TETONIA, Idaho — Timothy Henderson stepped out of his house in eastern Idaho at dusk to look for his dog, Ladybug.
He first heard Ladybug running, and then spotted her 50 feet away being chased by what he estimated to be a 350-pound grizzly bear.
"I panicked," a bandaged Henderson, 33, told the Idaho Statesman. "I turned and got about two steps before the bear toppled me."
He said the bear grabbed him by the head during the Tuesday attack and shook him like a rag doll. He said he rolled into a ball to protect himself and the bear finally left.
"I got up. That's when I heard him charging again."
Henderson said he dropped to the ground a second time and rolled into a ball before the bear bit him and "flopped me around a little bit."
After the bear left and disappeared into the woods, Henderson remained still for several minutes while Ladybug continued to bark.
After what seemed like a long time, he said, he began crawling back toward the house with Ladybug walking slowly beside him and still barking.
"She was distracting, trying to keep the bear away," Henderson said.
When he got back to the house, he stood up. He had been gone 15 minutes.
His wife, Jenny, heard Ladybug barking and opened the door to find her husband bleeding. She called for help and an ambulance arrived in 15 minutes, and Henderson was later flown to Eastern Idaho Medical Center in Idaho Falls. He was released Friday.
Henderson has grooves in his skull from the bear's teeth, and other wounds to his shoulder, back and buttocks.
He said the family doesn't plan to return to the house in rural Tetonia, about five miles from the Idaho-Wyoming border, until the Idaho Department of Fish and Game catches the bear.
Game agents are using traps and snares baited with road-killed deer, but were unsuccessful through Friday afternoon.
Officials say the bear was likely feeding on a dead moose that was about 50 yards from Henderson's house. Despite his injuries, Henderson said he would rather the bear be relocated than killed. He said he doesn't think the bear was trying to kill him.
"I really didn't feel it was the bear's fault," Henderson said. "I stumbled into his area."
But jittery neighbors aren't so sure.
"They don't bother me, but they are an enemy," said Jenny Murri, who wants the bear killed. "People want to make them out to be warm cuddly teddy bears, but they're not."
"The reason we live up here is to be near the wildlife," said Ann-Toy Broughton, who doesn't want the bear killed. "It may cause some inconvenience, it may cause some sacrifice and it may lead to some dangerous situations, but really it's the same here and everywhere."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has given the state permission to remove the bear from the wild to protect public safety. Authorities have not said whether the bear would be killed if captured.
An estimated 600 grizzlies live in and around Yellowstone National Park, which includes portions of three states. Last month, the U.S. fish and Wildlife Service said it intended to remove grizzly bears from the endangered species list.
The attack on Henderson was the first reported in Idaho since a female grizzly attacked a hiker on the western border of the park on July 3, 2006.