Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A lucky pocket-dial helped save a woman who was being followed by two bears on a hiking trail in Canada.
Virginia Differenz, 70, was hiking a trail on Muskeg Creek Park in Athabasca, Alberta, when she encountered a mother black bear and her cub near the end of the trail at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The bears "were standing on their hind legs and they were kind of batting each other and playing," she told CBC.
Differenz attempted to scare the bears away by playing music on her phone, but it appeared to only make the more curious.
Global News reported she then decided to call her sister, who she was planning to visit, to let her know she was going to be late.
Shortly afterward, Differenz pocket-dialed her sister, who heard nothing but rustling on the other line and worried her Differenz was in danger.
"I put my phone in my hoodie pocket and then it pocket-dialed her, so then she got really excited, because I told her about these bears so she thought I was in trouble," Differenz said.
Differenz's sister called Athabasca RCMP, who searched the area on ATVs until they found the her.
"A short while later, the 70-year-old female was located on a back trail, exhausted but unharmed," the police said.
Cpl. Curtis Harsulla said the bears didn't appear to be aggressive, but Differenz was still relieved to see the officers.
"I was quite happy to see them," she said. "I walked for two and a half hours and that was enough for me."
RCMP officers drove Differenz home and advised other hikers to travel with a partner and carry noise-making deterrents to avoid a similar situation.
"Two things that I didn't do right - one was that I was walking alone, and that I didn't have a whistle or a bear horn," Differenz said. "I did see the sign saying 'Caution, bears have been sighted,' but I'm pretty trusting and naive, I guess, and didn't even think that it would be on the trail, of course, that I was on."
