Bear Spray Success or Failure?

The New York Post reported this past week on a man who was attacked by a grizzly bear while hiking in the Teton National Forest.  According to the article, Shayne Patrick Burke, 35, was attacked while hiking up Signal Mountain in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. He had his bear spray and was making lots of noise--"breaking branches, singing and talking to myself aloud"--so he wouldn't surprise a bear, when he happened across a grizzly cub running up a hill approximately 50-70 yards from him.  The mother bear suddenly charged at Burke. "The combat veteran unholstered his bear spray and shouted at the bear," the article relates, "but the animal closed the gap and attacked." Burke apparently didn't have time to deploy his bear spray, but instead opted to play dead--laying on his belly with his hands (including the bear spray still clutched in one fist) on the back of his neck. The bear started mauling him. Fortunately for him, however, when the bear went for his neck, the bear bit down on the bear spray canister which exploded in her face, causing her to break off the attack and move away. 

    I tend to think of this as a failure for the bear spray, even though the bear ultimately left, because Burke hadn't been able to use the bear spray as it was intended, and although it ultimately worked, it was not due to a spray of the chemical, but the can exploding in the bear's mouth and face which dumped a lot more chemical on target than Burke would have been able to do. 

    And another bear attack: "Bear Mauls 15-Year-Old Boy as He Watches TV in Arizona: ‘Got Him on the Nose and the Cheek’"--People.