A bear encounter in a backyard near Deltona Monday night freaked out a homeowner and caused her dog to run away.

“Fear, sheer fear. It scared the crap out of me,” said Aida Hart, who lives in the Enterprise area of West Volusia County. 

Hart said her dog Rudy was barking and fighting with what she thought was a raccoon Monday night. So she grabbed a flashlight and went outside.

“I didn’t know it was a bear at the time. I just knew that she was fighting something hard,” said Hart. She said it was a full-on scuffle with another animal. 

Hart’s neighbor captured video of the bear when it wandered into his backyard. Hart says she lifted the flashlight to see what forced her Rudy to run away in fear.

“And I heard the bear go woooah! And I pointed the flashlight up and the bear was 10-15 feet away from me. And I just turned and bolted into the house,” said Hart.

The terrified homeowner saw a Mama bear with three cubs, one which climbed into one of her trees.

But Rudy was nowhere to be found.

The family pet was gone all night and didn’t reappear until Tuesday morning. Hart’s greatest fear is that she would find Rudy’s body.

“I thought she was dead. I thought the bear had killed her," Hart said. "Because Rudy never leaves the property, she never leaves our side.”

Hart was filled with joy when her daughter found Rudy and brought the dog back home.

Hart called a Florida Fish and Wildlife ranger who shot the bear with a bean bag to scare it off. Mama Bear and her cubs have not returned.

Asked if she wanted the the bear trapped, Hart said she preferred it be left alone because humans are invading their space.