A senior citizen in Oregon is thanking his lucky stars to be alive while walking his dog. A male black bear appeared 20 feet away when the couple was hiking on private wooded property near their Creswell home. The dog began barking at the bear and ran toward that.
“The bear pushed the dog down and was on the dog when the victim came yelling and waving his arms in an attempt to provoke the bear away from the dog,” the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) said in a statement. The bear shifted his attention away from the dog and toward the victim. The bear lunged at the man, knocking him to the ground. The man fought back, and the bear fled after a short time.”
The hurt couple walked over a mile back to their house. The man was hospitalized due to lacerations and punctures on various regions of his body.
A local veterinarian treated the dog, and both he and his owner are expected to fully recover.
“This was a very serious situation, and the victim took the proper precautions by first attempting to scare the bear away and then fighting back after he was assaulted,” said Brian Wolfer, ODFW’s South Willamette Watershed Manager.
Authorities later located down and shot and killed a bear. He’s being tested for infections such as rabies. The bear that was killed is thought to be the one who attacked the two.
Although human-bear encounters are uncommon in Oregon, you should always be on the lookout, avoid bear pathways marked with signs, and make noise when hiking to avoid surprising bears.
