Connecticut woman's close encounter with 2 bears caught on camera

BURLINGTON, Conn. -- A hiking trail in Connecticut is closed after a woman's close call with a pair of bears shortly after noon last Friday.

One of them even put its mouth on Stephanie Rivkin's leg.

"I'm walking with a bear right now," she said on during the caught-on-camera encounter. "This is crazy."

Rivkin was hiking at Sessions Woods in Burlington when she came upon the two bears that she thought were a safe distance away. But the bears came closer and closer.

Then came a heart-stopping moment.

"Oh no no, don't get crazy," she can be heard saying as the bears surround her, with one of them reaching out for her leg with its mouth.

"The teeth scared the hell out of me," she said. "I was thinking oh, he's going to take a whole leg muscle out in one bite."

Miraculously for Rivkin, something spooked the bear, and she was able to get away unscathed.

"And then after that, I took a good 10 minutes in my car and sat there and thanked God for letting me out alive."

Authorities, concerned by the bear's behavior, immediately closed the trail.

Close encounters with bears seemingly on the rise this summer. In May, tourists were surprised by a family of bears in Yellowstone National Park. And in June, a grizzly bear, also in Yellowstone, pounced on a car with a family inside, leaving paw marks on the hood.

Signs have been posted at Sessions Woods to notify hikers that the trails are closed until further notice.