DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (NewsNation Now) — A violent encounter with a bear wasn’t enough to scare off Walt Hickox, who captured the tense encounter on camera just outside his Daytona Beach doorstep Wednesday.
Hickox said he was letting his three dachshunds out of the house to scare off some “cats” when he came face to face with a bear.
Hickox said he has a puncture wound on one of his shoulders and some scratches to his back. Despite those, he doesn’t believe it was really an “attack.”
“It wasn’t really a direct attack. It was just catching the brunt of the energy that’s headed towards the dog, you know?” he said.
Hickox let his dogs out to chase a couple of cats that they were barking at. He had no idea there was a bear lurking in the yard.
“[The bear] was looking at my dog and when he started going forward, I started clapping and screaming and trying to get his attention. My next instinct was to get in front of [the dogs] or at least break the visual contact to let them know that I’m here and by then he had already started a lunge,” Hickox said.
That was the moment he suffered minor injuries.
He was concerned the dogs may have been worried about his safety and attack the bear but they did not.
He’s now taking safety outside his home a little more seriously.
“I open the door and I get past and I don’t have a chance to scope the yard yet. I get nervous, right — which I didn’t before.”
NewsNation affiliate WFLA contributed to this report.