My heart is THUMPING right now…
When out in the deep woods of bear country you have to consider the fact that you may come face to face with one of these big creatures at any point.
Sure, very close encounters are rare as they tend to want to avoid you as much you you want to avoid them, but you just never know when you can turn a corner and you’re 10 feet away from a potential man eating monster.
Case in point, this nature photographer at Waskesiu Lake in Saskatchewan, Canada.
The video starts with the bear already stalking him. Slowly moving closer, jumping on trees and posturing to show dominance.
Of course, everyone has heard that you’re supposed to try and be as large, loud, and menacing as you can muster if you find yourself in this situation, but that has to be completely easier said than done. You can hear the photographer trying to calm the bear down and ease the tension, but it’s having no affect, as the black bear just keeps following him and closing the distance.
As he tells the story…
“I was out photographing a bear from a safe distance when it caught scent and sight of me. Normally, I’m used to black bears running away when they’re aware of a person but this bear was behaving oddly.
It came towards me and followed me even after I stood my ground, shouted, and waved my arms at it.
Luckily I had bear spray and prepared myself to use it if the bear charged at me. I slowly and safely started retreating back to my car and after a couple of minutes of it following me, I decided to start filming. The bear continued to follow me and was getting closer.
When I was in a good position with the wind at my back and the bear coming close to me, I sprayed it with the bear spray.
Thankfully the bear spray worked as designed and sent the bear running away.”
Talk about terrifying.
The bear was acting completely out of the ordinary and even someone as well-versed in bear encounters as the photographer was forced to the limits, eventually pulling the last trick in the box, a well placed shot of bear spray.
Honestly, the accuracy of the spray is impressive, it got him right on the schnoz.
Thankfully all ended well and the spray worked as intended, running off the bear and allowing the guy to get home safely.
Wild world we’ve got…
