‘The most violent thing I have ever experienced’: Veteran shares his harrowing bear attack survival story

Shayne Patrick Burke was looking for owls in the wilds of Wyoming, but he found grizzlies instead.

Just moments after Burke noticed a bear cub within 50 to 70 yards, he saw a mother grizzly bear charging toward him.

“I stood my ground, shouted and attempted to deploy the bear spray but as I did she already closed the gap,” he wrote in a Facebook post about the May 19 incident in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. CNN has tried to reach Burke – whose location is listed as South Hadley, Massachusetts, on social media – but has not received a response.

The encounter, which matched details given by the National Park Service about an attack on an unnamed man near Signal Mountain, could easily have ended tragically with a human death, an animal death — or both.

Burke had been hoping to photograph a Great Grey Owl and was hustling back through the wilderness to meet his wife.

With just seconds to react, Burke turned his back as the bear pounced, laid down on his stomach “and braced for the ride” with his hands interlocked behind his neck for protection, the post said.

“The first bite and slash was on my back / right shoulder. I screamed. She then turned, stepping on my back. She bit one of my legs, picking me up and slamming me on the ground multiple times,” the post said.