Alaskan cat scares black bear away from family home

A guard dog may be more traditional, but in Eagle River, Alaska, it turns out that cats are up to the task.

On Sunday afternoon, Eagle River resident Darlis Elliott'scat Naniplayed the role of protector, scaring a black bear off the family's porch.

It's not necessarily a natural role for the two-year-old feline.

"She's really such a fraidy-cat most of the time," Elliott told KTUU, a local NBC affiliate. "I don't know what got into her. She probably wouldn't have lunged if we were standing right behind her."

Elliott told KTUU that she is used to wildlife, including bears, hanging around her home, and that it wasn't a surprise to see the animal approaching her door. Her family watched the bear walk up their driveway and around their house.

"We were all kind of watching him as he came up the back porch," said Elliott, "and that's when Nani saw him.

"We were all really surprised that she lunged at him, but we were more surprised that it scared him enough to fall off the porch!"

According to Elliott, the bear hasn't been back since.