A lifestyle blogger has shared footage of her family’s nerve-shredding encounter with a black bear. Watch the clip below:
Brighton Peachy, who boasts 70,000 Instagram followers, was hiking with her husband and two young children in Whistler, Canada, when she noticed an enormous bear rambling along the path behind her family.
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Despite shouting at the animal in a bid to scare it off, the bear kept stalking her family, and at one particularly unsettling point, Peachy can be heard shouting at her young son not to run, in case he triggers a chase response.
As the bear started to gain on them, one of Peachy’s kids could be heard saying: “Can we play dead yet?” before she got out her bear spray.
The animal followed Peachy and her family for almost a mile and wasn’t deterred by any of their attempts to scare it off.
Thankfully, the family eventually bumped into another group of hikers, and they decided to stick together until the bear disappeared.
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Peachy uploaded two videos of the encounter on Instagram, writing beneath the first: “This was a good reminder that even if you know all the things you’re ‘supposed to do’ wildlife still might not care. You’re in their territory.”
She also said she was ‘so proud’ of the way her kids handled the situation, adding: “Since we spend so much time in the backcountry with very real dangers we think it’s important to be straightforward about the realities and dangers of the outdoors. We try not to scare them but we don’t sugar coat it.”
In a second post, Peachy revealed that the area her family were walking in had actually been closed off numerous times in the past because the same bear that followed her family had acted aggressively.
Peachy admitted: “This was scarier than the time I was mock charged by a bear because I had my kids with me and felt helpless.”
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She also said after a while, they began to think the bear was ‘stalking’ them and that her six-year-old son ‘wasn’t taking the situation seriously’ because he’s so comfortable in the great outdoors.
Peachy also posted some bear safety tips for her followers, urging them to hike in groups and carry both a bear cannon and bear spray.
As for what not to do, Peachy wrote: “Do not approach a bear. Do not startle the bear. Do not scream or run.” Yikes.
Featured Image Credit: Instagram.com/brightonpeachyTopics: Animals