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Despite being mauled by bears twice, photographer and naturalist Jim Cole is obsessed with tracking down grizzly bears.

Jim treks into the American wilderness armed with only his camera, some pepper spray and a lifetime's knowledge of bear habits.

He was first attacked by a bear in 1993, but his most serious encounter came in 2007 when he was walking in Yellowstone National Park.

A mother bear defending her cub ripped off most of Jim's face, blinding him in one eye and leaving him close to the point of death.

When Matthew Bannister spoke to Jim from Montana in the United States, he asked him to describe the first time he was mauled by a bear.

Blindsided: Surviving a Grizzly Attack and Still Loving The Great Bear by Jim Cole is published by St. Martin's Press.