Karo Orudzhyan’s three-year-old husky named Ice stayed as cool as his name during a “completely unexpected” encounter with a wild brown bear on Thursday.
During a day trip to California’s Sequoia National Park, a local bear approached Orudzhyan’s vehicle to get a closer look at its occupants — one, in particular. “I come to a stop, and I’m just shocked that I see a bear,” Orudzhyan told CBS Los Angeles. “You know, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a bear.”
The bear fixated on the young snow-white husky, sniffing at him through the windshield that separated them. “I had some In-N-Out in the car, too. That might have been it, but yeah, it was sniffing the dog.” Ice calmly returned the gesture, as his owner captured the moment on camera.
Orudzhyan became concerned when the massive animal then circled the vehicle to climb atop his trunk. “He literally came back here, put his paws up and literally just hopped up onto the trunk,” he recalled, continuing:
Right when he jumped up, I took my foot off the brake just so he could roll off, because his paw was on the glass, I thought he might go through and Ice was right on the other side of the glass, nose to nose with the glass.
I just wanted to take in the moment. I wasn’t even looking at what I was filming. I was just like trying to take in what was going on so I remembered the experience.
Despite the risks and superficial damage to his vehicle, Orudzhyan called the encounter “awesome.” Ice, however, was unavailable for comment.