In 1998 the author survived a horrific mauling by a Kodiak brown bear. This is the story of that event along with additional tales and personal observations about these coastal giants. The book includes a number of graphic photographs taken within minutes of the actual event, along with the authors personal photos of bears and other Alaskan wildlife.
From the book:
Meeting the eyes of a grizzly is an interesting experience because those eyes hold real intelligence and power. The eyes of other common Alaskan animals (such as moose or caribou) reveal little beyond fear or vague curiosity. A ruminant's brain has very little room for much beyond eating, fleeing and mating. Your attention is drawn to other things on such an animal; the antlers perhaps...
A bear is a different proposition altogether. The wide brown eyes of this predator are expressive and calculating and meeting them is to know that you are looking into the mind of a thinking animal. I can't stress that difference enough, though it's difficult to articulate this to people who haven't had the experience. When meeting a grizzly at close range you generally find yourself waiting for the animal to make a decision - to leave, hopefully. Your eyes will lock with those of the bear and there will be some sort of visceral communication taking place. You can watch the play of emotion and calculation cross the animals face while he evaluates you and tries to decide what your presence means and what he should do about it.
...
...Perhaps the yelling attracted her to my face because she now grabbed my skull, her upper canines sinking into my right eye socket and cheek respectively, while her lower jaw enveloped the back of my head. The sensation was incredible, as if my head was in a powerful vise. My vision began to narrow and darken while a roaring sound grew deep inside my head. It was like being under water too long, holding your breath and fighting to get back to the surface, everything beginning to get dark. I remember thinking; "This is it, this is how it all ends..." Yet, as this went on I was also pulling and turning my head away with as much force as I could muster until suddenly it (my head) popped free with a grating sound that I could sense internally rather than hear audibly. Her upper canines had ripped loose from my eye socket and face leaving two furrows from the entry points well into my hairline. I was partially scalped, but she hadn't "popped" my head...
