FLINT HILL, Va. - A Virginia man is recovering from a frightening encounter with a bear that wound up inside his kitchen in the middle of the night.

While Bob Dennis says he's been face-to-face with a bear on his Flint Hill farm before, he was shocked early last Friday morning when a black bear showed up in his kitchen for a late-night snack.

"I knew it was a bear and I knew I was going to get him out of here somehow or other," he said. "He got cat food. Dried cat food is all he got."

In fact, the bear came in through a window Dennis and his wife leave open for their cats. His dog Shadow woke him up barking and when Dennis went to inspect, he saw the bear.

"He was trying to get out. He wanted to go right back out that window and I was in his way," he said.

Dennis doesn't remember much of what happened next. When he finally came to, he saw his pajamas were shredded, his leg was bleeding and there were four claw marks on his chest.

"I think if he'd been after me I wouldn't be talking to you right now," he said.

On the way out, the bear tried to go through the screen door but couldn't go out so he busted through the screen on the porch. Dennis says he's concerned the bear is going to come back and next time, he'll be prepared.

"The state says they're going to give me a permit to shoot a bear out of season and I think if the bear tries to come back in the house again I might shoot it," he said. "I don't know. I wouldn't want to. I don't think that bear deserves to be shot."

Dennis did say the bear is certainly not welcome back.

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