Black bear raiding a garbage can at Lake Tahoe garage triggers dramatic wildlife encounter

A California man says a black bear charged at him outside his Lake Tahoe vacation home over the Fourth of July holiday, prompting him to deploy bear spray in a dramatic encounter captured on video.Cortlandt Koerwitz of Sacramento told KCRA 3 that the encounter began after his daughter spotted the bear rummaging through a garbage can inside the home's garage.Koerwitz said he grabbed bear spray and went outside to investigate, but the encounter escalated within seconds when the animal rushed toward him.WOMAN STALKED BY CHARGING BEAR ON MORNING DOG WALK CAPTURES TERRIFYING ENCOUNTER ON CAMERAAn elevated view of the Lake Tahoe Basin in California.A Sacramento man said a black bear charged at him outside his vacation home in the area during the Fourth of July holiday.

(Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)"I just kind of caught something out of my left eye, and it was the bear rushing in.We were both startled, and I just shot the spray.

And the overspray from that, you know, the shot hit me and hit my eyes," Koerwitz said.Video obtained by KCRA 3 shows Koerwitz approaching the garage before the bear suddenly charges toward him.Moments later, he deploys the bear spray, and the bear turns away and runs off.Koerwitz told the station that bears frequently wander through the Lake Tahoe area in search of food and often get into trash cans or unlocked vehicles, but he described the aggressive behavior in this encounter as unusual.HIDDEN DANGER AT POPULAR US NATIONAL PARK FORCES TRAIL CLOSURES AS BEAR SIGHTINGS CLIMBA black bear sits in a tree near a home in the Lake Tahoe area on Dec.

14, 2006.Wildlife officials say black bears are common throughout the Tahoe Basin and encourage residents to secure garbage and other food attractants to reduce conflicts.

(Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, black bears are common throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin and are o...