Scots comic's voice saves hiker from US bear attack

Comedian Raymond Mearns said, at first, he thought the story was a wind-up

A hiker claims he was saved from a bear attack in the US - by the voice of a Scots comedian.

Retired Edinburgh vet Iain McAllister was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in California when he came across the animal.

Mr McAllister said his life was saved because he was playing BBC Scotland's Breaking The News programme on a speaker in his backpack.

He said the bear heard Glasgow comedian Raymond Mearns' voice and took off.

Mr Mearns told BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme he received an email from the vet telling him about what happened, and thought it was a wind-up.

Retired vet Iain McAllister said he was saved from a bear by the voice of Raymond Mearns

Mr McAllister's message said: "I wasn't using headphones as I listened to the 7 July episode and it was at a point in the show where Raymond was chatting away in his inimitably brilliant Scots brogue.

"At that exact moment, a bear jumped onto the trail about 50 yards in front of me, took one look at me, heard Raymond's voice and ran away at high speed.

"Thank you Raymond for saving my life."

The comedian said: "I just thought 'Whit?'.

"I thought it was a bit of a wind-up - I don't know if that can be true so I got on with the things I was doing."

When he thought about it some more, he decided to share the story on social media.

"If I saved the guy's life that's amazing, unbelievable - and I wasn't even in the same country.

Iain McAllister was playing the podcast through a speaker in his backpack

"It's just one of these things. But there is nothing like a Scots accent - you know that way when you hear a Scots accent in full flow - that would intimidate anybody."

He suggested the bear was "a big feartie" and could possibly be a reincarnation.

"I wonder if the bear knew me in a past life or something - maybe the bear used to be a Glasgow guy or maybe the bear was a bartender in a pub somewhere in Glasgow and barred me years ago."

Mr Mearns said he would see this new revelation as a positive.

"I am doing my walking tour at the Edinburgh Fringe and you are absolutely guaranteed protection from any wild animal attacks," he said.

Black bears (which appear brown in colour) are found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Scott Wilkinson from the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) told BBC Scotland: "There are indeed bears along the Pacific Crest Trail - though for the entire trail, except possibly the northernmost few dozen miles near the Canadian border, those bears are certain to be black bears.

"While it's wonderful to think our bears have an aversion to Scottish accents, knowing it was a black bear means the bear would likely have run away from the hiker no matter what. But you never know!"

The PCTA introduced new rules in July 2022 for visitors to carry food in special bear canisters.

Bears had become more aggressive in their search for food, causing increased interactions between humans and bears.

The association said: "A person who fights back or gets between the bear and food is risking bodily injury or death."