A woman, 64, eyeballed a black bear and punched it in the face to protect her dog, report says

• A woman in Maine punched a black bear in the face to protect her pet dog.
• The bear bit her in response and she was taken to hospital and treated for puncture wounds.
• Officials say bear attacks are rare, and that the animal was likely responding to the punch.

A 64-year-old woman punched a black bear in the face to protect her dog, a report says.

Lynn Kelly saw the bear chasing her dog in the woods behind her home in Porter, Maine, on Friday morning

"I noticed that my dog ran off of the deck and straight down in front of the house down the hill," Kelly told WMUR 9.

"I heard him scream, squealing. And so, I ran over to where he had gone down and kept calling him and calling him, and he finally came running back up. And right behind him was the bear. And the bear looked at me, and I looked at the bear. I think we both scared each other."

She said she tried to yell to scare the bear, but it did not work, so she resorted to punching it in the snout.

"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," she told the outlet.

"I had to fight him off because I wasn't gonna run from him because I know they can catch you. So I tried to give him a punch."

The bear bit her in response, and Kelly had to be taken to hospital to be treated for four puncture wounds.

Mark Latti, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said that it is not recommended to confront bears, per the New York Post.

Latti said that it's rare to be bitten by a bear in Maine, even though the state has one of the largest black bear populations on the eastern seaboard.

The bear was likely provoked into attacking after it was punched, the department said.

American black bears are about five to seven feet tall when standing upright. Adult males typically weigh between 126–551 lb.