U.S. media reported that a man named Walter Hickox was bitten and scratched while fighting a deadly carnivorous bear at his home in Daytona Beach, Florida on Wednesday night. Security camera footage shows Hickox leaping to push the black bear out after he stormed in with the intent to devour 12-year-old dachshund Pepper, around 7:30 p.m. Hiccocks then dragged a bench to block the opening and prevent the bear from reaching the rest of the house’s occupants – his partner Kerry Rubino Hiccocks, and 12-year-old dogs Pickles and Pepper, and five-year-old Piper. View documentation from the security cameras at Hiccocks’ home:
A man fights a terrifying bear that invades the balcony of his house (Photo: Reuters)
In the photos you can hear him shouting to Kerry: ‘Oh my God, I was attacked by a bear’. He then told WFTV 9: “Not much went through my mind in those moments, other than what was going to happen if he passed by and managed to get into the house where my other dogs and my wife were.”
Kerry said the bear appeared to have jumped on the porch to attack Pepper, adding: “Walt thought it was the neighbors dog and went to hit him inside. I witness the shock of how a bear feels so comfortable with people that he jumps on the porch to attack.”
She posted pictures of punching wounds and cuts on the bear’s teeth and claws on Hickox’s back and arms and said he had to get rabies shots and noted that fortunately none of the dogs were injured in the attack. Watch Hiccock’s interview with Inside News Channel:
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After the attack a bear trap was installed on the property by the authorities and Hicoks told interviewers that he plans to also put a suitable door on his porch and keep some bear repellent spray nearby. And this is what his back would look like after the attack:
This was the second bear attack in the area over the past week, Daytona Beach police confirmed, after a woman was attacked by a bear earlier last week while out for a walk with a dog. She was hospitalized overnight to recover from injuries to her face and head after the attack.
The Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission determined that the bear that was to blame for this attack posed an ongoing threat to the public and so they killed it (in a humane manner they claimed), but not its three cubs. According to reports – the same fate awaits the bear that attacked the hiccups if caught. They noted that such attacks are “extremely rare” when only 15 cases of people being moderately to severely injured for more than 50 years are known.