A Montana man mauled by a grizzly bear, twice, posted the above video to Facebook after walking more than three miles then driving 17 miles to receive medical treatment.
Todd Orr, 50, of Bozeman, shared a warning with fellow residents and visitors to the area; carry bear spray and “be safe out there.”
On Saturday Orr set out for an early morning hike in familiar terrain. On the hike Orr was charged from about 80 feet away by a mother grizzly bear. Orr said in a detailed recount on Facebook that he fired bear spray in the animal’s face as it charged, but that failed to stop the double attack that was about to unfold.
“I went to my face in the dirt and wrapped my arms around the back of my neck for protection. She was on top of me biting my arms, shoulders and backpack,” wrote Orr in a long message posted after the intial, blood-drenched video. “The force of each bite was like a sledge hammer with teeth. She would stop for a few seconds and then bite again. Over and over. After a couple minutes, but what seemed an eternity, she disappeared.”
He was badly chewed up, but he was able to get up and start walking and jogging the roughly three miles back to his truck. Ten minutes later, his nemesis was back.
For the second time that morning, Orr dove to the ground and tried to play dead while covering the back of his neck.
“One bite on my forearm went through to the bone and I heard a crunch. My hand instantly went numb and wrist and fingers were limp and unusable. The sudden pain made me flinch and gasp for breath. The sound triggered a frenzy of bites to my shoulder and upper back,” he wrote. “I knew I couldn’t move or make a sound again so I huddled motionless. Another couple bites to my head and a gash opened above my ear, nearly scalping me.”
Orr had been carrying a holstered pistol, but it was torn off him during the attack. Finally his efforts to appear lifeless seemed to pay off. The bear stopped its attack, stood on top of him, crushing his abdomen and head into the ground, but then left.
On the way he called his girlfriend and asked her to meet him at the hospital with a change of clothes, and he called the emergency services and told them he’d soon be at the hospital.
There were many puncture wounds to his upper body, but what could have been the worst wound, had it been deeper, is the 5-inch long gash over his right ear
