Mom Films Terrifying Moment ‘Starving Bear’ Tries To Break Into Their Home

A video of a “scary bear” pushing against the porch of a home has gone viral on TikTok.
The nerve-racking moment was captured in Alaska by @kara_cleanwithme, a mom and wife, as noted on her profile. The footage has amassed over 692,000 views since it was posted on September 12.
A caption shared with the post reads: “Closest I have ever been to a bear!”
The video shows a bear seen through the window of a home set in the woods. The animal is seen standing up against the railings of a porch, thrusting its body against it in an apparent attempt to “break” it.
A note overlaid on the screen reads: “We had moved to Alaska and in less than a week, we had a bear try to break in our porch.”
A person’s hand is later shown banging against the window from inside the home in an apparent attempt to scare the bear away. The animal gives one last thrust against the railings before lowering itself down, backing away from the home, and walking towards the woods.
The animal sighting in the viral clip is not unusual because “Alaska is bear country and one of the few places in the world where all three species of North American bears live,” notes the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G).
Alaska is home to brown bears, also known as grizzly bears, found nearly everywhere in the States, while black bears live in most of Alaska’s forests. Polar bears are seen on the sea ice and tundra of extreme northern and western Alaska.
“Bears are curious, intelligent and tend to avoid or ignore people, but can be dangerous,” the department states, but “surprisingly few people see bears and only a few of those are ever threatened by a bear.”
The ADF&G advises that if you see a bear, you should avoid it and give the bear every opportunity to avoid you. However, you should also never surprise a bear and should always let them know you are there, by making noise or talking, so that it knows you are a human.
“If you do encounter a bear, remain calm and try to observe what the bear is doing. Chances are good you are not in danger. Most bears are interested only in protecting food, cubs or their ‘personal space.’ Once they feel there is no threat, they will move on.
“If a bear cannot tell what you are, it may come closer or stand on its hind legs to get a better look or smell. A standing bear is usually curious, not threatening,” the ADF&G noted.
Bears are always looking for something to eat, having only a few months to build up fat reserves for a long winter, so you shouldn’t “let them learn that human food or garbage is an easy meal,” the department says.
“It is foolish and illegal to feed bears, either on purpose or by not securing food or garbage away from bears,” noted the ADF&G.
TikTok users were alarmed by the animal sighting in the viral clip, expressing concern for the bear as well as the poster.
User lisamarie_mt noted: “A starving bear is a scary bear. They push boundaries others wouldn’t.” The original poster replied, “We were definitely scared!”
ARTinBodied said “he looks a little starved, hopefully he’s ok” and mommachicken1111 agreed, saying “poor thing he just wants to eat he looks like he’s starving.”
Juniper noted, “Bears in Alaska can emerge from their dens in late spring in a thin and hungry state, depending on winter conditions.”
User texturedtongue asked, “Do y’all report malnourished bears where you are to a local wildlife team?” The original poster replied, “They’ve been keeping an eye on this bear I was told!”
Ana Madrid noted, “The way i would never step foot outside after seeing this.” The original poster replied, “I was paranoid for a while after this.”
User @reiziger_ said: “That is a tall bear! We only have the little black bears around where I live in Michigan here so the mind gets used to thinking of bears as smaller.” The original poster replied, “This one isn’t an adult yet and he was already HUGE!”
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
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