Bears are popular creatures with their mix of cuteness paired with danger.

A group of Canadians encountered the dark side of bears while horseback riding on private property in Calgary. That’s when one member of the party made a joke about running into a bear.

Within seconds, they heard an frightening roar.

A female member of the party and her horse disappeared into a thicket. That’s when everyone’s blood ran cold.

A woman identified as “Cossins” was so traumatized by the encounter that she didn’t want to be fully identified or talk to the press directly about her experience. Her mother-in-law, Susan Vernon, gave this account:

“The bear was right in her horse’s face swiping its paws back and forth. . . She thought the bear had jumped on the horse,” said Vernon.

It was at that moment Cossins glimpsed a yearling cub and realized she’d come between it and its mother.

Her horse reared up and the woman was hurled to the ground but was spared any further attentions from the bear, which might have been distracted by the much larger bolting steed, Vernon said.

From a clearing, Vernon and her group watched the aftermath of the encounter as Cossins’ “horse came running out like a maniac and the grizzly and another yearling cub came out of the trees.”

“The mother bear stood up on her hind legs and looked at us, then just took off.”

They found Cossins, 42, on the ground nearby with fresh bruises and torn clothes but her real injuries were more emotional, said Vernon.

“She especially was extremely traumatized,” Vernon said.

“She said she thought she was dead, that that was it. . . When I went in looking for her in the trees,I thought she’d be mauled.”

Calgary Herald

Whoa! That was a close call!

The mama bear involved will apparently be left alone, according to provincial fish and wildlife officials notified of the incident.

Vernon says she and her family now make more noise while outside in the woods.