Todd Orr, Bear Attack Survivor

By Dora Craven, Junior

October 18, 2016

Early in the morning, on the first of October, Todd Orr from Bozeman, MT was brutally assaulted by a sow grizzly bear defending her cubs. Mr. Orr was taking a peaceful morning hike in the Madison Valley near Ennis, MT, in an attempt to scout for elk, but instead, encountered this massive creature. Orr already had knowledge that the southwest area of Montana was a common ground for bears to lurk, and shouted “hey bear” ever half a minute to warn them off. However, only three miles in, straying into the meadows and letting out another bellow, he spotted the sow and her cubs a few hundred feet down the trail. Startled, the grizzly and her cubs scampered only a short distance away from Orr, but suddenly the sow charged.

Mr. Orr hollered, striving to frighten the bear enough to turn back around but was useless. Within seconds, Orr grabbed his bear spray and releasing its contents in the direction of the sow. She charged straight through the orange mist and forced Mr. Orr to the ground. He “shoved [his] face into the dirt and wrapped [his] arms around the back of [his] neck for protection,” according to his site, www.thetoddorr.com. The sow chomped down hard on his shoulders, arms, and backpack mercilessly and repeatedly. “The force of each bite was like a sledge hammer with teeth” Mr. Orr declared. “After a couple minutes, but what seemed an eternity, she disappeared.” In a daze, he cautiously made his way back down the trail toward his truck, jogging part of the way and amazed that he was still alive. Examining his injuries, he observed innumerable gashes along his arm and shoulders but “knew [he] could survive and thanked god for getting [him] through this.”

No time to stop to attend to his wounds, he hastily made his way down the trail. Only 10 minutes later, the grizzly was back, merely 30 feet away and charging. For a second time, the bear was on him, lashing with her piercing claws and chomping down on his shoulders. “One bite on my forearm went through to the bone and I heard a crunch. My hand instantly went numb and wrist and fingers were limp and unusable,” Todd Orr explained. He gasped sharply when this happened, and the bear responded with frequent biting and clawing, pushing Mr. Orr’s face and shoulder deeper into the soil. He feared it might be the end, so there he laid, motionless, but this didn’t stop the bear from tearing a gash into the side of his head.

The grizzly paused for a second, just standing over his limp form. He said he’d never forget this moment: “Dead silence except for the sound of her heavy breathing and sniffing. I could feel her breath on the back of my neck, just inches away. I could feel her front claws digging into my lower back below my backpack where she stood. I could smell the terrible pungent odor she emitted.” It was a miracle the first attack didn’t kill him, but he feared for his life as this massive beast towered over him. However, a half a minute passed and the bear moved on her way.

Orr was utterly still, attempting to sneak a glance out from over his shoulder, but blood seeped into his eyes, blinding him. Terrified the sow would return, he grasped for his pistol, only to find nothing in its place. Wiping the blood from his eyes, he surveyed the ground, finding both the pistol and holster lying five feet away from his body. He stood up and examined himself: puncture wounds lacerated his arms and shoulders. His backpack took most of the damage that would have been dealt to his spine and back. Todd claimed that “blood was still dripping off my head and both elbows and my shirt was soaked to the waist and into my pants. But a quick assessment told me I could make it another 45 minutes to the truck without losing too much blood.”

Todd Orr videotaped himself after the incident, explaining what happened, which many of you might have already viewed on Facebook. Once emitted into the hospital, an x-ray exposed a chip out of the ulna bone in his forearm. Todd sat eight long hours as the doctors stitched up his puncture wounds and the 5 inch long gash to the side of his head. His facebook indicated that in the morning he assessed “numerous deep bruises and scrapes are showing up from the bites that didn’t quite break the skin. Dark bruising in the shape of claws, line across my lower back and butt.”

Todd Orr is a walking miracle; getting attacked by a bear twice is equivalent to getting struck by lightning. Todd ended on a cheerful note, saying it’s “not my best day, but I’m alive. So thankful I’m here to share with all of you.” To stay posted, visit www.thetoddorr.com or visit his Facebook page.