Devon Rees could have played dead. Or run. Instead, he chose to fight the bear that lunged out of the woods near his home in Eagle River on Monday morning.
"I definitely earned my bragging rights boxing a bear," said Rees, 18. "It got me a couple of times, and I got her a good couple of times. I wasn't going to give the bear an easy target."
Rees was walking home from a friend's house along VFW Road -- a frontage road that parallels the Glenn Highway -- at about 2 a.m. When he left the paved street for a dirt road that crosses Meadow Creek, he was less than 50 yards from his home at the edge of Chugach State Park. Midway across, he heard a splash down the embankment at the water's edge, perhaps 10 feet away. Probably just some salmon jumping, he thought.
This late in summer, darkness envelops the woods in the early morning hours. Rees couldn't see a thing. As he continued on, a quick rustle was followed by a brief glint of hair. When the bear barrelled out and tore into him, he tore back.
"I was doing the best I could to stay up on my toes and move all around it," Rees said. "I figured my best chance was to fight the best I could, fight the hardest I could to get away."
The bear bit into his arms. Scratched his side. Dug into his thighs. Swatted his head. Rees was pumped with adrenaline, masking the pain of teeth and nails sinking into his flesh. He started yelling furiously. He threw elbows and punches into the bruin's head, kicked when he could.
As suddenly as the attack began, the bear released him. He didn't wait around. Rees began staggering up the road, shoeless and with pants shredded, calling 911 on his cell phone as he headed toward a nearby fire station. Police arriving on the scene found Rees near the Equipment Direct Rental store, but by that time, the bear was gone, police Lt. Paul Honeman said.
The conventional wisdom in Alaska is to fight back against a black bear, but to lay down and play dead if attacked by a Grizzly. A hard decision to make under any circumstances, but what if it is too dark to tell exactly what kind of bear is kicking your ass?
Well hats off to Devon Rees. We all hope that we would have the cojones to fight off an attack if one every occurred but this young man can stand up and say "I fought the bear, and the bear did NOT win".
These attacks are pretty unsettling. We always have a few bear encounters but this year the number is especially high. In response I have done absolutely no hiking and have used caution when I visit any of the parks outside of town.
I hate to blame this on Climate Change, but we had a very late summer (many of us think it never really arrived) and this may be having some effect on the behavior of the hungry bruins.
I just emailed a picture of a sign to my friends yesterday. You've probably already seen it. The sign reads:
ReplyDeleteDue to the frequency of human-bear encounters, the B.C. Fish and Wildlife Branch is advising hikers, hunters, fisherman and any persons that use the out-of-doors in a recreational or work related function to take extra precautions while in the field.
We advise the outdoorsman to wear little noisy bells on clothing so as to give advance warning to any bears that might be close by so you don't take them by surprise.
We also advise anyone using the out-of-doors to carry "pepper spray" with him in case of an encounter with a bear.
Outdoorsmen should also be on the watch for fresh bear activity, and be able to tell the difference between black bear feces and grizzly bear feces. Black bear feces is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear feces has bells in it and smells like pepper.
Nice one Lynne!
ReplyDeleteI have seen another version of that joke, but yours still made me laugh.
Hats off to Devon! He's my cousin and i told him on the phone not many people can box a grizzly and live!He is doing well, and i luv u devon!
ReplyDelete