WARNING: THIS REPORT CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT.
An elk hunter has lived to tell the tale after being attacked by a grizzly bear twice during a hike in Montana.
Todd Orr posted video of himself in the immediate aftermath to Facebook. Bloodied and looking slightly stunned, Orr addresses the camera to quip: “Yeah. Life sucks in bear country.
“Just had a grizzly with two cubs come at me from about 80 yards and I sprayed the shit out of her with bear spray.
“She got my head good, I don’t know what’s under my hat, my ear, my arm. There’s pieces of stuff hanging out. I don’t know what’s going on in there.
“And then my shoulder, she ripped up. I think my arm’s broke but legs are good, internal organs are good, eyes are good, I just walked out three miles and now I gotta go to the hospital so be safe out there.
“Bear spray doesn’t always work, but it’s better than nothing.”
Orr also posted further pictures of his injuries and gave a full written account of his encounter the following day.
In it, he points out the bear which attacked him was a female with cubs, and recalls “the force of each bite was like a sledge hammer with teeth.”
During the second attack: “One bite on my forearm went through to the bone and I heard a crunch,” and Orr recalls trying desperately to stay still so as not to enrage her further.
Eventually, the bear stopped mauling Orr and wandered off.
“He did everything he was supposed to do,” Madison County Sherriff Roger Thompson told the Montana Standard.
“She just seemed to lose interest because he was playing dead. Then she just wandered off. Bears can be like that when they have their babies with them.”
Orr, who is now recovering in hospital, signed off his account with the admission: “Not my best day, but I’m alive. So thankful I’m here to share with all of you.”