Chatham-Kent police are confirming they have received a report of a bear sighting just east of Wallaceburg.
Police say someone who was driving near Tupperville at around 1am Monday reported seeing two black bears crossing the road in the area of Base Line and Centre Side Rd.
After a bit of investigation by Blackburn News, the person who filed the report was identified as Joe Vancoillie, a Wallaceburg paramedic.
Vancoillie said he and his partner, Jeff MacTavish, were on their way back from a standby in Thamesville when they saw the bears crossing the road in the early hours of the morning.
"Right in our headlights you can see two large objects," Vancoillie said. "One big one just goes bouncing around the road and we had to slam on the brakes so we didn't hit the second one. It just sat there for a few seconds before running into the field and I just looked at my partner and said 'was that a bear?' and he said 'Oh my god! Those were two bears!'"
Vancoillie described the first animal as an adult bear and the second was smaller, but still bigger than a young cub. The medic said him and his partner tried to find them afterwards with a spotlight, but the bears had run too far off into the distance.
Vancoillie said he came back later in the morning, once it was light out, to try and find a clear print to take a picture of, but came up empty-handed.
The medic added he called the police because he thought the animals may have been captive and got out. The thought they could be wild never crossed his mind.
"I asked if anybody lost circus bears," Vancoillie said. "I thought it could have been a travelling circus or something because seeing them really throws you off."
Vancoillie and MacTavish came up with hypothetical scenarios of what could have happened if they had to stop for a call in the area.
"Can you imagine if we just happened to be doing a call and we stopped the ambulance, pulled out the stretcher, were completely in the darkness and all the sudden there's the big head of a bear behind you?" Vancoillie said.
Officers say they have not been able to confirm the sighting at this point, but they are urging local residents to use caution when walking through bushes and fields.
They're also reminding you to keep your distance from wild animals and to call police if you see an animal displaying aggressive behaviour.
While bears are not frequently seen in southwestern Ontario, there were a couple of sightings in the region in July 2016.
-With files from Matt Weverink