Mr. Matheny, an outdoorsman and resident of Bozeman , Montana , has become something of a Western legend as a result of a near-fatal 1992 attack he suffered while hunting and inadvertently encountering a female grizzly protecting her cubs. His survival is attributed to the fact that his friend was carrying pepper spray.

In the years following the attack, Mr. Matheny became a tireless advocate of safety in the wild, lecturing, presenting seminars and distributing literature about the realities, causes, and prevention of bear attacks. He was a sponsor and presenter of Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s “Living in Bear/Lion Country” workshop and he regularly speaks to children in schools around Southwest Montana on preventing animal attacks.

Mr. Matheny also has made safety in bear country a vocation as well as his avocation. The company he founded in 1994, UDAP Industries, manufactures a variety of safety products that include pepper spray for bear deterrent and personal defense under the trademarked name PepperPower®, bear resistant canisters, and bear electric fences , all of which are widely used by state and federal wildlife agencies and avid outdoorsmen.

For Mark’s full story visit: http://www.bearspray.com/story-of-mark-matheny/