SEE IT: A New England Family Has a Crazy Reaction to Finding a Black Bear Under Their House

You hear a sound from outside your home. Irked, you decide to investigate.

You quickly discover this annoyance isn’t an outside noise. The sound is coming from inside the house. Okay, underneath it. But you’re startled to discover…

A black bear staring you right in the eye as it hibernates beneath your deck!

Certainly, your second step is calling Animal Control (the first being running inside and screaming; perhaps hiding whatever porridge you have along the way). Right?

Not if you’re one New England family, who decided the bear was “chill” and could stay.

All the way back in December, a family in Plainville, Connecticut, found the wild animal taking refuge underneath their porch. According to CT Insider, the family became suspicious when their typically-reserved dog began barking and growling.

The result was documented in a TikTok video that has since gone viral.

@thetrendytransparent

#bears #newengland #bearsinct

♬ original sound – Tyler Dashukewich

And it didn’t stop there. The family actually gave the bear its own name, “Marty Bernard,” as well as its own Instagram and TikTok accounts, and a place to stay for the winter.

Per CT Insider, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection agreed that perhaps it was best to just leave the bear alone. And aside from moving his head around to look at people when they pass by, it sounds like the bear has done a whole lot of nothing.

Of course, it’s different for a bear that’s hibernating than a bear that’s on the prowl, such as the one that ran loose on the North Shore of Massachusetts during summer 2022.

Luckily, “Marty” isn’t as aggressive as the raccoon that threatened a nearby child in December, only to meet its match in a quick-thinking mom (all caught on camera).