“I Have To Protect Her”: Courageous 17-Year-Old Saves Her Dog From An Aggressive Bear With Cubs By Pushing It Off A Fence
Interview
For many dog owners, their furry four-legged friends aren’t just pets, but they are family members, kids that you need to take care of and protect. They are prepared to go above and beyond to do that, even to fight a bear, if it comes to that. And I’m not even exaggerating.
Recently a video went viral which shows a teenage girl literally pushing a bear with two cubs, as if one bear wasn’t enough, from her backyard fence when she saw the bear and her dogs fighting. The video was shared all over social media and it was viewed 64 million times on TikTok. Well, it is certainly an event that you don’t see every day.
A courageous 17-year-old pushed a bear from her backyard fence when she saw it started picking up her dog
Image credits: bakedlikepie
The video footage is from a surveillance camera in the backyard. The clip shows a bear standing on the backyard fence with its babies. The family dogs, as the good boys and girls they are, show up to bark at the intruder.
Then a girl rushes in and goes straight to the bear and just pushes it from the fence. The bear falls off but climbs up again and the teen takes her little dog in her hands and escapes the scene.
The girl in question is Hailey Morinico from Southern California and the viral video was posted by her cousin Brenda. After the video blew up, a follow-up video showed up on Brenda’s TikTok account where Hailey explained what happened.
Hailey heard her dogs barking and went to look what was up, and that was when she saw the bear
Image credits: bakedlikepie
The dogs started barking, which is normal as her dogs are frequently barking at other animals, but nevertheless, Hailey went to look at what the commotion was all about. She says that when she went out, her first thought was, “That’s a funny-looking dog!” But she quickly realized that it was a bear and that it was taking one of her dogs off the ground.
Then the best solution seemed to be just to push the bear. Hailey said that she didn’t push it that hard, just so it would lose its balance and she scrammed from there with one of her dogs in her arms.
Thankfully, all the dogs are fine. Hailey herself sprained her finger and has a bruised knee, but that’s it. People were asking about the neighbor’s dog in the comments and Hailey reassured everyone that the neighbor’s dogs also weren’t hurt because the bear then went in the direction of the street, where her cubs were.
Image credits: bakedlikepie
The dogs were barking at the bear and the bear, having two cubs with it, was fighting back
Image credits: bakedlikepie
Hailey lives in the mountains and according to her, it is very normal to see bears coming to people’s houses; in the summer, they come all the time. One person was worried about the bear, as it could be put down for being dangerous, but in this situation the mom was just protecting her cubs. The teen confirmed that the bear is also okay and that “she comes around all the time and they’re usually pretty chill.”
Bored Panda got in touch with the girl that a lot of people are now calling a hero and she told us that bears are a usual occurrence and that they get to see them just a couple of feet away while being inside.
There is not much one can do to prevent bears from coming in. According to Hailey, “People always lock their doors and close garages but really there’s not too much you can do to protect your yard. You can protect yourself by running away or scaring them off with noise.”
Hailey rushed in and the first thing she came up with was just to push the bear and it miraculously worked
Image credits: bakedlikepie
Image credits: bakedlikepie
Hailey’s cousin Brenda, who posted the video that went viral, told Buzzfeed that Hailey loves her dogs very much, but the family immediately warned her to never do such a thing again. The girl’s mom was mortified when she saw the video. She told abc7, “I just break down every time I see (it). It’s just horrifying to watch.”
We asked what Hailey thinks when she looks at the video herself and she answered, “When I look at the footage I’m just astonished by what I did and how fast everything went. Even when I watch it back now I notice something new and it’s just wild seeing it all play out.”
At the end no one got seriously hurt and Hailey became the internet’s hero
Image credits: bakedlikepie
As mentioned, the video was viewed over 60 million times, and that’s more than the population of Italy. It definitely made Hailey internet famous and she said, “It’s been overwhelming dealing with the media but the people who message me calling me a hero are really heartwarming and I love seeing all the people sticking around for me as a person.”
Nobody was expecting for the video to pick up like this: “I thought it would be a small joke between my family and friends, but it just blew up overnight.”
And if you would like to stick around for Hailey, her TikTok is @tempurashrimp and you can follow on her Instagram too, which is @bittersweet.brat.
Hailey understands that she was lucky this time getting away safely and she would never do this again
Image credits: bakedlikepie
What Hailey did was very dangerous and she was extremely lucky to have gotten away just with a few scratches, especially because the bear had cubs with her. Wildlife experts strongly recommend not to approach bears and to stay safely inside. And if you are aware that you live in an area where there are bears around, it’s a good idea to not let pets stay outside by themselves.
Hailey is not encouraging this behavior; in fact, she said that she knows what wildlife experts say and would never do this again.
@bakedlikepieMy cousin Hailey yeeted a bear off her fence today and saved her dogs. How was your Memorial Day?! (WTF?!) ##ohno ##badass ##brave ##fight ##bear♬ Oh No – Kreepa
Video credits: bakedlikepie
People in the comments were amazed how everything turned out and were joking that the girl is even more dangerous than the bear
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My grandmother took on a bear when I was 6yo. We were camping at Mt Rainier National Park. A mother bear and her cub wandered in our campsite. My grandmother hit the bear in the head with a camp chair and threw unopened cans of food at it while my parents madly broke down the camp and got us out of there in a matter of minutes. When my grandmother passed some 30 years later, the priest was talking about her life at her funeral. He paused and said "And I understand there was an incident with a bear." We all started giggling.
Dogs were protecting their people, bear was protecting her cubs, girl was protecting her dogs. No one seriously hurt, cubs okay, dogs okay, girl okay. Okay.
That is definitely a happy ending all around... Even I was concerned for the bear and her cubs, and the dogs, and their human
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I bet they’re fine; you can see as she pushed the bear back, it just slid off the wall slowly, then climbed back up and exited stage left behind her cubs. Where on earth does she live to see such necky bears?!
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I totally understand her going after the momma bear for grabbing her dog. I just hope she understands that ANY Momma is going to protect her babies at all costs. If that bear did not have cubs with her she would have run off as soon as the dog went after her. You see the way she IMMEDIATELY had her babies retreat! I would do the same damn thing if I was that Momma Bear.
Seems to me she understands. And you should also not forget that it was a situation where both females only tried to protect what's dearest to each of them. Glad they're all okay.
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People are hating on her but i mean it was just an instinct. If your dogs are getting attack your gonna try anything to save them (most will at least) so it was basically fight or flight and she chose fight. Bears can take a fall and it looks like the cub was gone and didnt get pushed off too
The people who hate on her are forgetting that humans are also animals and she was protecting her "babies" as well.
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The bear wasn't being "aggressive" (as characterized in the headline) it was being defensive. It was minding its own business until the dogs raised a ruckus. But they were being defensive, too, as was Hailey.
Yes, looks like the bear was using the fence as a highway to get to wherever, when a bunch of aggressive dogs come out barking at her.
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Downvote if you want, but I wouldn't call her a hero or anything- the momma bear was just protecting her cub, not trying to fight the dog.
As she said, she wasn't thinking. She was reckless, not a hero.
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I do not think she was brave, just stupid. She could easily have picked up the dogs and walked/run away
This person was extremely lucky. Just know that one SHOULD NOT pick a fight with a bear. She could have died.
Sometimes instincts kick in before rational thoughts. She was pretty amazing.
Mama bear was protecting her young from the dogs--she was a typical mom trying to manage kids all over the place. All that aside, I'm glad no one was seriously hurt, and kudos to that brave girl protecting her doggos!
Cubs weren't there. They were on the street, not in these backyards.
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She sucks. Grizzlies are endangered! The trauma could kill the bear, leaving her cubs to die. #savethegrizzlies
Number one takeaway here: ALWAYS HAVE PETS VACCINATED FOR RABIES! Wildlife is all around us because we are building our subdivisions where they live. There is no simple treatment for rabies. There is no simple test for rabies - the animal brain tissue is examined post mortem.
What she did was pure instinct, she didn't think about it, she didn't decide to do it... she just did it. You can't blame her or even praise her for doing that, because that's just who she is naturally. With effort you can train yourself to behave different ways during situations like that, but that takes time and dedication. Me? I'm likely the type of person who would freeze in panic, and then hate myself afterwards for being so indecisive.
I would not have the guts to do this. I'd probably try throwing my shoe at it at most.
What a rude piece of s**t trying to harm animals and just to "protect" rodents at that
...um, it was a mama bear... I wouldn't have pushed the bear, she was just trying to protect her cubs! I would have just dragged my dogs away and left her to be. Also, where do you live where there's just a random bear hanging around?!?! O-O
You either didn't see the video or you believe yourself to be the flash because the bear had already grabbed one of the smaller dogs that luckily was able to escape but there were other two small dogs right by the bear... it's a situation of do or watch one, if not more, of your dogs die. I love bears as much as the next person, but when a bear gets in your property you don't have time to attempt playing the role of Dave Salmoni animal trainer, a bear will literally KILL you so maybe let's do less of "ummm I wouldn't do this" and more of a "wow... she had a split second to react and EVERYONE MADE IT OUT SAFELY!"
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Not a dog, multiple dogs, HER dogs... members of HER family. There is not a thing I wouldn't do for my dog and cats, if a bear is intruding in their safe space I would come out and try to scare it away too.
Load More Replies... My grandmother took on a bear when I was 6yo. We were camping at Mt Rainier National Park. A mother bear and her cub wandered in our campsite. My grandmother hit the bear in the head with a camp chair and threw unopened cans of food at it while my parents madly broke down the camp and got us out of there in a matter of minutes. When my grandmother passed some 30 years later, the priest was talking about her life at her funeral. He paused and said "And I understand there was an incident with a bear." We all started giggling.
Dogs were protecting their people, bear was protecting her cubs, girl was protecting her dogs. No one seriously hurt, cubs okay, dogs okay, girl okay. Okay.
That is definitely a happy ending all around... Even I was concerned for the bear and her cubs, and the dogs, and their human
Load More Replies... I bet they’re fine; you can see as she pushed the bear back, it just slid off the wall slowly, then climbed back up and exited stage left behind her cubs. Where on earth does she live to see such necky bears?!
Load More Replies... I totally understand her going after the momma bear for grabbing her dog. I just hope she understands that ANY Momma is going to protect her babies at all costs. If that bear did not have cubs with her she would have run off as soon as the dog went after her. You see the way she IMMEDIATELY had her babies retreat! I would do the same damn thing if I was that Momma Bear.
Seems to me she understands. And you should also not forget that it was a situation where both females only tried to protect what's dearest to each of them. Glad they're all okay.
Load More Replies... People are hating on her but i mean it was just an instinct. If your dogs are getting attack your gonna try anything to save them (most will at least) so it was basically fight or flight and she chose fight. Bears can take a fall and it looks like the cub was gone and didnt get pushed off too
The people who hate on her are forgetting that humans are also animals and she was protecting her "babies" as well.
Load More Replies... The bear wasn't being "aggressive" (as characterized in the headline) it was being defensive. It was minding its own business until the dogs raised a ruckus. But they were being defensive, too, as was Hailey.
Yes, looks like the bear was using the fence as a highway to get to wherever, when a bunch of aggressive dogs come out barking at her.
Load More Replies... Downvote if you want, but I wouldn't call her a hero or anything- the momma bear was just protecting her cub, not trying to fight the dog.
As she said, she wasn't thinking. She was reckless, not a hero.
Load More Replies... I do not think she was brave, just stupid. She could easily have picked up the dogs and walked/run away
This person was extremely lucky. Just know that one SHOULD NOT pick a fight with a bear. She could have died.
Sometimes instincts kick in before rational thoughts. She was pretty amazing.
Mama bear was protecting her young from the dogs--she was a typical mom trying to manage kids all over the place. All that aside, I'm glad no one was seriously hurt, and kudos to that brave girl protecting her doggos!
Cubs weren't there. They were on the street, not in these backyards.
Load More Replies... She sucks. Grizzlies are endangered! The trauma could kill the bear, leaving her cubs to die. #savethegrizzlies
Number one takeaway here: ALWAYS HAVE PETS VACCINATED FOR RABIES! Wildlife is all around us because we are building our subdivisions where they live. There is no simple treatment for rabies. There is no simple test for rabies - the animal brain tissue is examined post mortem.
What she did was pure instinct, she didn't think about it, she didn't decide to do it... she just did it. You can't blame her or even praise her for doing that, because that's just who she is naturally. With effort you can train yourself to behave different ways during situations like that, but that takes time and dedication. Me? I'm likely the type of person who would freeze in panic, and then hate myself afterwards for being so indecisive.
I would not have the guts to do this. I'd probably try throwing my shoe at it at most.
What a rude piece of s**t trying to harm animals and just to "protect" rodents at that
...um, it was a mama bear... I wouldn't have pushed the bear, she was just trying to protect her cubs! I would have just dragged my dogs away and left her to be. Also, where do you live where there's just a random bear hanging around?!?! O-O
You either didn't see the video or you believe yourself to be the flash because the bear had already grabbed one of the smaller dogs that luckily was able to escape but there were other two small dogs right by the bear... it's a situation of do or watch one, if not more, of your dogs die. I love bears as much as the next person, but when a bear gets in your property you don't have time to attempt playing the role of Dave Salmoni animal trainer, a bear will literally KILL you so maybe let's do less of "ummm I wouldn't do this" and more of a "wow... she had a split second to react and EVERYONE MADE IT OUT SAFELY!"
Load More Replies... Not a dog, multiple dogs, HER dogs... members of HER family. There is not a thing I wouldn't do for my dog and cats, if a bear is intruding in their safe space I would come out and try to scare it away too.
Load More Replies...
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