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What would you do if you turned around to see you were face-to-face with a bear?

A Sooke, B.C. man took things into his own hands when a black bear got in his face outside his home Thursday night.

The man, who only wanted to be identified as Mike, said he was having a cigarette outside his home when he felt a presence nearby.

When he turned around, Mike was startled to be face-to-face with the brazen black bear. Without hesitation he reached out and slapped the bear across the face.

He said his first instinct was to lash out and make face contact with the bruin. Thankfully it worked and Mike escaped unscathed after his close encounter with the boundary-breaching bear.

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service confirms it’s looking for a bear after getting complaints from several people in the southern Vancouver Island community.

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With files from the Canadian Press