“I was just sitting here, hadn’t been here more than two or three minutes. Evidently it heard me. It just made a lunge at me.” –Altha Williams
Hats off to this badass nonagenarian who fought off a black bear using what was at had, a lawn chair. WVLT reports Altha Williams was sitting on the front porch of her home in Tennessee when she was approached by a black bear and her three cubs. The bear stood on its hind legs and swiped at Altha scratching her arm but in a quick thinking move she got behind a lawn chair and used it to back the bear away.
Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency spokesperson Matt Cameron said Altha did the right thing:
“The way she responded was exactly what we tell people to do. To get big, yell at them, make noise. To intimidate them. Pat on the back for how she responded; it very well could have saved her life.”
After the bear ran off it approached a neighbor who shot it. TWRA officials euthanized the bear as it was deemed a threat to the residential neighborhood. As for Altha, she recognizes how dangerous the situation was and is thankful to have survived the encounter:
“I’ve been praising the Lord ever since then, because I may not be here.”
