A man was mauled by a bear just steps away from the front door of his Florida home.
Meunier said that he let his dog out of his home about 11 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9 and stepped outside.
As he spotted three bears, one of them reared up on its hind legs and clawed at the man’s face.
He said he struggled to get away, but the 4-foot black bear was too fast.
The man’s 7-year-old daughter was reportedly asleep inside the home.
“I’m just happy to be alive, it could’ve been a totally different story,” he told Fox6 reporters.
Somehow, the man managed to get back through his front door.
“I think at that point adrenaline carried me through it, you know, I didn’t know if I was cut or bleeding or anything until, after getting hit the next thing I really remember was getting inside and closing the door,” Meunier told WINK-TV.
Meunier immediately called emergency dispatch.
“Then I proceeded to call 911 and they came and took care of me,” Meunier said.
The 911 call revealed that Meunier suffered a facial laceration from the bear attack, which was the first in South Florida since 1970, WINK-TV reported.
The attack happened across the street from a high school. Apparently, this neighborhood has had a bear presence for some time with neighbors reporting sightings of bears rummaging through trash.
Another resident, Christian Pugh, is said to have recorded a video of bears digging through the trash bins outside his home when one of the bears rushed towards him.
Florida Fish and Wildlife representatives told WINK-TV reporters they are considering installing bear-proof trash bins into communities in order to lessen the risk of wild animal encounters.
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