WINNIPEG – A Winnipeg man who survived a bear attack two years ago says a video of two men slowly retreating from a black bear in northern Alberta before turning to run has brought back hair-raising memories.
Gord Shurvell was dragged out of an outhouse in May 2012 by a 315-pound black bear roaming the woods north of Sioux Lookout, Ont.
“He had me by the back of neck,” said Shurvell, who still has a faint scar that marks the spot where the bear sunk four teeth into the flesh of his neck.
Shurvell was saved by a friend who heard his screams and eventually shot the bear dead.
The 67-year-old is happy the two men who came face-to-face with a black bear north of Fort McMurray last week had better luck.
The pair captured their entire encounter on camera, and the video shows them repeatedly yelling at the bear to “Go away” as they slowly back up from the animal.
WATCH: 2 men followed by black bear while jogging in northern Alberta
The bear follows them for several minutes and at times appears to charge. One of the joggers can be heard telling the other to “Get ready to hit him on the head, we are going to have to knock him out.”
Eventually the bear runs up a tree, and that’s when the two men turn and run back to their car.
Winnipeg wilderness expert Dan Neufeld said they did many things right.
‘If it is being aggressive, you want to try and scare it, “said Neufeld, who works at the Wilderness Supply store on Ferry Road.
In the video the men stay close together, which Neufeld said is also important, because it can give a more “intimidating” appearance.
Neufeld cautioned against running, because bears can run upwards of 50 kilometres per hour, but said the two men perhaps thought the bear was losing interest when he repeatedly started climbing up and down trees.
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