A man in Montana who had a lucky escape after encountering a bear with her cubs has taken to social media to show the dangers of living in bear country. In the graphic video, showing a bloody and beaten Todd Orr, reveals how he was attacked twice by the mother bear, but managed to escape to safety.
“Yeah, life sucks in bear country,” he admits at the start of the video.
Orr, a keen hunter, had been on the lookout for potential locations in the aptly named Bear Creek on Saturday morning when he happened upon a mother grizzly bear and her two cubs, the Montana Standard reported.
When the adult bear ran towards him, Orr whipped out his bear spray, a type of pepper spray used to fend off attacking bears. The spray did not stop the bear, who continued its charge towards the hunter. Jumping to the ground with his face in the dirt, Orr wrapped his arms around the back of his neck for protection.
“She was on top of me, biting my arms, shoulders and backpack,” Orr wrote on Facebook. “The force of each bite was like a sledgehammer with teeth. She would stop for a few seconds and then bite again. Over and over. After a couple of minutes, but what seemed like eternity, she disappeared.”
Orr then had to make the three-mile hike back to his truck, only for a rustling sound 10-minutes down the trail revealing that the bear was racing after him. “She either came back down the trail or cut through the trees and randomly came out on the trail right behind me. Whatever the case, she was instantly on me again. I couldn’t believe this was happening a second time!” Orr said.
“I could feel her breath on the back of my neck, just inches away. I could feel her front claws digging into my lower back below my backpack where she stood. I could smell the terrible, pungent odour she emitted. For 30 seconds she stood there crushing me.”
Playing dead, the bear eventually lost interest with Orr and left. Bloody, bruised, bitten and beaten, the hunter made his way back to his car, filmed his Facebook video, called the emergency services, and drove himself to the local hospital, where he spent eight hours undergoing treatment.
“Not my best day, but I’m alive,” Orr said. “So thankful I’m here to share with all of you.”
