Shayne Patrick Burke was on a short hike this month to photograph owls in the backcountry of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming when he spotted a grizzly bear cub about 50 to 70 yards in front of him.
Instantly, Mr. Burke knew that the little one’s presence signaled trouble. wrote on Instagram.
Moments later, Mr Burke, 35, was attacked by the child’s mother.
He turned his back, got on his stomach and put his hands behind his neck, following advice he had read about grizzly bear attacks, he said.
During the attack on May 19, the bear bit Mr. Burke several times, picked him up and knocked him to the ground, before, he wrote, one of its cries “unfortunately , but fortunately, drew his attention to my head.
It was a terrifying moment, but it ultimately saved his life.
The bear bit Mr. Burke’s neck, but his hands and arms were still trapped behind him and, more importantly, he had grabbed bear spray when he saw the cub.
“I never dropped the bear spray,” he wrote. “As she bit my hands on the back of my neck, she simultaneously bit the bear spray and it exploded in her mouth.”
The explosion scared the bear away.
Mr Burke, a disabled Army Reserve veteran, said the attack was “the most violent thing” he had experienced, adding: “I was shot, mortared and IED explosions.
Grand Teton National Park said Mr. Burke, visiting from Massachusetts, was released from hospital Monday and is expected to make a full recovery.
The park said the attack appeared to be a defensive action by the bear, which was responding to a “surprise encounter.” The bear has not been identified and Grand Teton said no further “management measures,” which could include euthanizing the bear, were necessary.
On Instagram, Mr. Burke wrote that he asked park rangers not to kill the bear because he understood that she was defending his cub.
He said the attack was a “wrong place, wrong time” situation. He had planned to take an hour-long walk in the hopes of spotting a great gray owl to photograph.
He said the attack happened about 90 minutes after he left the parking lot. He was trying to get home as quickly as possible because he knew his wife was expecting him earlier.
He said he felt an “uncomfortable feeling” as he walked through a thick, forested valley. He followed the safety instructions appropriate to the situation and made noise.
“I was breaking branches, singing and talking to myself out loud,” he said.
He had drawn out his bear spray after seeing the cub, but the mother was already charging him. Mr Burke said he heard the bear run away after biting the spray can.
After Mr. Burke walked away from the bear, he called his wife. She helped him figure out how to use the supplies he had, including straps from his backpack and camera bag, to make tourniquets around his legs.
He could say he had avoided a ruptured artery, the most dangerous and urgent type of hemorrhage.
“I lay alone in the woods, clutching my knife, with my back to a tree, hoping the bear would not return,” Mr. Burke wrote.
He also called 911, who was able to triangulate his location for a helicopter rescue.
Mr Burke said he thought he was going to die and recorded a video telling his loved ones he loved them.
The first park rangers to reach Mr Burke gave him emergency medical treatment before he was airlifted to an ambulance. Mr Burke said he underwent surgery to clean and staple his wounds.
He described himself as being unprepared for a medical emergency because he had planned to take a short walk through the roadside woods. Usually, he said, he carries a first aid kit.
Mr Burke said the main things that kept him alive were what he had already read on what to do in case of a bear attack and that he was carrying bear spray that he knew how to use.
People are advised to play dead and put their hands behind their necks, just as Mr. Burke did, in the event of an attack by a grizzly bear. If a black bear attacks, don’t play dead.
