It was a fine afternoon in the rural town of Kita Hiroshimacho in Japan’s Hiroshima Prefecture, and Rumiko Sasaki and her husband were taking advantage of the long daylight hours weeding their backyard. Suddenly, at around 5:30 in the afternoon, a bear came to Rumiko’s backyard. Rumiko’s husband then alerted her of the wild animal’s presence.
...and when Rumiko looked up from where she’d been pulling weeds, sure enough, that’s what she saw. “When I stood up, there was a bear standing there, and it came right at me, aiming right at my face [with its claws],” she says.
But instead of cowering in fear, Rumiko faced the bear head-on.
“So I went ‘Aaaahhh!’ and tossed him off me and sent him flying. I think I hit him a few times too. Then he went running away.”
According to the 82-year-old woman’s estimate, the bear was about a 150 centimeters tall (around 4’ 11”).
After Rumiko’s counterattack, the bear fled into the nearby woods, and hasn’t been seen since. The local hunting club, called Kuma Rangers (“Bear Rangers,” like they’re a tokusatsu team), has set up three capture cages in the forest, and is also patrolling the area.
Although Rumiko suffered several scratches to her face in her encounter with the bear, she was still in good spirits when she was interviewed.
Now that’s a brave woman.
(Image Credit: news24ntv/ Twitter)
【80代の女性 自宅裏庭でクマに襲われる】
— 日テレNEWS / 日本テレビのニュース・速報 (@news24ntv) July 17, 2020
被害者の女性「立ち上がってみたらクマがそこにいて。私の顔をめがけてバッと来て『キャーッ』っと言って私が吹っ飛ばして叩いたみたいな気がする」#北広島町 #広島 pic.twitter.com/syUewT3nmD