A Florida man threw himself at a black bear as it charged at his three daschhund puppies at the back porch of his home.
Dramatic home surveillance footage shows Walt Hickox instinctively react as he hurled himself between the large bear and his three dogs Pickles, Pepper and Piper.
Mr Hickox, of Daytona Beach, clapped and screamed to frighten the bear off, and pushed the animal out of his porch door as it tried to claw and bite him.
He then shoved a bench in front of the door to block the bear from returning.
Mr Hickox said he didn’t give a moment’s thought to his own safety and had just been trying to protect his pets and family during Wednesday night’s attack.
“Not a lot went through my head at the moment, other than what’s going to happen if he gets past me and into the house where the rest of my dogs and my wife was at,” Mr Hickox told WFTV.
“I just wanted to deflect the tension off the dog long enough for him to realize, ‘hey, there’s a human in here too,’” Mr Hickox said in an interview with WESH2.
A clip of the bear attack went viral online.
The bear has not yet been located.
It was the second attack by a bear on Central Florida resident this week. A Debary woman was injured after the bear launched at her in the driveway of her home last Thursday.
Mr Hickox said he planned to install a new porch door to keep bears out of his house.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recommends making loud noises and banging pans if a bear comes on to a property.
The commission also says food should not be left out, and to avoid scaring wild animals.
