Watch: Man wrestles bear in harrowing porch encounter
A Florida man was injured Wednesday while trying to protect his dogs from what he thought was a larger dog, but turned out to be a bear.
The accompanying footage shows the bear breaching the porch entrance in an apparent attempt to catch the closest dog, and the man dropping to his knees and wrestling the animal back outside the porch doorway.
During the scuffle, the bear claws and bites the man, who appears stunned after he had hurriedly placed a bench at the doorway entrance as a barrier.
“Oh my god, I was just attacked by a bear!” he appears to scream in the footage, which is repeated in slow motion.
The video was shared Friday by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), which stated on Facebook that the man’s injuries were not life-threatening and that all the noise helped persuade the bear to leave.
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The harrowing incident occurred at the man’s Daytona Beach residence at about 7:30 p.m. The dogs were not injured.
The FWC stated in a news release that the agency is searching for the bear and that the animal will be euthanized if it’s captured “since it poses a threat to human safety.”
The FWC added that this was the second time within the past week that a bear had injured a Florida resident.
