A New Brunswick forestry worker says he spent almost two hours in a tree trying to escape an aggressive black bear.
“As soon as he jumped up and grabbed a hold of that tree, I started getting worried,” says Pierre Mezzetta.
“When he turned and ran up the tree, I was, I knew I was in trouble then.”
Mezzetta says he was scouting areas for tree-cutting in Brockway, N.B. when he came upon the bear, which he estimates weighed more than 300 pounds.
He was three kilometres from the safety of his vehicle and says it took only moments for his instincts to translate into action.
“I ran away, turned and ran for about 100 yards and I stopped and usually that’s all the room they need,” he says.
“I turned around and looked and he was just head down, coming right towards me, so I turned again and ran for another 200 yards, down in through a thicket and the first nice tree I found that I could climb fast enough, I climbed up it.”
But the bear was unrelenting and began to climb the tree. It climbed high enough to sink its claws and teeth into Mezzetta’s ankle and leg.
“As soon as he had my boot in his mouth, he just let go of the tree or he slipped, I’m not sure, but definitely he was trying to pull me down,” recalls Mezzetta.
“He slipped, fell and he came back up underneath the tree and tried to take me down, tried to grab me again.”
Area resident Jessica O’Kane says there is at least one female bear with cubs in the area. She also says the animals are unpredictable.
“Probably pretty aggressive if you’re in the area. It would definitely try to defend itself and its cubs,” she says.
Officials with the Department of Natural Resources say black bear attacks are rare. They are searching for the animal in question because they say its behavior is highly unusual.
Despite the attack, Mezzetta says he will return to his work in the woods, although he plans to take a few more precautions.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Andy Campbell
