{"id":23699,"date":"2025-06-29T05:23:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T05:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/23699\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T05:23:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T05:23:19","slug":"grand-teton-tourist-dives-headfirst-through-open-car-window-to-avoid-grizzly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/23699\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Teton tourist dives headfirst through open car window to avoid grizzly"},"content":{"rendered":"

A tourist dove through an open car window to escape a possible attack from a massive grizzly bear in a\u00a0Wyoming<\/a>\u00a0national park.<\/p>\n

The heart-stopping image was captured on the winding roads of Grand Teton National Park – a nearly 310,000-acre expanse with 40 miles of rugged Rocky Mountain peaks.<\/p>\n

Traffic had suddenly came to a standstill in what park regulars dubbed a ‘very large animal jam.’<\/p>\n

More than 50 people stood frozen on a hillside with binoculars and high-powered cameras in hand to witness a very large bear from afar.<\/p>\n

But one tourist suddenly came face-to-face with the beast – and in a split-second decision, hurled himself through his car window, narrowly escaping unscathed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘When the bear emerged from the trees, it was right in line with his taillights,’ Molly Hagan told Cowboy State Daily<\/a>. ‘He did not hear the crowd yelling at him to get in his car.’<\/p>\n

‘He dove into his car window and tucked his feet just as the bear came around the driver’s side and crossed the street,’ she added.<\/p>\n

On June 3, Hagan, social media coordinator for Backcountry Safaris Jackson Hole, was spending the day in Grand Teton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But while on the road, she witnessed a saturation of vehicles – all stopped and lining the road – in what she immediately recognized as an ‘animal jam.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A tourist, blissfully unaware a massive grizzly was approaching, dove through an open car window (pictured) to escape a possible attack\u00a0on the winding roads of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Earlier <\/p>\n

Earlier this month, on the roads of Grand Teton National Park – a nearly 310,000-acre expanse with 40 miles of rugged Rocky Mountain peaks (pictured) – traffic came to a standstill in what park regulars dubbed a ‘very large animal jam’<\/p>\n

\"With <\/p>\n

With over 50 people frozen on a hillside, binoculars and high-powered cameras in hand, Backcountry Safari’s Molly Hagan knew there could be only one reason: a bear (pictured: the bear witnessed on June 3)<\/p>\n

‘With the level of traffic present, and having already seen plenty of elk that day, I figured it had to be a bear,’ Hagan told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n

Spotting nearly five dozen people gathered on a hillside, using scopes and high-powered cameras to peer across the road, Hagan pulled over and got her camera ready to capture whatever had everyone on edge.<\/p>\n

Assuming the wildlife was far off, she wandered to a better vantage point – but saw nothing in the open field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It wasn’t until Hagan hurried toward the growing crowd that she realized what had captured everyone’s full attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘When I finally got to the crowd, I saw what they did: A huge grizzly, standing 10 feet off the left-hand side of the road,’ Hagan told the outlet. ‘And it was on the move.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

But this wasn’t just a charming, nature-documentary-style bear sighting – this bear, it was later discovered, was on a mission: to mate with an awaiting bear in a picturesque meadow just across the road.<\/p>\n

With her background in wildlife, Hagan quickly recognized the potential danger and put distance between herself and the bear, weaving her way to the back of the crowd.<\/p>\n

At the same moment, wildlife guides recognized that the huffing, puffing bear could strike at any moment – and swiftly sprang into action.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"On <\/p>\n

On June 3, Hagan, social media coordinator for Backcountry Safaris Jackson Hole, witnessed the ‘animal jam,’ and, suspecting it was caused by a bear – especially after seeing several elk on the road earlier – pulled over to investigate<\/p>\n

\"It <\/p>\n

It wasn’t until Hagan (pictured) hurried toward the growing crowd of nearly 50 onlookers that she realized what had captured everyone’s full attention: a massive grizzly on the move along the left-hand side of the road<\/p>\n

\"With <\/p>\n

With her background in wildlife, Hagan quickly recognized the potential danger and put distance between herself and the bear, weaving her way to the back of the crowd (pictured: Jeep for tours with Backcountry Safaris)<\/p>\n

‘Three wildlife guides, all armed with bear spray, put themselves between the bear and the crowd,’ Hagan told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n

‘The bear was huffing, looked at the crowd multiple times, but stayed at least 10 feet off the road,’ she added.<\/p>\n

However, curiosity seemed to get the best of those stuck in the animal-related jam, as they began stepping out of their cars – unaware that the bear was close enough to strike at any moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘At this point, the wildlife guides were yelling, telling everyone to stay in their vehicle,’ Hagan explained to the outlet. ‘The bear continued north, and the crowd slowly moved south.’<\/p>\n

But urgent warnings from tour guides didn’t seem to register with everyone – including one unsuspecting tourist who stepped out of their vehicle just as the bear briefly disappeared behind two trees along the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bear reemerged from behind the trees in an instant – right in line with the unidentified tourist’s taillights – and began moving toward the passenger door.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unaware of the danger creeping up behind him and the frantic screams urging him back, he fully stepped out of the car, closing the driver’s side door just as the huffing bear drew nearer.<\/p>\n

Just seconds later, he spotted the bear and realized the danger he’d naively walked into. His first instinct: get back inside the car. But the door was locked.<\/p>\n

\"It\u00a0wasn't <\/p>\n

It\u00a0wasn’t just a charming, nature-documentary-style bear sighting – this bear, it was later discovered, was on a mission: to mate with an awaiting bear in a picturesque meadow just across the road<\/p>\n

\"Curiosity <\/p>\n

Curiosity seemed to get the best of those stuck in the animal-related jam, as they began stepping out of their cars – unaware that the bear was close enough to strike at any moment (pictured: Hagan)<\/p>\n

\"One <\/p>\n

One unsuspecting tourist who stepped out of their vehicle just as the bear briefly disappeared behind two trees along the road quickly realized the danger he was in – but his driver’s door was locked (pictured: Grand Teton National Park)<\/p>\n

His next move was to dive for his life through the open window of his black Kia, bearing Florida license plates – a heart-stopping moment perfectly captured by Hagan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the photo, the tourist’s peril is unmistakable: his outstretched legs, caught mid-jump and fully sideways, hang out of the open driver’s side window.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just feet away, the muscular, huffing grizzly stalked closer – but fortunately, it showed little interest in the tourist\u2019s dangling feet and continued its intimidating march across the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thankfully, both bear and man escaped unscathed – the man safely back in his car, and the bear free to continue its journey to join in on Grand Teton’s peak mating season.<\/p>\n

‘The photos tell the story better than any words can,’ Hagan told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n

While exploring Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, the National Park Service urges visitors to maintain a safe distance of at least 100 yards from bears roaming the natural surroundings.<\/p>\n

Most rangers and ecologists in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem agree that bear spray is essential for anyone traveling in grizzly country, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n

If you unexpectedly come face-to-face with a grizzly at close range, the best course of action is to ‘play dead’ – though the safest defense is to avoid these furry bears altogether.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"His <\/p>\n

His next move was to dive for his life through the open window of his black Kia, bearing Florida license plates – a heart-stopping moment perfectly captured by Hagan (pictured)<\/p>\n

\"Thankfully, <\/p>\n

Thankfully, both bear and man escaped unscathed – the man safely back in his car, and the bear free to continue its journey to join in on Grand Teton’s peak mating season (pictured: Grand Teton National Park)<\/p>\n

\"Most <\/p>\n

Most rangers and ecologists in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem agree that bear spray is essential for anyone traveling in grizzly country (pictured: road east of Grand Teton National Park)<\/p>\n

‘The best tool you have is your own situational awareness and both mental and physical preparedness when in grizzly bear occupied areas,’ Dan Thompson, bear expert and large carnivore biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, previously told Cowboy State Daily<\/a>.<\/p>\n

‘The reason we promote the use of bear spray is that it’s been shown time and again to effectively stop a bear attack,’ he added.<\/p>\n

‘With all of our people that’s happened to, the spray has stopped the charge.’\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A tourist dove through an open car window to escape a possible attack from a massive grizzly bear…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":23700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[211,50,159,67,132,68,837,1669],"class_list":{"0":"post-23699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us","14":"tag-wildlife","15":"tag-wyoming"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114764985535303777","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}