Wednesday 25 May 2022 03:34 PM Boy Scout, 12, wakes up to find a BEAR gnawing on his leg through his sleeping ... trends now

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A 12-year-old boy scout woke up to a bear gnawing on his leg through his sleeping bag during a camping trip in upstate New York. 

Henry Ayers, of Cooperstown, was camping with his group at the Tom Jones Shelter in Harriman State Park on May 5 when the black bear tore into his sleeping bag around 1 a.m. 

'I felt a really quick, sharp sensation, a pain in my leg,' Henry told abc7. 

'I look up, and it was a giant bear. I thought it was a nightmare. It was honestly crazy, I didn't think I was awake.'

According to scoutmaster Diana Nicols, Henry yelled and kicked the bear, scaring the hungry animal off for a while. But the animal returned several times until around 4 a.m., when it left for good. 

The scout suffered minor abrasions on his legs and a contusion, and received nine rabies shots since the incident.

The boy admitted that he may have accidentally attracted the bear to the camp.

'I made a mistake,' Henry told abc7. 'I left some of my food in my bag and spilled some on my leg and it was also other people that left a lot of trash around.' 

Nicols said that the bear was a young adult looking for food that was likely attracted by trash in the park area. 

'I'm sure the humans make their job harder than the bears. When we first arrived our scouts collected a 12 gal bag full of camping slobs' trash,' she wrote on Facebook. 

The brave scout's passion for camping has not been deterred and he will now be given a bear patch to add to his uniform.