Black bear
Jeff Lyons, of McNamee, has deep teeth wounds on his upper right shoulder and in the middle of his back, and lacerations under his left ribcage "where the skin has been all torn off" by the bear's claws, said Cheryl Lyons Dudley.
"He said it still just feels like a dream; that it's just unreal. He keeps going over in his mind, like, 'Did this really happen?'" said Lyons Dudley, who saw her brother just a few hours after he was attacked outside his remote camp in New Bandon on Sept. 29.
Lyons was cleaning up behind the camp shortly before lunch when he caught sight of the mother bear and her cub out of the corner of his eye, said Lyons Dudley.
He immediately turned away, but the bear was "upon his back in an instant and brought him down to the ground and started mauling him."
"He was screaming and flailing his arms, trying to beat the bear off, but she picked him up by the back and was shaking him," she said.
Lyons noticed a piece of wood on the ground and managed to grab it while the bear reared up, growling and showing her teeth, said Lyons Dudley.
When the bear lunged at him again, he hit her across the face with the board several times and she turned and ran into the woods.
"That's all he had to defend himself. Had it not been for that, he doesn't feel that he would have had any chance of survival at all ... because of the fierceness of the bear and the strength when it picked him up; he said it was unbelievable the strength, and the bear was very agitated.
"So he just believes if it hadn't been for that, when the bear came back at him that it could have possibly dragged him in the woods or he feels maybe mauled [him] to death."
Lyons Dudley believes the light sweater and jacket he was wearing also spared him from "getting ripped to pieces."
© Cheryl Lyons DudleyLyons suffered several lacerations under his left ribcage during the bear attack.
Lyons, who was treated at the medical clinic in Doaktown, was in shock after his traumatic "near death experience," his sister said.
He didn't sleep at all that night because he kept playing the incident over and over in his mind, and sleep was difficult over the next few nights because of the pain, she told CBC's Maritime Noon.
But he has since gotten some more rest and is coping well, said Lyons Dudley. He's even been back to his camp, where Energy and Resource Development officials have set up two live traps, she said.
Although bears are common in the area, attacks are rare, said Lyons Dudley. The doctor at the medical clinic told her brother he hadn't treated any other bear attack patients in his estimated 30 or 40 years of practise, she said.
"We believe it was because the cub was with her and she was spooked and was protecting her baby."
Still, Lyons Dudley wants area residents to be aware and alert.
"I don't think we're much a defence against a big black bear — especially that has been agitated and has a cub with it," she said. "I don't think we would stand much of a chance."
There are about 17,000 black bears in New Brunswick and people should be aware it's an active time of year for them, said Kevin Craig, of the big game, furbearer and fisheries section of Energy and Resource Development.
"Bears are feeding very heavily, trying to get a lot of calories before going into winter sleep," he said.
But "it's very unusual for a bear to actually make physical contact with a person," stressed Craig. "We have maybe one every three to five years maybe."
The worst attack he could recall in his estimated 30 years on the job was in 1997 in Salt Springs. A woman was out walking her dogs when the dogs chased after a bear and the bear attacked them. The dogs ran back to the house, past the woman, who was then attacked by the bear.
Craig said Lyons did the right thing by fighting back when the bear attacked him. When a bear or any other animal makes physical contact, people should take whatever steps they can to protect themselves, he said.
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