A 64-year-old woman required stitches after fending off a black bear that had chased her dog.

Lynn Kelly, 64, was gardening outside her house in Porter, Maine, when her pet took off into the woods and gave chase to something that had startled it.

The dog swiftly returned with a fully-grown black bear in hot pursuit.

Mark Latti, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said Lynn responded correctly to the encounter by making herself appear as large as possible. 

However, he added it was not recommended to confront black bears, as Lynne then proceeded to do by punching the bear on the nose. 

Lynn told 7 News Boston: ‘He was a foot taller than I was and coming at me. I tried to make myself as big as I could and was screaming and yelling.

‘I had to fight him off because I wasn’t gonna run from him, because I know they can catch you.’

The bear then briefly latched onto Lynn’s wrist with its jaws, leaving her with a wound that required several stitches at a nearby hospital. 

Lynn added: ‘It all just happened so quick. To see a bear up that close was a little unnerving.’

Though Maine has one of the largest black bear populations of any state on the US East Coast, bear attacks of this kind are generally rare. 

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife recommends people remove things that might attract a bear’s attention from outside their homes, such as garbage and pet food, or even bird feeders.

Lynn’s encounter comes just two weeks after 90-year-old Altha Williams, of Sevierville, Tennessee, bravely fought off a black bear with a lawn chair. 

Miraculously, given the bear’s three cubs were nearby, Altha managed to escape with only a scratch on her arm. 

She told local press: ‘I’ve been praising the Lord ever since then, because I may not be here.’

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