This man is lucky to be alive. After getting severely mauled by a 400 kg (900 lb) grizzly, he drove 25k (15 miles) to a hospital to save his own life.

From Saturday's Globe and Mail
May 16, 2008 at 9:37 PM EDT

Like chewing the gristle on a chicken bone. That's how Brent Case describes the grizzly bear gnawing on the back of his head.
Mr. Case was trying to play dead, hoping the bear would eventually leave him alone. "I don't know why I didn't scream because I was in so much pain," he said. "I wanted to scream blue murder."

Two weeks after being attacked by a grizzly bear, Mr. Case says he still can't believe he's alive. Mr. Case, 53, was doing surveying work near Bella Coola when he felt he was being watched."The hair on the back of my neck started to go up." He turned around to see a 400-kilogram grizzly bear headed straight for him.

Full story here. There are also some interesting viewer comments in the right sidebar link...

Lucky guy. And tough!!!

Wow tough guy right there!

Have your head chewed on by a grizz and drive yourself to help!

Damn!

That thought of being gnawed on gives me the willies.

Tougher guy than I am. I'd probably be screaming bloody murder in hopes of the ticking the grizzly off enough to kill me quicker....

A not-so-gentle reminder of where we are on the food chain.

Tough guy. Scary.
But a few other thoughts cross my mind. Like:
I'm not sure it was not screaming that saved him. Only a fool would think that the bear didn't know he was still alive. Clearly the bear didn't consider him food or worthy of killing. The bear simply got bored or felt it had had proved the point. Had the bear wanted him dead he would be.

It is possible the bear thought he was a territorial rival or was too close to her cubs. There is the possibility the bear was young and just looking for a playmate. Between bears such behavior and holding the head down and gnawing is both how they play and how they work out dominance when fairly young. That sort of behavior doesn't do much harm if your another bear. Humans are much more delicate. Played with that way we tend to break and die.

Black bears, particularly the small Florida blacks, are typically very shy. Most people consider themselves lucky to ever see one in the wild. At the first whiff of humans they usually flee before anyone sees them. The few cases where they attack someone almost always had to do with their being abused and/or cornered or having cubs to defend.

All wild animals are dangerous and bears, even the smaller, shy black bear, is fully capable of ripping a human to shreds.

Grizzly bears are a completely different level of potential aggressiveness and danger. But, as I understand it, even here the majority of the cases had to do with the human component doing something stupid. Something simple like carelessly hiking through dense brush in bear country and startling the bear at close range. Or something really, really dumb, like trying to hand feed the bear.

Bears are fantastic animals definitely worthy of our respect. To see one in the wild is in most cases a treat, unless you somehow manage to [censored] one off. I have lived around papa griz on and off and have a few cool(and one scary) experience. I had one "woof" at me once in the Bob Marshall wilderness in Montana. It was 60 or so yards ahead in thick pine and I never saw a thing. I slowly backed down the trail thinking I would be jumped at any moment. Almost ruined a pair of underwear that day...

I would have scream. A lot.

My understanding is that if you struggle and scream the bears instinct is to try and kill you (like biting you in the neck...hard). If you play dead (and this is still considered the right thing to do with grizzly bears) they are more likely to leave you alone for the time being...leaving you to come back when they are hungry...or at drag you into the bush to snack on later. Only if you're sure the bear is trying to eat you right then and there are you supposed to fight as the alternative is to let yourself be eaten. I imagine deciding where that line is would be difficult with 1000lbs of bear on top of you...I hope I'm never in that position or anywhere's close to it.

Something I just learned recently however is that if a black bear is doing the same thing (namely trying to eat you) you should treat it like a cougar attack and immediately fight like hell with everything you have. The behavior of a Black bear vs a Grizzly is quite different. Around here Black Bears aren't as 'lazy' as Grizzlies are and will go after a person with a lot less motivation (Grizzlies tend to favor whatever action gets them the most food for the least energy expended). I also wonder if they suggest this behavior because it's technically easier to fight of a Black than a Griz...though I'd not want to do either. Black bears get BIG around here.

That being said I don't go out without OC spray AND a big knife at the ready. There are too many unpredictable factors that you just can't be completely ready for. Just the other day I was talking to a friend of mine who's a retired forestry worker. He recalled a story about a Grizzly which attacked a few of his crew for no reason. They took it down with shotguns but it turns out it had been shot 2 days previous and the hunter who was 'defending himself' didn't finish the job. Few things more dangerous than an injured, pissed off Grizzly.

Hacksaw, I think you'd worry more about polar bears (if you're that far north). I met a guy once who lost a member of his mining expidetion team - the cook went outside for some firewood, and a few hours later someone went to see where the food was. Found a shoe near the wood box.

Either way, I've only met black bears while in CA. The Yosemite ones are relatively tame, but most of the backcountry ones were pretty shy. Never had an incident where they got closer than about 15 yards, thank goodness.