14 DAY TRIAL // A man has been attacked by a black bear in New Brunswick, Canada, and he managed to survive. Gilles Cyr of New Brunswick describes grabbing the beast's tongue in an effort to fight him off. He was on his woodlot in Grands Falls when the attack took place, two weeks ago.
He neither provoked nor saw the animal coming at him, and he recounts the experience with fear.
“When I opened up my eyes it was on top of me – with the friggin’ noise, it’s crazy the way it growls.
“For a second, I thought I was dead … that’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you open your eyes and see that friggin’ mouth full of teeth and a tongue in there. It’s like … an extreme sport,” Cyr tells the CBC.
The bear mauled him, biting his leg and leaving scratches on his stomach. However, he instinctively grabbed its tongue so that it would be harming himself if it was to attack.
“Right from the stomach. It’s not from the mouth, it’s just inside. His mouth was wide open right in front of my face so the last thing I remember I had his tongue in my hand and I didn’t want to let go because he was trying to fight me off.
“So he was hitting me with his claws, so I says, ‘If you’re going to hurt me, I’m going to hurt you too.’ So he was biting his tongue at the same time,” he remembers.
Grabbing the bear by the tongue made it pull back and allowed him time to flee. He hid behind a tree, and, although he was followed, the animal suddenly lost interest.
Cyr was hospitalized with minor injuries and he was told by a warden that he was legally allowed to put down the bear, which Natural Resources may not allow.