Bear rampages through SC man’s backyard and it’s all caught on 2 videos. Look at

Ron Greene had just finished his breakfast and was washing his dishes in the sink when he looked out the window and saw something standing in his backyard.

He thought it was a man.

He looked again and saw that it was a bear hitting his bird feeder.

Greene grabbed his phone and opened the back door, standing close to the house in case he needed to return. His video was a success on social networks.

Greene was surprised the animal was in his yard on Old Easley Bridge Road in Greenville County because it’s a fairly busy road.

South Carolina wildlife officials say black bears are becoming more common as growth roars across the state.

Tammy Waldrop, a wildlife biologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, said her agency is doing field work on a bear count to confirm what they already believe.

She said the increase was a result of good acorn and fruit production in recent years.

“Plenty of natural food promotes good breeding success and there have been many sightings of pups over 3 years old in a litter that have survived through the summer,” she said.

More sightings and interactions, but so far no attacks.

She said several hundred reports of sightings and complaints are filed each year, most involving bears eating food left outside or property damage associated with the food.

Bears like bird feeders and trash. Also animal feed, chicken coops, beehives and fruit trees.

Moving them is not an option, she said.

“There are no real wilderness areas left to take them,” she said. “Bears travel throughout the state using river and stream systems, power line rights-of-way, railroad rights-of-way and other greenways.”

No black bear attacks or deaths have occurred in South Carolina, but this is the case in other parts of the United States and Canada, particularly in the West. Six deaths have been reported since 2000, including one in 2023 involving a man sitting in a chair at a campsite in Arizona. All six were considered unprovoked.

Two cases of people feeding bears from their back porches have been reported in South Carolina in recent years. One bear was taken 90 miles away, but returned within a week, the DNR said.

Waldrop said bears know rivers and streams and can easily find their way back.

South Carolina has a brief black bear hunting season, open only in October in Greenville, Oconee and Pickens. Bears are also hit by cars with some regularity.

Greene said he didn’t think the bear saw him, but he thought the bear knew he was there. Greene also filmed the bear running away, then overturning and lunging over his wooden fence.

He heard neighbors say they, too, had seen bears recently.

“He’s just hungry, I guess,” Greene said. “He didn’t get much out of my feeder.”

DNR offers these tips for dealing with bears:

• Don’t feed the bears. Wild bears do not pose a threat. They are wary of humans. The Fed doesn’t support much.

• Bring in bird feeders at night.

• Never approach a bear for any reason.

• Have a bear control action plan and make sure everyone understands it.

• If you are traveling with young children, make sure you know where they are at all times.

• Carry pepper spray which will stop a charging bear if sprayed in the bear’s eyes, nose and mouth.

• Bears charge at high speed on all four legs. Most accusations are bluffs, and bears often stop or veer to the side at the last moment.

• Don’t play dead if the accusation isn’t a bluff. Act aggressively. Stand up for yourself. Jump up and down, scream and wave your arms. Throw stones.

• Don’t run because this bear is chasing you and can run faster than you – 30 to 35 miles per hour. Sprinter Usain Bolt 27.5. You’re not Bolt.