A Colorado couple had a “surprise encounter” with a bear in their kitchen — and fought off the 215-pound beast using their bare hands and a baseball bat, authorities said.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials confirmed Wednesday that the bear that startled a 71-year-old man in the kitchen of his home in Pine late Monday after getting in through a screen door was euthanized one day after the attack.
The 10-year-old female — which was killed roughly 900 yards from Jon Johnson’s home — had “human protein” under its claws and a significant amount of trash in its stomach, department officials said.
The incident began when Johnson was watching television downstairs with his wife and went upstairs to investigate a noise, authorities said.
“After going up the stairs and turning a corner into his kitchen, he was face-to-face with a bear,” department officials said in a news release. “The man and the sow then engaged in what was described as a boxing match, as the man tried to fend off this sow bear that attacked after the surprise run-in.”
Johnson told KCNC that both he and the bear were “growling” at each other in the kitchen before the animal swatted at him.
“She swatted me in the nose,” Johnson recalled. “She was down here, she was low when she swatted me. I turned around, I punched her in the nose. From that point, we started going back-and-forth like a dance. She took some swipes here on my chest.”
Johnson’s wife, George Field, then ran upstairs and struck the animal several times with a baseball bat. The bear then ran out of the home, along with a cub that was also inside, officials said.
“I remember seeing was a big brown blob in front of me,” Field told KCNC. “I empowered myself. I’ve never been that strong. I whacked that bear as strong as I could … you would have thought I was a Louisville slugger.”
While Field was not injured, Johnson had several cuts to his face and arms — as well as long gashes to his chest, photos show. He was treated at the scene and did not need to be taken to a hospital, officials said.
The cub, meanwhile, has not been located.
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