A photographer named Matwishyn in Canada has captured a harrowing encounter with a black bear on camera. Thankfully, he was able to get out of the dangerous situation by utilising bear spray. 

The incident occurred near Waskesiu Lake, Canada, when the cameraman was filming the bear from a distance. The bear began pursuing him, scaring him to pull out the bear spray to defend himself. When the bear approached him, he had no choice but to use the spray. Thankfully, the repellent worked as intended and the bear bolted.

A YouTube account named ViralHog posted the video, which has received over 11,000 views. 

“I was out photographing a bear from a safe distance when it caught sight of me,” he told ViralHog. 

“Normally, when black bears become aware of a person, they flee, but this bear was acting strangely. Even when I kept my position, shouted, and shook my arms at it, it came closer.”

“Fortunately, I had bear spray on hand and was prepared to use it if the bear charged at me. I began withdrawing slowly and securely back to my car, and after a few minutes of it following me, I decided to begin filming. The bear was still following me and getting closer. I sprayed the bear with bear spray when I was in a favourable position with the wind at my back and the bear approaching me. Thankfully, the bear repellent worked as intended, and the bear bolted.”

The video went viral, and many praised the man’s demeanour. “Handled that extremely nicely buddy,” one person commented. “Nice calm demeanour, and just a squirt of spray to seal the deal.” 

“This was a superb execution of a bear encounter avoidance,” said another. “This bear was most likely a curious youngster attempting to establish territorial dominance.”

“I assume this bear was fed, either intentionally by uninformed people or accidently by waste or food that was not properly guarded,” the photographer continued. 

“Hopefully, this lovely baby bear will learn to avoid humans, and people will become more responsible in not feeding wildlife and carrying bear spray so that they are prepared to deal with a bear like this.” 

He also reminded people that it’s a good idea to have bear spray on hand when exploring bear country.