Stunned New Jersey Family Watches Bear Play in Pool: ‘He Popped Our Float!'

The bear eventually ran off

A New Jersey family was stunned to find a 300-pound black bear wading in their backyard pool Friday afternoon. 

The bear was spotted by the family taking a dip in their pool in the backyard of their Rockaway Township house at about 3 p.m. Friday, they told NBC 4 New York.

Video captured from inside the home shows the bear wading in the pool, then walking around the family's lawn.   

"He popped our float! I think he's breaking our pool," homeowner Stacey Dowling says in the video.  

Dowling tells her husband Rick, "He's trying to get out. Babe, let's get him out!" 

Her husband immediately responds, "I'm not going out there! You crazy?" 

No one was injured by the bear and it eventually ran off, the family told NBC 4 New York.  

The bear visit isn't the first along Herrick Road this week. Two days ago, another bear was spotted on the street. And in the town, there have been several sightings in recent weeks. 

And who could forget the sight last year, when a mama bear and her five cubs took a dip in another backyard pool in Rockaway Township. 

Town officials are warning residents to be aware, and calling on the state to do more to lessen bear-human encounters. 

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