A man's terrifying "bear" encounter has left people in stitches after it turned out to be a much more friendly animal.

In a TikTok video posted by homesteader Heather (@ilovesheepers), she recalled how a neighbor's misidentification of her pet pig left her in stitches.

With more than 590,000 views, she recalled: "My neighbor that was fishing on my creek bank started yelling 'BEAR!' at the top of his lungs and woke me up."

But the footage showed not a bear, but a close-up of Veronica, Heather's adorable 12-year-old pet pig, nonchalantly rustling through the brush.

Heather, who lives on a small farmstead, laughed off the bear mix-up in the comments and wrote: "The creek is about 5 feet down from ground level so he probably saw black and freaked out."

And it's true—though the first glimpse of Veronica's round, shadowy form might trick an unsuspecting eye, any fears vanish the moment she comes into full view.

In the comments, people shared their reactions to the hilarious mix-up.

"He must have barely glimpsed it," said viewer Lauren. While TikToker marycox536 joked: "Boy, the bears are kinda short this season."

Viewer Matt made another suggestion: "Maybe he was screaming 'boar,' just with an accent." While Lacey couldn't get enough of the giant pig: "Well, isn't that just the cuddliest-looking bear around."

There are approximately 600,000-900,000 American black bears in North America, and around 60,000 grizzly bears. Black bears are generally timid and more likely to avoid humans, while grizzly bears are known to be more territorial and larger in size.

Earlier this month, a woman staying in the mountains of Tennessee gained viral attention when she did have an unexpected encounter with two bears while staying in an Airbnb.

While another woman in British Columbia spotted a bear enjoying a dip in a cool pond while hiking through the mountains.

Now dubbed the "sweetest looking bear," Veronica living her best pig life has delighted the internet.

For many viewers, she was a surprise star. One viewer even joked: "He looks like his feelings got hurt!! He just wanted some loving." Others were lining up to give Veronica a snuggle, with viewer Jennifer Monk writing: "I love him. I would cuddle right now."

Newsweek reached out to @ilovesheepers via TikTok for comment.

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