FERRY COUNTY, Wash. — A Ferry County woman fought off a black bear during a hike last week outside Kettle Falls and lived to tell the tale.
Lynn O’Connor was hiking with her dogs on her family’s ranch when the dogs started chasing what she believed was a bear cub.
“The next thing I knew there was a bear six feet in front of me,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor made a split-second decision to fight the bear.
“She popped out on the trail and she was in a run and she just kept running at me. She started getting real big at me, she pushed her shoulders forward and her head down,” she said. “She was that close and I punched her, I got little scars on my hands and I think I got three good whacks in before she was on top of me.”
O’Connor tried to protect herself by dropping into a ball.
“I just dropped and tucked like this but what that did was left my head exposed,” she said.
O’Connor needed 18 staples in her head after the bear clawed at her.
An unlikely hero, O’Connor’s dogs, came to her rescue.
“Swipe, swipe, swipe and then my dogs were on her, and they were all gone,” she said.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife advises identifying oneself as a human by waving hands and talking in a low, slow voice when encountering a bear. They also recommend slowly backing away, not running, and carrying bear spray if hiking in bear-prone areas.
Despite her ordeal, O’Connor expressed regret for putting the bear in a perilous situation.
“I think I’m going to avoid putting the bear into that predicament because I’m the one who put her in peril. They take bears out that attack humans so they came looking for her all Sunday afternoon,” she said.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed they mistakenly killed a different male bear, not the one responsible for the attack.
“She was lucky because it was so hot they had to call off the search, so they never did find her she could be around here somewhere,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor was treated by a family member and local first responders before being airlifted to Sacred Heart in Spokane for further medical attention. Reflecting on her injuries, she felt fortunate. “Boy did I get off light. I mean it was really brief and then they were all gone,” she said.
O’Connor is now focused on recovery, grateful to have escaped in good health and ready to avoid such encounters in the future.
