A fearless Washington state boy fought off a monstrous mama black bear by gouging its eyes during a terrifying attack that left him battered and bruised.
Robin Westgate, 12, said while he was retrieving a bowl from his backyard fruit orchard Sunday night, he unexpectedly came face to face with an enraged black bear protective of her cub, KING reported.
The Bellingham youngster said he “and the bear startled each other” — before the beast charged at him twice and left puncture wounds on his hip.
“It was fight or die,” Westgate told the outlet. “I didn’t really have an option. [The bear] bit onto my wrist, and I slammed my hand and thumb into her eye.”
Black bears are common in Westgate’s neighborhood near the Canadian border so the tween had already been taught what to do if he ever encountered one in the flesh.
The mama bear charged once again but this time toward Westgate’s dad, Noah.
“Strange as it sounds, it was a feeling of relief to have her coming at me,” the protective father said, according to the publication.
Noah Westgate jumped into his self-described “code red” mode and protected his son the same way the bear was protecting her cub — by clobbering it.
“She crunches into my hand right at the moment that I land the hardest punch of my life,” he recalled.
The dad’s right hook scared it way, he said.
Although Robin Westgate said the encounter was a terrifying, “it doesn’t change anything about the overall danger from the bears.”
“The only thing that changed is now I know I can trust myself,” the brave youngster said.
Things could have been much worse, the family said, if their daughter Riverley didn’t hear her brother’s cries for help.
“I’m just glad that I was outside and heard him and that the injuries weren’t worse,” Riverley said.
The mama bear has since returned to the area and state wildlife workers snapped a photo of the beast.
A trap has been set but she remains at large.
For now, the Westgate family said they will carry bear spray in their backyard.
Wildlife officials say bear attacks in Washington state are less than one per year.
However, urban sprawl has prompted more bear encounters with humans — particularly this time of year as they fatten up before winter hibernation.
“I’m a proud papa that my 12-year-old son stood his ground against a black bear,” Noah Westgate said.
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