Video captures moment man confronts huge black bear as it interrupts cookout

11 March 2024 , 20:40

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Video captures moment man confronts huge black bear as it interrupts cookout

A chilling video captured the exact moment a giant black bear interrupted a family cookout, ruining what had been a delightful 4th of July gathering.

Steve Baker, 52, and his family had gotten together in Sonora, California, a tiny city in the eastern part of the state about 92 miles southeast of the capital, Sacramento. Suddenly, as Steve's nephew, Jack, recorded, a massive black bear approached Steve.

The 52-year-old commanded it to leave the area — but, being a bear, it didn't understand what Steve was saying. The animal took a large, sweeping swipe at Steve's torso, leaving a giant scratch under his shirt.

READ MORE: Terrified woman thought she was 'going to die' after brutal attack by 'angry bear' in garden

Steve Baker had a terrifying run-in with a bear that was attracted to the scent of cooking food in his yard on the 4th of July

Then, it hightailed it out of the area, back into the woods and away from the terrified family, who now had a slightly injured man to care for. Jack believes the bear approached the cookout because it smelled the meat the family had been cooking.

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He believes the scent lured it to the area looking for food. He added that his uncle wasn't behaving very smartly — he had been drunk, Jack said.

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The bear took a swipe at Steve after it told him to get off the property (Jack Ryan Ross Baker / SWNS)

"My uncle decided to confront the bear, as he had drank a little too much, and was stupidly trying to ask it to leave," Jack said. "I was terrified. If a big bear comes out of nowhere, anyone would be terrified."

He added: "We were all scared of it and backed away, except Steve, but luckily he wasn't injured." Jack said the animal stayed approximately 30 more seconds before it walked straight into the woods, leaving the family to be.

The bear eventually left before wandering back to the woods (Jack Ryan Ross Baker / SWNS)

Bear attacks, while not super common, do pop up from time to time. Just last week, a woman from Butler Township, Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburgh, was mauled in her garden after a bear hopped over her fence at around 8.30am. She had reportedly just let her dog out into the year when three large cubs and their "very powerful and angry" mum suddenly appeared "out of the dark."

The bear charged at her, knocked her face-first to the ground and bit the back of her head so hard she thought she was being scalped, Lee Ann Galant told local news from the hospital. She thought she was going to die, but ultimately, she survived the horrifying ordeal. Smoke was reportedly OK.

The Game Commission stated it's likely the mother bear was just being protective of her cubs and may have been hungry. She was euthenised, it was reported. The Game Commission said bird feeders in the garden may have been partially to blame.

Jeremiah Hassel