A few months ago it was a bear in a Lake Cowichan convenience store selecting some gummy bears for a snack.

Now it seems there鈥檚 another bear making use of human property in the Cowichan region, this time a black bear sleeping under the Weaver family鈥檚 deck.

Crystal Weaver lives along the Cowichan River, a place well-known as a high traffic wildlife thoroughfare, but she never expected to find a bear snoozing under her porch.

A video of the encounter she posted on TikTok has since gone viral, amassing 4.3M views.

this black bear thought the space under our deck might be a great place to spend winter. scared it off and are now bear proofing the area. pay attention when your dog's try and tell you something, they might be barking for a reason.

Weaver explained that for a week or so her two-year-old dog Coco was barking a lot and generally acting out of character.

鈥淪he鈥檚 was just losing it,鈥� Weaver said. 鈥淗e was barking every time we let her out for a couple of weeks. We just thought she was being an idiot and she absolutely was not,鈥� Weaver said.

It鈥檚 just that Coco knew something her humans didn鈥檛.

Weaver and her husband were in bed watching a movie one night when they heard thumping under the deck just outside their bedroom. She said they鈥檇 turn the TV off to hear but but every time they got up, went outside, and turned on the lights, it went silent.

鈥淚t was really weird and we couldn鈥檛 figure out what it was,鈥� Weaver said. They eventually suspected a raccoon family had taken up residence down under the deck and figured they鈥檇 have a look the next morning.

鈥淚n the morning, my husband went down and he came face to face with a black bear,鈥� Weaver said. 鈥淗e was absolutely terrified. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever seen him move so fast.鈥�

An attempt to drive the big animal away by jumping on the deck didn鈥檛 work so Weaver called the the RAPP line and they sent out some local conservation officers, who arrived within a couple of hours.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not safe to flush a bear out from under your house yourself,鈥� she noted.

The BC Conservation Officer Service managed scared the bear off and back into the wilderness with loud noises.

Following the ordeal, the Weavers have sprayed a significant amount of cayenne pepper under the porch and hope it works as a deterrant, until a more permanent solution can be found.

鈥淎pparently they don鈥檛 like the spicey dust,鈥� she explained.

Weaver never imagined her TikTok would get so much attention but hopes the millions of viewers will learn from her experience and make sure their homes aren鈥檛 attracting bears and other wildlife.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a little weird to be honest,鈥� she said of all the attention. 鈥淏ut I think it鈥檚 nice to have a story where a bear doesn鈥檛 get shot. If bears are in the news it鈥檚 usually not for good reasons. All the success stories rarely make the news.鈥�

Weaver counts this incident as a success story for all those involved; she got a viral video out of it, her husband got an up close look at a wild bear, and the bear got to return to the wilderness.

鈥淢aybe that encounter with people was super scary for it and now maybe that bear won鈥檛 be back anytime soon,鈥� Weaver hoped.

鈥淏ut the bears will be back,鈥� she attested. 鈥淭hey will keep fishing on the river. But this might at least give us some time to bear-proof.鈥�

To report human-bear interactions call the RAPP line at 1-877-952-RAPP (7277) or .