A runner from Wyoming, a mountainous region in the United States, recently showed steely courage when a big bear pursued him on a lonely stretch. Instead of repelling the animal with a spray or running away, he talked the cinnamon-coloured bear down as it rambled through the snow-covered woods towards him. A video of the “exciting” encounter, recorded by the jogger himself, has gone viral.
It shows Evan Matthews negotiating with the bear on a road in the Grand Teton National Park area to back down, the New York Post reported. At one point, the video showedthe bear had come within yards of Matthews but he stood his ground and did not let the bear take charge of the tense situation. He even flashed the spray can to warn it.
“Just out here for a run, and suddenly noticed that I’am being watched,” Matthews says as the video begins. He then yells, “Hey! No! Stay back! No!”
The bear then appears to slow down but still continues its march towards him. “No! You back up…good bear,” he says and starts moving away from the critter. “It’s exciting. Seen a plenty of them in the wild before, but never had them come at me like that,” he adds in the video.
The video shows the distance gradually increasing between Matthews and his pursuer. Watch it here.
In the video description, Matthews explains why he tried to reason with the beast, instead of using the spray, saying it never got close enough to warrant that.
He also explained that he did not run because that would have prompted the bear to think he was a prey, or another animal, and it would have then chased him down. The jogger, however, warned viewers that not all bear encounters are the same and they should act wisely.
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