A Kent man will have some story to tell his grandchildren years from now—how he survived an attack by a giant black bear.

Kent Police said at 12:45am last week, a dispatcher received a call from a woman advising that her husband had been mauled by the beast outside of the family’s home on Hemlock Trail in the Hill and Dale Country Club.

Lt. Alex DiVernieri said officers responded and interviewed the victim, Christopher Head, 36, who reported being in his yard when he was “confronted” by the bear.

DiVernieri said the man tried to scare the bear away but instead wound up in the hospital.

Head said he had been a hunter since the age of 16 but “I never saw a bear in the woods.”

Last week the Putnam resident saw one up close and he has the claw marks to prove it.

Head said he and his wife, Tammy, were watching television after midnight when “we heard noise in the backyard. I looked out and saw the bear. Cops told us to grab some pots and pans and make noise. I decided to let some time go by instead, hoping the bear would move on.”

Police said Head, unaware that the bear had rambled onto the deck of the family’s home, walked out onto the porch from his kitchen door and “all of a sudden it took a swipe at my head. I backed up and put out my arm to block the powerful paw. Its claws dug into my arm as well as scratching my stomach and placing a small puncture wound in the belly.”

Following the attack, the bear took off.

Head was treated and released from Putnam Hospital Center’s Emergency Department, where he received a tetanus shot.

Members of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police were contacted. DEC spokesman Yancey Roy told the Courier that while it is common to observe black bears in the Lower Hudson Valley, it is “uncommon” for them to make physical contact with humans.

Police searched the area for several hours in search of the beast without success.

Roy called the incident “isolated. No follow-up action will be taken by our agency since the bear has probably left the area. Repeated encounters would trigger action.”

Roy suggested that residents in the area remove outdoor bird feeders and keep trash cans in an enclosed area since the “presence of food sources brings bears into yards like the one belonging to the Head family.”

Lt. DiVernieri urged anyone seeing a bear to call 911 and remain inside their home.

Head said he had “never had anything to do with a bear before. I hope I’ll never have anything to do with a bear again!”