A Florida man Andy Meunier was taking his dog out for a walk when a bear attacked him.
It was a short while after leaving his Naples home when he turned to see a black bear staring at him. Without warning, the bear attacked.
Neunier recalls, “Everything went in slow motion,” “Everything went in slow motion. It was just as scary as you can imagine,” Meunier told ABC affiliate WZVN. “It was standing in front of me and I tried to turn left real quick and get back in the house, and caught an uppercut from a brown, or a black, bear.”
Though the bear knocked him down, he managed to get out of there safely but with a gashed across his head that required 41 stitches.
Meunier stated he is no stranger to bears as he had seen them in his neighborhood before.
Officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission stated this is the first recorded instance of a bear attacking a person in South Florida. All 15 other recorded instances occurred in the panhandle or in central Florida.
At this point Florida residents do not need to carry bear-defense guns but here are some pointers that residents can follow in case of an encounter:
- Remain standing upright
- -Speak to the bear in a calm, assertive voice
- -Back up slowly toward a secure area, be sure you are leaving the bear a clear escape route
- -Avoid direct eye contact—bears and other animals may view this as aggressive behavior
- -Stop and hold your ground if your movement away seems to irritate instead of calm the bear
- Do Not:
- -Make any sudden or abrupt movements
- -Running can trigger a chase instinct and bears can sprint up to 35 mph
- -Play dead—black bears eat things that play dead or are dead
- -Climb a tree—black bears can climb 100 feet up a tree in 30 seconds
- -Approach or surprise a bear, especially one that may be injured
