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‘Oh crap there's a bear': Irony not lost on Grafton Packers fan attacked by Florida bear

Posted at 10:19 PM, Jan 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-12 01:31:24-05

A Grafton native and Packers fan who was attacked by a bear in Florida was able to see the irony in the story in its aftermath.  

When Andy Meunier spoke to TODAY'S TMJ4 Thursday afternoon he was wearing his Green Bay Packers t-shirt.

He was also wearing Packers colors when he talked to a host of Florida media outlets. The Grafton native may now live in Florida, but he is Wisconsin to the core.

He showed that Wisconsin toughness when he survived a bear attack Tuesday outside his Florida home. His Pomeranian had started barking, so he took the dog outside.

“I was curious,” Meunier said. “I wanted to see what the dog was growling at, so I turned around and there was a black bear. You know? Two or three feet away from me.”

Meunier now thinks he startled the bear and put the animal in fight or flight mode.

“Everything’s kind of quick from that point on,” he said. “Basically I saw him and realized, oh crap, there’s a bear right there and I better get out of here. I went to turn left and run back in the house.”

Meunier was moving as quickly and instinctively as possible, but it wasn’t fast enough.

“His left paw came up and caught me right there,” he said, showing a gigantic scar across his forehead.

All told, Meunier received 41 stitches and expects to have a scar for life. Still, two days after his death-defying adventure, the Packer fan is able to laugh about the “Packer fan vs Bear” storyline.

“The irony of that didn’t happen, I didn’t realize it until last night when I was sitting watching one of these on TV,” he said with a wry smile and sitting up slightly so we could see the big ‘G’ on his Packer t-shirt. “Who I was with told me ‘isn’t it funny that you were wearing a Packers jersey as you’re getting interviewed about being attacked by a bear?’ And then it kind of dawned on me and it was kind of funny.”