A man has captured the moment a huge black bear bathed in his garden pond – just ten feet from his home.
British ex-pat Bob Bramley, who now lives in Oakhurst California, caught the brazen bear taking a relaxing bath in his koi fish pond on CCTV.
The retired 58-year-old decided to check his security footage after he noticed the rocks and equipment surrounding the pond were in disarray.
But he couldn’t believe his eyes when he realised he’d captured the native North American bear lazing around and munching on grass in his garden.
Bob moved from Hartlepool to the US in 1981 to follow a career in the hi-tech software industry in Silicon Valley.He now lives with his wife Jane in a small mountain community outside Yosemite National Park and takes an interest in the surrounding wildlife.
He said: “Usually I see raccoons and deer but this is the first time I have captured a bear.
“I like to put my trail camera out at night to see what animals come passing by.
“The next morning I went to feed my fish when I noticed something was amiss – there were several rocks that had been moved and some of the pond equipment was disturbed.
“I then checked my camera to see what happened.
“The surprising thing is that he chose to bathe in my koi pond which is very close to my house, no more than 10ft from my front door.
“This was at around 10.20pm and I could very easily have stepped outside at that same time.
“This has received quite a bit of attention around here, not so much because a bear stopped by, which live around these parts, but because it was bathing in my pond and so close to the house.
“My fish were unscathed, I don’t think he ate any of them.
“Bears are creatures of habit so I am a bit concerned he may come back.”