A Colorado ranch teenage staffer was just sleeping on Sunday morning when he woke up to a crunching sound that horrifically turns out it was coming from a bear gnawing on his head and trying to drag him away from his tent.
The 19-year-old staffer identified only as Dylan said he thought at first he was just dreaming until he woke up and realized it was real, and quickly realized that the crunching sound was shockingly from the black bear’s teeth biting into his skull. The bear then tried to drag him further away at about ten feet from his sleeping bag at Glacier View Ranch near the town of Ward, 48 miles northwest of Denver.
Dylan struggled to free himself and fight the wild animal. He punched and hit the bear while the other staffers who were sleeping nearby yelled and swatted at the bear. The bear eventually left.
Dylan said: “I grabbed a hold of the bear by his ear and I found his eye and I was poking it. It just let go of me and I was able to get away.”
The teenager was left with gashes on his head that required nine staples to close. There were no other injuries reported.
What could have been terrifying was that Dylan and the other staffers were near teepees where 12- and 13-year-old campers were sleeping. Dylan teaches wilderness survival at the camp, which is owned by the Rocky Mountain Conference of Seventh Day Adventists.
He said that his survival skills saved his life. He also added some tips:"Make sure you don’t have food in the camp. We didn’t. But still. Except me. I must have smelled really good or something.”
Black bears aren't usually threatening or aggressive but have attacked several people in the West in recent weeks.
Black bears are known to defend their young and to paw and bite tents with food inside. Wildlife officers did not find any food that would have attracted the bear in Dylan’s attack so they have set bear traps in the area. They will search for the bear with scent dogs on Monday, and if captured will put it down.
Source:
https://twitter.com/mike_58stingray/status/883729060085587970