Man Punches Grizzly Bear After It Invades Tent

A man punched a grizzly bear in the face, after the creature attempted to infiltrate the tent he was sharing early in the morning.

The event occurred on Labor Day, when Jason Lauesen and Liz Pawelko were camping at the Sourdough Campground on the Richardson Highway.

The Fairbanks, Alaska, couple were rudely woken up at 6 a.m. when their tent began to shake viciously. Lauesen isn’t sure if the bear’s head or paw entered his side of the tent, but in order to fend it off he simply punched it.

Lauesen remarked, “I was sort of half asleep, and at first, I thought, ‘Jeez, this is really tossing and turning.’ Then I realised what was going on so I sat up.”

He then added, “My first reaction was to punch, so I did.” Lauesen admitted that he didn’t have his glasses on at the time, and is unsure which part of the animal he made contact with.

However, he did confirm that the inflatable mattress that he was sleeping on had been completely destroyed by the grizzly bear.

When they looked around their tent after the incident, the couple noticed that Lauesen’s pillow was completely soaked in bear saliva, plus it smelt of fish. They believe that entire ordeal only lasted for less than a minute, and that they believe the grizzly bear was actually quite small.

After Lauesen’s assault of the bear, the creature then retreated around 30 feet. It remained at that distance and continued to stare at the pair, until Lauesen and Pawelko got into their car and then drove towards the beast.

Pawelko and Lauesen have admitted that they were quite lucky that their tent was on a higher piece of ground, which made them look taller, and that the attack took place during the light so they could see what was going on.

[Image via Dennis Donohue/Shutterstock]