In waning days of summer 2009, despite repeated warnings from the media regarding a rise in aggressive bear behavior in the area, Russ decided to go boating out on the lake. Arriving at the lake in the afternoon Russ proceeded to ingest enormous amounts of beer and frolic happily in the cool waters. Unfortunately, Russ continued ingesting gallon after gallon of beer until at approximately 1:00 am, he loudly belched, tied up the boat and get some sleep on the sandy beach.

About an hour later, Russ cracked open his eyes in a drunken stupor and smelled something very foul. Russ reached over and clicked on his flashlight which was now shining directly into the enraged pupils of a large bear! What happened after that is disputed among the few witnesses available. Some say that the bear ran off scared after seeing the disheveled and smelly Russ. However, some say that the bear pinned Russ and tried to mate with him before leaving.

The next day following the attack Russ was interviewed by KRCR Television of Redding, California. Speculation has run rampant since during the interview Russ said that he “got lucky”. We wonder… was Russ referring to himself, the bear or perhaps both?