B.C. man has close call with grizzly on his property

A man trying to scare away a female grizzly and its cubs foraging for food on his B.C. property narrowly avoided getting mauled by the charging animal.

The scary scene, captured by the man’s wife from inside the family ’s Bella Coola home, went viral after it was posted to YouTube in midOctober.

Lawrence Michalchuk explained in the video’s caption that he and his wife had just returned home from a weeklong trip.

His in-laws, who were taking care of their children, told him bears were climbing fruit trees, digging holes looking for roots and leaving poop on his property.

The in-laws had tried to scare away the bears by shaking a bucket of nuts and bolts but were unsuccessful.

The next morning, Michalchuk’s dog began barking when the bears returned. He then grabbed his shotgun and three birdshot shells and went outside to scare off the animals.

After firing the first shot from below his front deck, Michalchuk saw the sow charging at him so he ran inside the house.

When the bears began to walk away, he went outside again and fired a second shot. He also yelled at the sow to get her to depart faster.

Then the mama bear turned around and started charging at Michalchuk again.

“I waited as long as I could, backpedalling and losing my right Croc, almost tripping me up, until she was just across the driveway and then I shot, which did trip her up so I turned and ran inside the house,” he said.

Michalchuk made it safely inside his home, while the sow appeared to be stunned before running away with its cubs.

He later tracked the bear down off his property and said he didn’t find any blood or hair in the area that would indicate it was injured.

“I’m just glad it was me and not the kids out there,” he said.

Michalchuk, who said he has dealt with bears while working the last three-plus decades with the Department of Fisheries, reported the terrifying incident to B.C. conservation officers.