, is the first one on the porch followed by her daughter Simone and chunky son Maurice. Solange, the shy one, stayed on the stairs. They went their separate ways around May 2018. Simone is the only one I see anymore, at least once a week.”
We think it’s incredible that Patrick managed to get so close to some bears and they felt safe to be around him! Watch the breathtaking video below.
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