B.C. man narrowly escapes bear mauling

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 mid-October.

Lawrence Michalchuk explained in the video’s caption that he and his wife had just returned home from a weeklong trip. His in-laws told him bears were climbing fruit trees, digging holes and leaving poop on his property.

The next morning, the bears returned. Michalchuk 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. When the bears began to walk away, he went outside again and fired a second shot. Then the mama bear turned around and started charging at Michalchuk again.

“I waited as long as I could, back-pedalling 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 wrote.

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

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.