I have heard that Mushroom Pickers are very protective of their Secret spots, but this Siberian man is legendary.
44 Year old Alexander Lopukhin was out picking Mushrooms recently when a Brown Bear and her cub came upon him and he had nothing more than a small pen knife to defend himself.
Being far away from his native place, Sverdlovsk, the mushroomer was only able to do so much, but he has lived to tell the tale and get memorable and horrifying pictures of his ordeal taken....
He said he thought he was going to Die and was only able to defend himself his fists.
“Then, in despair, he grabbed the bear by the head with his left hand and punched its muzzle with his right hand,” the police source added. Lopukhin recalled: “For some reason, it was not scary. I pushed her away and her hair, I noticed, was so nice. Very, very soft. “We fought for about ten minutes, then I started to punch her in the face.” Surprised by her prey’s sudden ferocious burst, the brown bear backed off and fled. “She sat down and let the mushroom picker go,” said a policeman. “Then she fled. And the bear cub fled with her.” Blood was gushing from Lopukhin’s wounds and he had to fight off the urge to sleep and find phone signal to call for help."
However, you should see what he found
"He has vowed to return to the forest to pick more mushrooms once his wounds have healed"
I've not tried Boletes, so perhaps I'd have to try them to understand. :/
Don't mess with Mama.
Though Paul Stamets remarked: "....and he saved his Boletus and Leccinum !" on his FB page.... Maybe he knows what the big deal is.... Do you?
Would you be willing to take on a Bear? What would it take?
This might come in Handy:
Bear Aware 1994
Related'ish:
Curious bear gets up close and personal with vacationer at Sask. cabin
Source: THIS
Upvote if this was better than the last thing you browsed, Comment, since I cannot read your gasps.
Resteem for of your freaky fungi friends to stay Safe!