Maine Woman Punches Bear in the Nose

Maine woman Lynn Kelly was working in her garden Friday morning when her dog began barking before running off into the woods. Kelly, 64, went to see what was going on, and as the frightened dog ran back out of the woods, a bear was following close behind. "The bear looked at me, and I looked at the bear. I think we both scared each other," Kelly tells WMUR. "Kelly confronted the bear head on, and when the bear stood up, she stood up as tall as she could, then punched the bear in the nose," the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife says in a press release. The bear responded by biting Kelly's right hand, puncturing her wrist, before letting go and running back into the woods, USA Today reports.

The dog was unharmed, and Kelly was taken to the hospital after calling 911 to report the attack. The wildlife department has set traps in an attempt to capture the bear alive, but it has not been spotted since the attack (it had been seen in the area shortly before the attack, eating bird seed in nearby yards). As NBC News reports, in Connecticut on Saturday, a 65-year-old man intervened after a bear attacked his dog and was injured, though he is expected to be OK. Authorities advise walking dogs on non-retractable leashes, and not getting in between a dog and a bear. (More Maine stories.)