TEEN WINS BOUT WITH MAMA BEAR!
ABEAR learned the hard way it doesn’t pay to come between 17-yearold Hailey Morinico and her puppies!
The California teen protected her four pets when a snarling family of brown bears tried to climb a brick retaining wall into her backyard to get at them! Hailey and her mom were gardening outside their home in Bradbury when they heard their pups bark wildly at what Hailey thought was probably another dog that might have wandered into the area. “When I go over there to see what they’re barking at, I’m like, okay, that’s a funny-looking dog,” the teen recalled.
After a moment of panicked realization, Hailey sprang into action! A mother bear and her two cubs had climbed the backyard wall, and the snarling mama bear was swatting at her dogs and even trying to pick up and haul away the littlest puppy! “She’s the baby, and as her slave I have to protect her!” Hailey vowed.
The brave teen rushed over and shoved the bear off the garden wall!
“To be honest, I don’t think
I pushed her that hard,
I just pushed her enough to lose her balance.”
She then gathered up the smallest of her dogs and all of them hightailed it back to the house!
The entire episode was caught on camera and social media followers commended the teen for her quick action. “You are dog mom of the century,” one wrote on TikTok.
“Kudos to the dog mom! That’s fierce!” another admirer chimed in.
And while Hailey emerged from the incident with just a sprained finger, one wildlife expert commented she was lucky to escape with her life! “There is nothing more dangerous than a mother bear with her cubs,” wildlife expert Ron Magill told interviewers. “NEVER run at an animal and NEVER make physical contact. That could be disastrous!”
Even Hailey now realizes things could have been a lot worse.
“Don’t do what I did — you might not have the same outcome,” she warned.