A 19-year-old woke up around 4 a.m. on Sunday morning to a “crunching sound” that turned out to be a black bear biting his head, the Associated Press reports.
Dylan, a camp staffer, was sleeping outside at Glacier View Ranch located less than 50 miles from Denver, when the bear tried to drag him from his sleeping bag.
“The crunching noise, I guess, was the teeth scraping against the skull as it dug in,” said Dylan.
He fought the bear by hitting it as hard as he could and poking it in the eyes while other staffers yelled and swatted at the animal. The bear dragged Dylan 10 feet before giving up and letting go of him. “When it was dragging me, that was the slowest part. It felt like it went forever,” he said.
None of the other staffers or the 12 and 13-year-old campers were injured.
The teen was treated briefly at a hospital for his injuries — including nine staples to a scratch on the back of his neck.
Park officials are searching for the bear that attacked Dylan unprovoked. It’s unusual for black bears to be aggressive with humans without the presence of food or their cubs nearby said officials. It will likely be euthanized. “When a bear is aggressive towards a person, that’s a behavior that we can’t tolerate. It can teach that behavior to other animals. Or, the behavior could escalate,” said Jennifer Churchill, a spokeswoman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The summer camp, owned by the Rocky Mountain Conference of Seventh Day Adventists, will continue through July 16, but the bear is still on the loose.
Despite the incident, the camp staffer is still unafraid of bears. “I’m not afraid of the bears. I’m not afraid of sleeping outside anymore. You just have to be aware and respect the animals,” said Dylan.