Man survives second bear attack in four years

A man has been mauled by a bear for the second time in four years.

The man, known only as Bob, was jogging with his dog on a trail in the woods surrounding the Joint Base Lewis McChord, in Washington, when the canine spooked the bear.

He was attacked while running on the same trail, with the same dog, four years ago.

Describing the attack last week, Bob said he saw the bear charging at him and grabbed a four-foot tree branch to protect himself.

Speaking to Komo News, he said: "It was just running straight for me. The dog went running by me, and I just had this deja vu."

He was bitten more than 40 times and received claw swipes and deep bruises. He added: "It would whip around, do this 180 and go for my leg, my shoulders, my head, and just come in and bite me again, and I would just try to nail it when it came in."

Wildlife officers were stunned that Bob had been attacked again since the mauling in 2011.

Speaking to the NY Daily News, Sgt Ted Jackson of the wildlife department said: "The odds of being attacked once are very slim. The odds of being attacked twice, I would say it's impossible... But it happened. I just can't even calculate the odds of being attacked once, let alone twice."

Experts tracked down the bear in the latest attack and it was put down.

Bob added that although he loved the trail, he won't be going for any more runs there.