{"id":917795,"date":"2026-10-02T11:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T11:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/917795\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T11:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T11:48:10","slug":"bathurst-area-man-escapes-bear-attack-while-picking-blueberries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/917795\/","title":{"rendered":"Bathurst-area man escapes bear attack while picking blueberries"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Serge Guitard has spent his entire life getting to know the New Brunswick forests around his home in Pointe-Verte, near Bathurst, and the animals that call it home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a life-long fur trapper, he\u2019s had some close calls with wildlife, but nothing quite like the recent experience he had with a black bear while picking blueberries.<\/p>\n

Guitard said he suddenly spotted the bear too close for comfort.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo seconds later that bear charged me,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd when he started to hit me and hit me, I squeezed my head very tight on his chest \u2026 protecting my face.”<\/p>\n

Guitard said he was bitten, scratched, knocked down and dragged around by the bear. But when he remembered the small knife he carried with him, he was able to fight back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI squeezed the knife into his chest,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then it was a big silence, nothing, just silence \u2026 and then he disappeared.”<\/p>\n

\"TheThe bear severely bit Serge Guitard on the head, and he required more than 80 stitches. (Rachel Gauvin\/Radio-Canada)<\/p>\n

Guitard, who is now recovering at home, said he knows he\u2019s lucky to be alive. He will continue to carry his knife with him in the woods and will add bear spray to his checklist.<\/p>\n

The encounter also has the 75-year-old reflecting on the advice he used to get as a child, as he ventured out into the forest.<\/p>\n

“My mother used to tell me, \u2018Don’t go in the woods alone because the bear is going to eat you,’\u201d he said, adding that he now knows what she meant.<\/p>\n

Defend yourself with whatever instruments you can find.- Lindsay Gauvin, biologist<\/p>\n

New Brunswick has a healthy black bear population, with males weighing more than 600 pounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lindsay Gauvin, a biologist with the provincial Department of Natural Resources, said there is always the possibility of encountering one in the forests this time of year, even near residential areas and campgrounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said they\u2019re always on the lookout for food, and if they get spooked by a human close by, they may become aggressive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes they will do a bluff charge, so they will run towards you to scare you, but then they’ll just run across the side from you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ALindsay Gauvin, a biologist with the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources, highlighted the importance of making our presence known in the forest to keep bears away. (Rachel Gauvin\/Radio-Canada)<\/p>\n

Gauvin said if the bear does make contact, people need to be prepared to fight back.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefend yourself with whatever instruments you can find,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you can find rocks to hit the bear, you know, on the head with it. Or if you do have bear spray or a little knife \u2026 you really want to defend yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gauvin said that it\u2019s always wise to carry something to defend yourself with \u2014 including bear spray \u2014 and to read the label carefully on how to use it properly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s advice Guitard is already putting to use. He said the experience won’t stop him from spending time in the woods.<\/p>\n

Asked whether he has a bear licence this year, Guitard said he doesn\u2019t. But given his recent near-death experience with a black bear, it\u2019s something he may consider for next year\u2019s hunt.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":917796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-917795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}