Colorado couple fights bears with "bear" hands, bat

An elderly couple in Pine, Colorado has managed to use their bare hands and a baseball bat to fend off three bears intruding into their home, reported CBS Denver.

Jon Johnson, 71, and his wife George Ann Field were watching TV at home when Johnson heard noises coming from upstairs, according to a statement by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Johnson went upstairs to investigate and found himself face-to-face with a bear, the statement said.

The mother bear was eating a loaf of bread with her two cubs.

[Screenshot taken from CBS Denver video]

"It was growling, I was growling. Between the two of us we were having a lot of attitude," said Johnson.

The man punched the bear in the stomach and nose before his wife came to his rescue and chased the bear away with a baseball bat.

"All I remember honestly seeing was this big, round blob in front of me, and I empowered myself better than you guys could ever imagine," George Ann Field told KUSA. "I don't think I've ever been that strong, and I whacked that bear as hard as I could, both hands."

Johnson had a few cuts to his face, chest, and arms from the encounter but was otherwise fine. Field was unharmed.

CBS Denver later tweeted that a mother bear and two cubs were spotted in the area of the attack, but it was not confirmed whether they were the ones that had been in the couple's home.

The mother bear was put down. Colorado Parks and Wildlife law says a bear must be euthanized if it attacks a person.

The cubs have not been located.

[Screenshot taken from video on Twitter @CBSDenver]