Bathurst-area man escapes bear attack while picking blueberries

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.

Arrest and charges

As a life-long fur trapper, he's had some close calls with wildlife, but nothing quite like the recent experience he had with a black bear while picking blueberries.

"And when he started to hit me and hit me, I squeezed my head very tight on his chest … protecting my face."

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. "I squeezed the knife into his chest," he said.

"And then it was a big silence, nothing, just silence … and then he disappeared."

Guitard, who is now recovering at home, said he knows he's lucky to be alive.

Charges and court proceedings

Guitard said he suddenly spotted the bear too close for comfort. "Two seconds later that bear charged me," he said.