Shayne Patrick Burke was on a brief hike this month to {photograph} owls within the backcountry of Grand Teton Nationwide Park in Wyoming when he noticed a grizzly bear cub about 50 to 70 yards in entrance of him.
Immediately, Mr. Burke knew that the cub’s presence signaled hassle, he wrote on Instagram.
Moments later, Mr. Burke, 35, was attacked by the cub’s mom.
He turned his again, bought on his abdomen and locked his fingers behind his neck, following recommendation he had examine grizzly bear assaults, he mentioned.
In the course of the assault, on Might 19, the bear repeatedly bit Mr. Burke and picked him up and slammed him to the bottom, earlier than, he wrote, certainly one of his screams “sadly, however fortuitously, turned her consideration to my head.”
It was a terrifying second, but it surely in the end saved his life.
The bear bit at Mr. Burke’s neck, however his fingers and arms have been nonetheless interlocked behind it and, crucially, he had grabbed a can of bear spray when he noticed the cub.
“I by no means let go of the bear spray can,” he wrote. “As she bit my fingers at the back of my neck she concurrently bit the bear spray can and it exploded in her mouth.”
The explosion scared the bear away.
Mr. Burke, a disabled veteran within the Military Reserve, mentioned that the assault was “essentially the most violent” factor he had skilled, including, “I’ve skilled being shot at, mortared and I.E.D. explosions.”
Grand Teton Nationwide Park mentioned that Mr. Burke, who was visiting from Massachusetts, was discharged from a hospital on Monday and was anticipated to make a full restoration.
The park mentioned that the assault seemed to be a defensive motion by the bear, which was responding to a “shock encounter.” The bear has not been recognized and Grand Teton mentioned that no additional “administration motion,” which may embody euthanizing the bear, was required.
On Instagram, Mr. Burke wrote that he had requested the park rangers to not kill the bear as a result of he understood that she was defending her cub.
He mentioned that the assault was a “incorrect place, incorrect time” state of affairs. He had deliberate to take an hourlong stroll within the hopes of recognizing a terrific grey owl to {photograph}.
He mentioned the assault occurred about 90 minutes after he left the car parking zone. He was making an attempt to get again as rapidly as doable as a result of he knew his spouse had anticipated him there earlier.
He mentioned he had an “uncomfortable feeling” as he was winding by a thick, wooded valley. He adopted security steering for the state of affairs and made noise.
“I used to be breaking branches, singing and speaking to myself aloud,” he mentioned.
He had unholstered his bear spray after seeing the cub however the mom was already charging at him. Mr. Burke mentioned that he heard the bear run away after it bit the can of spray.
After Mr. Burke distanced himself from the bear, he known as his spouse. She helped him work out the right way to use the provides he had, together with straps from his backpack and digital camera bag, to make tourniquets round his legs.
He may inform that he had averted a ruptured artery, essentially the most harmful and pressing sort of bleeding.
“I laid alone within the woods gripping my knife with my again to a tree simply hoping the bear wasn’t to return,” Mr. Burke wrote.
He additionally known as 911, which was capable of triangulate his location for a helicopter rescue.
Mr. Burke mentioned that he thought he was going to die and had recorded a video telling these near him that he cherished them.
The primary park rangers to achieve Mr. Burke supplied emergency medical care earlier than he was airlifted to an ambulance. Mr. Burke mentioned that he had surgical procedure to scrub and staple his wounds.
He described himself as being poorly ready for a medical emergency as a result of he had meant to take a brief stroll by roadside woods. Often, he mentioned, he carries a primary assist equipment.
Mr. Burke mentioned that the highest issues that stored him alive have been that he had beforehand examine what to do in case of a bear assault and that he was carrying bear spray that he knew the right way to use.
Individuals are suggested to play useless and lock their fingers behind their neck, simply as Mr. Burke did, within the occasion of a grizzly bear assault. If a black bear assaults, don’t play useless.
