It took more than brawn for a 26-year-old hunter to defend himself against a full on attack by a 400lb angry grizzly bear.
As the powerful animal attacked Chase Dellwo, he remembered the advice of his grandma about how to fight back in such a situation.
Having already suffered huge slashes to his face, a swollen left eye and gashes to his head as well as deep wounds to his right leg, it seemed like he had little chance to fight off the giant grizzly. At that moment he remembered the magazine article his grandmother had cut out and given him years before about how large animals had ‘bad gag reflexes’. The Daily Mirror reports that when the roaring bear approached for the kill, he then countered by thrusting his right arm down the animal’s throat.
It was the last throw of the dice for Dellwo who had stumbled upon the sleeping bear when out hunting elk in Montana with his older brother Shane (30).
The bad-tempered bear hit out at the intruder and then wrestled on top of him while roaring loudly.
The Great Falls Tribune records that the aggressive tactics of putting his arm into the bear’s mouth and down to his throat disoriented the beast, forcing him to suddenly retreat while allowing the victim of the attack to escape.
His brother was away from the area, but quickly came to his aid and rushed his sibling to hospital. There Dellwo received several hundred stitches and staples across his head and face.
Despite feeling sore and in pain, the attacked man was still happy to clear the bear of any fault. “He was as scared as I was,” he declared.