I’ve been off Twitter for a few days to avoid spoilers, so I missed this story but now that I’ve seen it, my gawd – I am cycling through emotions on loop. Apparently, this video went viral on Monday night, and I warn you, it’s not for the faint of heart. No people or animals actually get hurt, but that doesn’t mean your heart won’t end up in your throat:
The young lady in the video is Hailey Morinico and she is just 17 years old. Her cousin, Brenda Lopez Rincon, is the one who posted the video to Instagram. If you can’t bring yourself to watch it, a mother bear walks along that back wall with two babies trailing behind her. Four dogs, one medium and three small, come out to bark at the bear. The cubs are successfully removed from the wall, but the mother starts swiping at the dogs. That’s when Hailey runs out to get the dogs away. The mother bear snags the harness of a terrier and Hailey, as she’s shooing dogs, reaches over and pushes the bear off the wall! Fortunately the terrier was released, the dogs are smart enough to get the hell inside and the bear sees her chance to vacate. Everyone retreats unharmed. And this is in California. I shouldn’t be surprised, we’ve had bear incidents here in LA, but I still am.
Apparently, the whole incident shook everyone up, which is totally understandable. Hailey said she saw her dogs in trouble, and went into autopilot. She said didn’t really have a plan and if she had, it certainly wouldn’t have been to push a bear.
Morinico said she heard her dogs barking, which was not unusual.
“I go to tell them to stop and when I go over there to see what they’re barking at, I’m like, That’s a funny-looking dog,” she joked.
She said the bear was picking up one of her smaller dogs by the time she realized what was happening.
“I go over to the bear, I look it in the eyes, and the first thing I think to do is push it. Push a bear. Push an apex predator,” she said, adding that she didn’t shove it too hard, but just enough so that it lost its balance.
The only injury Morinico sustained was a scraped knee and a sprained finger.
When I saw the cubs enter the scene, I went cold. The mom bear probably would’ve shrugged off the dogs on her own but the minute she saw a danger to her cubs, that’s trouble. I’m no bear expert but my brother and sister-in-law live in Fairbanks, Alaska and I’ve heard stories, many of which end with, “and that’s when they saw the cubs hiding nearby.” I realize Hailey didn’t intend to push a bear that day, but it looked like the best option given the number of times I’ve watched this. I definitely understand the “not thinking” part of her story. I’m terrible in danger scenarios. My six month old Pomeranian broke into my neighbor’s yard a few weeks after we’d adopted him. I heard him screaming when the neighbors Akita/German Shepard mix found him. My jerk neighbor refused to come out of the house to help so I, too, went on autopilot, scaled the six-foot, chain-link fence and placed myself between my puppy and her dog. Oh, did I mention I was six months pregnant at the time? Yeah, just a pile of stupid choices. Fortunately, everyone got out okay then as well (let’s face it, if her dog wanted mine dead, he would’ve been by the time I’d gotten there.)
I tried to look up what you are supposed to do in Hailey’s case and I couldn’t find anything. All the articles I found discuss dogs in the bear’s territory, like while hiking and such (you should still know those precautions). Honestly, I applaud Hailey. I’m sure an animal activist will tell me why this is all wrong, but she made a decision that saved four dogs, two cubs and a mom bear and it only earned her a sprained finger in the process.
By the way, the little terrier in the video is a service dog named Valentia. Hailey’s mom posted a pic of her that night. Poor thing probably need a day at the doggie spa when it was all over.
Here’s Hailey in her own words:
@bakedlikepie #duet with @tempurashrimp here is the famous cousin Hailey! #bear #ohno #cousinhailey
Photo credit: Instagram and TikTok
wowzers. amazing. glad it ended as well as it did. quite frightening to think of the alternative.
in hailey’s video she comments on being a slave to her dog. we certainly all are. loved that. so true. what a brave girl.
I love that she did this. I would do anything to save my dog as well.
Brave girl!
I would do anything for my cats, but if I was her mom I would be furious because she could have been seriously injured or killed and nothing is worth more than a child.
Same. I kinda want her parents to write a parenting book, because they are clearly better at this than I am.
I saw this when they laid over a Mystikal track
“I make a motherf***er say oh yeah! I’m colder than a lion with no hair…If you ever see me fighting in the forest with a grisly bear, HELP THE BEAR! Cause that b*tch gon need it…and I’m home and greedy, gimme that god*mn porridge, but I ain’t even gon eat it,”
But, yeah, it’s a miracle no one was hurt. I think the reason why the mama bear retreated was because her cubs had already cleared out. If they didn’t, it would have gotten ugly.
Incredible girl, good for her. I’d have done the same thing to save my dog.
Oh, definitely. I’ve taken a running drive as my dog went for the road. Luckily, it was grass, but, frozen grass.
Scariest night of my life was when my dog was sprinting towards a busy road at 11pm. I am very thankful to the random lady who whipped out the cheese stick in her purse and tempted him back.
“My six month old Pomeranian broke into my neighbor’s yard a few weeks after we’d adopted him. I heard him screaming when the neighbors Akita/German Shepard mix found him. My jerk neighbor refused to come out of the house to help so I, too, went on autopilot, scaled the six-foot, chain-link fence and placed myself between my puppy and her dog. Oh, did I mention I was six months pregnant at the time?”
WHOA!
I did not think I would read something that could top Teen vs Mama Bear!
Oh, wow, mama bear & two cubs. Everybody was lucky that day.
Oh Hailey!!
Hecate, can’t believe you scaled a 6-foot chain-link fence while you were pregnant to save your dog. Well, actually, I do believe it. That fight or flight instinct is a powerful thing, especially when a loved one is in danger.
Can we also mention that she looked absolutely adorable doing it? I know, I am shallow but this is gossip so I’ve a right to be!
This was the epitome of DUMB and I wish we would stop celebrating it.
She defended her babies and went into full instinct mode, it’s not dumb. Are you a dog hater?
Yeah – I’m a dog hater who flies around the country and internationally rescuing dogs. And who grew up in a house with several Yorkies.
No actually – I think this was really dumb. We should all be more aware of our surroundings. And celebrating this is dangerous. Kids are impressionable, as evidenced by the many killed and maimed attempting various Tik Tok challenges.
But again, go against the status quo here and let the name calling begin.
Was it the wisest? No but she clearly loves her dogs and had adrenaline pumping through her veins when she jumped to protect them. This could have ended very badly but it worked out okay. Hopefully the family will purchase one of those bear noise makers or bear spray to keep at the ready.
All of the commentary I’ve seen about this have experts stating how unwise this was and how better to deal with a situation like this. So try to chill a bit eh?
Pull the stick out midge, this obviously wasn’t a planned situation.
We are celebrating that it worked out for everyone.
@Kkhat exactly!
In one interview, she herself says “who DOES that!” She definitely knows it was dumb but acted instinctually before she could process that it was a bear.
So agree @clarabelle, in another life I was a field geologist in the NWT, Canada and we had so much bear training. One day the helicopter dropped us off on a peninsula and all of a sudden these three brown furry things start loping towards me and my partner and a dog. They were a ways away yet we were so flummoxed…scrambling to pull out bear spray and bear bangers. It took us several seconds to register they were baby Wolverines and far more dangerous than little bears. We scared them off and ran so fast to get off the peninsula and avoid mama wolverine. Very little thinking just instinct and adrenaline!
Saw it yesterday and my heart was in my throat. I was so worried for all of them. They were all just doing what came naturally to them. I’m just glad it turned out the way it did, but I bet Hailey was shaken after the fact.
Fun fact: one of my coworkers punched a bear that was attacking her childhood dog. Several of us sent her links to this story yesterday. She did this about 15-20 years ago, on the East coast, not west, but she too made the news back then. It’s a fun story to bring up in meetings, because she doesn’t look at all like someone who would confront a bear. But when your dog is in trouble, you do what you need to do.
I have watched this several times.
1) The bear could have destroyed those dogs but she didn’t, probably because she felt out numbered and worried they would pack hunt her cubs, the aggression was mostly display
2) The big black dog kept going back until it got a good smack to the face and then ran off crying
3) The lady had to pick up the dumb little yipper and drag it away!
“Dumb little yipper? “ Ok. 🙄
I like how lemon here is shaming the dogs for acting like dogs IN THEIR OWN BACKYARD
And she had to pick up the “little yipper” because the bear had hooked it by the harness.
It’s pretty obvious who has pets in the comments and actually gives a crap about them, and who doesn’t.
We are capable of unbelievably atavistic moves when in fight mode or mama protective mode.
My landlord’s giant feral German Shepherd mix got loose one night and attacked my little rescue dog while I was walking him, and I didn’t even think, I just shouted and actually pulled at the big dog to get off. Miraculously he did, and I hightailed it home with my little dog in my arms (he only had a few cuts, not too bad).
Normally I am a TOTAL scaredy cat.
With that said, it’s very interesting and a little sad how dogs have been bred to protect. Those little and medium dogs in the video automatically went into defense and attack mode. They’re not dumb little yippers. They’re wolf relatives. It’s their atavistic instincts and deliberate human breeding just as much as we have these ancient instincts.
Crazy brave girl. Just amazing
SHERO! I’d like to say I would do the same for my pups. Up here, we have coyotes and my small dog that think she’s huge barks at them when we run into them when on walks and I’m like sshhhh!!! We don’t want them to notices us!! I carry a taser and pepper spray because there was a sad incident near where I live with a small dog 🙁 and I actually live in the city proper but it’s us human encroaching on their territory, I also feel bad for the poor bear and her Cubs.
Absolutely terrifying. Was the black dog injured or it just run away scared? It looks as if the bear almost got him/her?
Hecate, you are so brave. My dog was attacked once by a German Shepherd that run from its home and crossed the street to attack (mine is a Groenendael, so size wise they were the same). Luckily people got out of their cars to help me, because the other owner hid in his home and did nothing! He came out when it was over, took his dog and run away. Never asked if my dog was injured or apologized for his irresponsibility. To this day I avoid that street just in case, but I’m still angry about it.
That is awful @sof, I am so glad your dog is OK. Don’t worry about being angry, karma knows where that person lives!
My partner jumped into a river, in front of a ‘sweeper’ (rootball of a fallen tree, very dangerous) in NOVEMBER to save our dog. I only yelled at him for a little while.
She’s incredibly lucky, momma bears are vicious. Bears are incredibly fast & so strong. That said I’m sure I would have done the same. I’ve heard making noises and looking big is a good thing when confronted. My mom has bear spray for walking in the woods, not sure it works. Impressive saving the pups in both stories, I’ve had to get between my dog and another bigger dog, I started carrying mace and a taser after as I was startled by the other dog not backing down.
This was an incredible act of heroism, and yes, it was definitely a fight or flight reaction. Another normal reaction is freeze, none of the reactions should be judged, they are autonomic.
I run into bears once or twice a year when hiking, luckily I have no stories to tell, the bear usually just trundles away as my big dogs try to figure out what to do.
I appreciate this longer video, have previously only seen the short version where she flies out of nowhere and pushes a furry brown blob over the fence where it was tottering. Cool to see the cubs following the mom on the fence….making it an especially dangerous situation and if she’d had time to think she may have re-considered. But kudos and a (thankfully) fun distraction.
Wow, I don’t know what I would do if I ran into a bear. I know what I’m supposed to do, but what would I instinctively do? If my kids or pets were with me, yeah, I would probably go into full on, fight, get everyone else to safety mode, like this teen did.
I once came across a skunk in the woods. Never saw one in real life before, but as soon as I saw that white stripe, I immediately froze, didn’t move until that skunk waddled past and completely disappeared. Afterwards I realized I didn’t even think about what I did, it was like autopilot.
I saw this video and as a 40 year old, I thought “OMG no way should she have done this for a dog!” before remembering that at 17, I actually DID rush a black bear that was on our property approaching my lab. I was able to scare it off, but not before dislocating my wrist as I fell scrambling with a 65 pound dog by the collar.
So, yeah. I’m wrong. Even at 40, I’d absolutely save my dog from a bear.
I didn’t realize she was a teen when I first saw the video, I thought she was an adult woman, so I was amazed when I learned how young she was. Honestly I think my instinctive reaction would have been the same. What do you do when you see a threat harming someone you love fiercely? You want it to get away as far as possible and her instinct did exactly that. She was really lucky in the sense that she actually had the upper hand since she was planted on firm ground. The bear was higher than her but at a disadvantage because of how narrow the ledge was and already unbalanced when she shoved it.
This also doesn’t bring me any reassurance given I’m going camping in the Catskills this weekend which is known to be active bear country.
See, we need to exemplify girl and women heroes so we remember who holds up half the sky. Think of it, most hero stories involve men or more rarely, little kids who call 911 to save their Mom’s life. This is all good, but broaden the playing field. I want to see a children’s book about this girl.
She should write it herself. Credit where credit is due.