Jack Hanna with a spectacled bear cub-- not the one who charged him.
Granted, it was a cub that charged him, not its mother.
Still, a 125 pound cub could do some damage.
He’s just lucky the mother bear didn’t take the spraying of her cub as a direct threat.
She probably realized that her cub just needed to learn the hard way.
I remember hearing something a while ago about some people who bought some bear repellent (mace). Thinking it was like bug spray, they sprayed themselves.
It was not a particularly good experience, and I doubt that they’ll do that again.
BWAHAHAHAHAH! Sorry, that was mean. Doesn’t anyone read the directions any more?
No. No they don’t.
Oh, the stories I could tell about bear mace.
We had one person call in who sprayed his bare feet with the stuff thinking it was his foot fungus medication.
One couple had a can explode in their living room. Three steam cleanings later and they still couldn’t walk barefoot on the carpet.
Lots of people will ‘test’ the nozzle by just giving it a little spritz. Really, wear gloves and stand out of the wind if you do this, it only takes a little exposure to make you regret it.
If you know anybody in the military, ask about their chemical warfare training (now mandatory for all specialties). Generally, it involves donning protective gear to show that it works, and then removing it in the presence of CS tear gas to show what happens if you screw up.
One story I’ve heard involved a particularly sadistic sergeant who was magnanimous enough to offer his wards the chance to hit the latrines following the drill… while neglecting to tell them the importance of washing your hands of all traces of the CS crystals before handling your ‘equipment’.
My first husband maced himself once (do not spray into the wind.) It wasn’t pretty.
In college, I remember hearing an apocryphal story of the frat boy with a hankering for spicy nachos who did not quite understand what ‘pepper spray’ was.
Love the story of the bear cub. I am working on a film and had a guy lined up to play a grizzly bear and he can’t do it. Anyone have any idea of where I can find a guy in a grizzly bear suit?