If bears behave unceremoniously not only in cities and villages, then in the forest it is strange to expect any other behavior from them. Igor Pecherkin, a victim of a Himalayan bear attack in Arsenyev, told KP about how he managed to escape.
Previously, bears avoided meeting people and did not attack in the forest, says Igor. – About a week ago I went for mushrooms. He didn't make any noise and behaved as usual. The bear ambushed them. Before the attack, he saw me, but I didn’t see him.
Everything happened very quickly, and the mushroom picker did not have time to get a knife.
“He knocked me to the ground,” Igor continues. - He tore his hands and face. He split his upper lip so much that his teeth were visible. Tore my scalp. The whole time we were lying on the ground, I tried to curl up into a ball so that it would not reach my vital organs.
In the end, Igor managed to get a knife and poke the bear - he didn’t understand where he hit it. The wounded bear recoiled and ran away. But after a few seconds he returned.
“I read that you need to look animals in the eyes,” Igor recalls. - And that bears are afraid of screaming. So I stood up, started looking the beast in the eyes and screaming loudly. I probably looked funny. But the beast retreated, and I remained alive.
After the fight, the exhausted forester crawled to the road and called his relatives. They rushed and took him to the hospital.
They kept me there for about a week to exclude the possibility of contracting rabies, tetanus or something else. The lip was stitched up, the wounds are also slowly healing now. I don’t know the next time I’ll go to the forest,” Igor concluded.
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A young woman literally encountered the beast on her way to work - the village is surrounded on almost all sides by oak groves, and in some places the trees come close to the houses. It was not quite dawn yet, it was about 7.20 in the morning. At dusk, the woman noticed an animal rushing towards her from the forest, when it was too late to run away.
A 44-year-old resident of the village of Sosva, in the Sverdlovsk region, was able to fight off with his bare hands an angry bear that attacked him in the forest, where the fearless Ural resident was picking mushrooms.
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Ural resident Alexander Lopakhin, like the main character of the movie “The Revenant,” managed to fight off an angry predator. The attack occurred on August 3, 2017. Now everything is fine with the brave mushroom picker: doctors sewed back the bitten off tip of his nose, and the rest of the wounds are also healing.
A 44-year-old Ural resident went into the forest to pick mushrooms and, near the village of Koshay, met a mother bear and her cub. Probably, in order to protect the cub from potential danger, the animal immediately attacked the mushroom picker.
Alexander said that everything happened suddenly; he was unarmed. He only had a penknife to cut mushrooms. He began to defend himself with this knife, but the bear quickly knocked it out of his hands and began to bite and tear at the mushroom picker. He couldn’t do anything except cover his head with his hands - that’s why the main injuries were to his head and hands. At some point, Lopakhin realized that this was the end for him. Then, out of despair, he grabbed the bear by the head with his left hand, and with his right began to hit her in the face. Having received such a rebuff, stunned, she sat up in surprise and released the mushroom picker, and then ran away. The little bear ran away with her.
The wounded man managed to get to some clearing where she was working cellular. He called his friend and reported what had happened. A fellow villager arrived by car, picked up the bloodied Lopakhin and took him to the ambulance station in Sosva. There, the mushroom picker was given first aid and immediately sent to Serov, where he was hospitalized at the local city hospital.
According to doctors, the injured mushroom picker has multiple lacerations to the head and upper extremities, a large laceration to the right hand and right ear. The bear bit off the tip of his nose, which doctors had already sewn back on. There is no threat to life.
“I walked 10-12 kilometers away from the village, I always go there to pick mushrooms. I had already picked half a bucket of mushrooms, walked, looked at my feet. Suddenly I looked up and there was a bear standing right in front of me. She measures about a meter at the withers, and when she stood up, she was taller than me. She rushed at me and started biting my head. For some reason it wasn't scary. I pushed her away, and I noticed that her fur was so pleasant, soft, soft. We fought like this for about ten minutes, then I started hitting her in the face, and she ran away,” Alexander Lopakhin told reporters.
The man says that this is not his first encounter with a forest animal. He had encountered bears three times before, but they simply went in different directions.
The colorful news about the victory over the bear was also published in foreign media. But English-speaking readers don’t know what brilliant green is, because they don’t use it anywhere abroad. Photos of a Ural resident smeared with bright antiseptic caused confusion.
“What, the bear attacked him with a blue marker?” - the British write in the comments. Some jokingly explain the strange markings by saying that he has blue blood and he belongs to a noble family. With the help of Wikipedia, particularly inquisitive readers found out that Lopukhin is an old noble family (although the surname of the Ural mushroom picker is Lopakhin).
Sosva is a typical taiga village with eight thousand people, most of whom either cut timber or serve in one of the colonies. Brown bears- ordinary inhabitants of these places. Therefore, when 45-year-old Alexander was taken to the hospital in the nearest city of Serov with lacerated wounds to his face and hands, the doctors did not even doubt the “diagnosis” - a mushroom picker was wounded by a bear. For four hours, surgeons “darned” the victim - they sewed up his hand, his ear, and the tip of his nose.
As the victim said, the bear attacked suddenly: “I was picking mushrooms, raised my head - and there she was!” He had no weapons - only a penknife for cutting mushrooms. Out of complete despair, the man began to fight with the bear, hitting her in the face: “I hit her twice, I have to survive.” Having received a rebuff, the 200-kilogram animal retreated along with the bear cub.
Now, as doctors say, there is no threat to the victim’s life, his condition is satisfactory, he is recovering.
The forest is nearby, so wolves or bears are a common story in our area,” says Deputy Head of Sosva Artem Kiselev. - But they attack people only in the event of some kind of disaster. This year, you know, first there were fires, then there was big water... But the bears need to eat, so they come to the village.
Two years ago, when the summer turned out to be equally unlucky for the bear “menu,” in the same region a bear killed the Percheron horse of a veterinarian from the village of Romanovo; in the fall, the connecting rods attacked people twice.
Now they have nothing to eat,” complains local forester Alexander Romanov. - There are no mushrooms or berries in the forest. I go to the forest every day until, pah-pah-pah, I haven’t encountered an animal, but there are a lot of bear tracks around the villages, because there are a lot of unauthorized dumps around settlements. Bears are attracted by the smell of food waste.
Perhaps the victim simply lost his vigilance - he got carried away with mushrooms and did not notice the bear cub, says biologist Mikhail Panyukov. - It’s not for nothing that it is recommended to make loud noise in the forest to indicate your presence. And it is best to walk in the company of a dog.
You can “come to an agreement” with a bear, especially in the summer, when they are full and do not show aggression. They “respect” tall height, so if you stand on a stump and rattle something metal, he will go away, advises Igor Zenko, deputy director of the Malaya Sosva Nature Reserve. - There are no tips for meeting a mother bear: if she is with a cub, she will attack almost one hundred percent. I saw a bear cub - carefully, without turning your back as you would to the queen, without making sudden movements, slowly retreat. And if it comes to hand-to-hand combat, you have to hit right in the nose - this is the bear’s most painful spot... We have three cordons, bears pass by almost every day - and nothing. You just need to remember that they are at home in the forest, and we are guests...
A bear killed a mushroom picker, mutilated a hunter, attacked livestock... So, what should you do to return from the forest alive?
1. Everyone is afraid of a bear, but a meeting with a wolf, wild boar and elk also does not bode well. Master the art of retreat. If you run, it will catch up and tear you apart, because the same clumsy bear reaches speeds of up to 60 km per hour. What to do? Hint: animals don’t climb trees (a bear can, but a big one won’t climb).
1. Wild animals are afraid (or simply don’t like) screaming, noise and whistling. In the forest, feel free to make noise and sing, or play music on your smartphone.
3. If you have already come face to face, then do not look into the eyes of the animal, he perceives this as a threat or challenge. Retreat slowly. Do not turn your back to the attacking animal.
4. There are no abstract bears. It’s difficult to predict how a specific person will behave; act according to the situation. It is important not to step over the “threshold of rapprochement,” that is, not to invade the space that he considers his own.
5. If a wolf attacks you, you can turn it around left hand jacket, throw it forward. The beast will grab your hand with its teeth. Use a knife to stab him in the eyes. This trick won’t work with the bear; the power is on his side. But the fight is at least some chance. Place everything you have (basket, backpack) in front of you. Fight back, trying to hit the nose and eyes with a sharp object. Just don't start the fight earlier than you really need to. The bear has poor eyesight; he only sees your silhouette, so he comes close to get a better look. Until you stand on your hind legs and go on the attack, there is hope to disperse peacefully.
The author of these lines knows a man who fought off with his fists polar bear. The tent of Aerospace Forces officer Sergei Ryzhy on the New Siberian Islands (we were part of Dmitry Shparo’s expedition) was torn apart by a bear in search of condensed milk and gingerbread. The lieutenant colonel bravely fought back with improvised objects until his comrades came running from the neighboring tents with torches and drove off the animals. Made do with a torn jacket.
That's where I saw effective method defense - "Molotov cocktail". Empty bottles are filled with gasoline, a wick is inserted, they are set on fire and... But you cannot throw them at the animal, it is listed in the Red Book. They are thrown to the ground, in front of the beast. The flame and gasoline fumes stop it for a short time.
If the situation is hopeless, then there is an option. Just don't burn the forest...
But pretending to be dead, as they advise on the Internet, is stupid. Animals also eat the meat of “fallen dead” animals. And in general, remember: it was not they who came to our house, but we to theirs. Respect forest laws.
Alexander Lopakhin said that when he went mushroom hunting, he encountered a bear cub and his mother. The large animal immediately attacked the man, probably to protect the baby. The man had only a penknife with him, which he used to cut mushrooms.
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“He began to defend himself with this knife, but the bear quickly knocked the weapon out of his hands. She began to bite and tear at him. The mushroom picker could not do anything - he just covered his head with his hands,” said a source in law enforcement. According to a representative of the department, at some point the man realized that he would soon die, so he decided to defend himself to the end.
“Out of desperation, he grabbed the bear by the head with his left hand, and with his right hand began to hit her in the face. Having received such a rebuff, stunned, she sat up in surprise and released the mushroom picker,” explained the publication’s interlocutor. After this, the animal ran away with the bear cub, and Lopakhin reached a clearing where there was cellular communication and called his friend for help.
Soon, a fellow villager arrived at the scene and delivered the bloodied Alexander Lopakhin to the ambulance station. After some time, he was transferred to a hospital in the city of Serov. “The victim has multiple lacerations to the head and upper extremities, a large laceration to the right hand and right ear. The tip of the nose was bitten off, but we sewed it back,” the representative said medical institution. He also noted that now the man’s life is not in danger.
Let us remind you that a similar incident occurred on August 1, 2017 in Japan. As the site wrote, a resident of the city of Fuefuki was working in the mountains in his garden when he was attacked by a bear. In a fight with an animal, the man had to use karate techniques to win. “First I kicked him in the stomach, then I kicked him in the chest, it worked, and the bear lowered its head, then I kicked him again. The bear ran into the mountains,” he said.
44-year-old resident of the village of Sosva, Alexander Lopakhin, survived after an encounter with an angry bear. The wounded Ural resident is in the hospital. He told URA.RU journalists the details of the unequal fight.
Alexander Lopakhin went into the forest to pick mushrooms on August 3. Near the village of Koshay, he came across a mother bear and her cub. Protecting the cub, the bear immediately rushed at the man. The wounded man managed to fight off the animal, reached a clearing where there was cellular service, and called his friend. He arrived by car, picked up the bloodied Lopakhin and took him to the ambulance station in Sosva. There, the mushroom picker was given first aid and sent to the Serov city hospital.
“I moved 10-12 kilometers away from the village, I always go there to pick mushrooms. I had already picked half a bucket of mushrooms, walked, looked at my feet. Suddenly I looked up and there was a bear standing right in front of me. She measures about a meter at the withers, and when she stood up, she was taller than me. She rushed at me and started biting my head. For some reason it wasn't scary. I pushed her away, and I noticed that her fur was so pleasant, soft, soft. We fought like this for about ten minutes, then I started hitting her in the face, and she ran away,” Alexander Lopakhin told URA.RU.
The man says that this is not his first encounter with a forest animal. He had encountered bears three times before, but they simply went in different directions.
According to doctors, the injured mushroom picker has multiple lacerations to the head and upper extremities, a large laceration to the right hand and right ear. The bear bit off the tip of his nose, which doctors had already sewn back on. There is no threat to life.
Stories about bear attacks on residents of the Ural region periodically appear in the media. In October 2015, a bear attacked 29-year-old ambulance paramedic Alexey Koptyakov from Karpinsk, who went to hunt a marten. The bear jumped out of the den unexpectedly. Alexey reacted instantly and replaced the shot in the gun with a bullet, but the weapon did not work. A month after this incident, in November 2015, in the Ivdel region, 56-year-old hunter Arkady Shubin almost died in a fight with a connecting rod bear. The man managed to shoot at the connecting rod, but he still knocked the hunter down.
News Agency "Between the Lines"
