BEAR ATTACK

“On the radio this am, another attack by black bears on the Ontario Region. A young 22 Year old male working as forest ranger was dragged out of his tent last evening and mauled. A couple of men nearby tried to scare him of with sticks and rocks but failed and instead resorted to using their pickup truck to save the young man.

Makes me very wonder why are bears becoming so aggressive. On the 8th of September a young female doctor was killed by a black bear in Ontario again while her husband tried to save her by stabbing the bear with his swiss army knive.”

“Did it say where in Ontario? Either attack?”

“CTV.ca News Staff

Ontario officials believe they have killed the black bear that fatally attacked one woman and injured her husband.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says it has killed a black bear matching the description of the one that killed Dr. Jacqueline Perry and wounded her husband Marc Jordan.

The 30-year-old couple was attacked at Missinaibi Provincial Park, north of Chapleau, Ont. earlier this week.

Ministry staff say they shot and killed the black bear near the area where the attack occurred, in a remote area of the park.

The bear had a wound to its neck like one that Jordan inflicted as he tried to fight the bear off with a Swiss Army knife.

The ministry has now called off the search but continues to gather evidence for its investigation.

The attack is the latest in what has been a busy season for bear attacks across Canada.

A Manitoba man fended off a black bear in early September, just one week after a black bear killed another man in the province.

There have also been four grizzly attacks in Alberta since June, including a fatal one on a female jogger near Canmore.

A woman in British Columbia was also mauled in May.”

“Thanks trailpacker. If I remember correctly, the Chapleau region has the worlds highest concentration of black bears.”

“Makes me very wonder why are bears becoming so aggressive.

I saw on Animal Planet where snake venom is becoming more toxic and no one knows why. Mother Nature is beefing up her armies...”

“I guess that's the risk that we run backpacking into the wild. Any of you use bear spray???”

“I'm by no means an expert on bears, but it seems that bears always get more aggressive this time of year as they race to build up a good fat reserve for their winter hibernation.”

“That's exactly what I thought about too, zac. Most times, I'd be happy to see a bear on the trail but at this time of the year...no thank you.”

“I think animals are being pushed to the limits with more land being lost to sprawl every year. They are living closer to humans and losing their fear so it's certain that more confrontations will happen.”

“Very good point RichB.”

“I only like bears in a stew.”

“I even saw bear go after a poor little bunny once!

http://www.killsometime.com/video/video.asp?ID=49

You may have to paste this link in your browser
last edited: 9/22/05 8:30:50 AM”

“trailpacker- where in ontario did today's attack happen? i can't find any news/info about it.
musta been near a road if a pickup was involved. the attack near Chapleau was way out in the park, a backcountry kayaking trip i believe.”

“Ha Ha! That is a good one!”

“TP-- that was hilarious!”

“Black bears don't scare me, but I do have a lot of respect for them. I can't say I have ever heard of an attack by a black bear where the human didn't do something to provoke the bear. The trouble is knowing what provokes them...

If I see one in the wild I consider myself lucky but go out of my way to avoid a confrontation of any sort.”

“Maybe it would be a good idea to have a couple of pit bulls or catahoulas when one was going into areas that are known for bears.”

“I been waiting for it to come out as well....I heard it on cbc radio yesterday morning”

“You know I been wondering about that myself. I am in no means an expert, but I once watch a documentary about bears and the ranger, I believe it was in the American States somewhere....he indicated that if you take all the precautions neccessary it is ver unlikely that a bear will attack a human because it's not in their make up to attck us unless they are defending themsleves or their cubs. Now I always wonder when I hear about people that have been attacked if they didn't do something to sppok or provoke.....who is reallly really at fault here????”

“I just heard "CBC RADIO" that a 60 year old man from Prince George, British Columbia has been attacked by a black bear....ntohing other than that....hope to see something more later on the site!”

“I dunno, I saw a bear show that said it's mostly the male bears that attack, and their intent is to eat you.”

“would you say that the motivation is cause they haven't gotten enough food for the
winter?

That's it...f*** the bear spray....i'm arming myself with a t-bone....that should buy me some time!”

“There was a similar attack on the Appalachian Trail in NJ about a month ago. A black bear dragged a backpacker out of his tent by the leg while he was asleep.”

“More on that here: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=9741

It seems the camper had food in his pack in the shelter. Duh!”

“http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,176729,00.html

Bear Attacks Pa. Hunter After Being Shot Four Times

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A black bear bit and clawed a hunter who had just shot it four times in what game authorities said appeared to be a first for the state.

Samuel H. Beauchamp, 47, said he was approaching the downed 320-pound bear in Rothrock State Forest in central Pennsylvania on Monday, the first day of bear-hunting season, when it came after him.

Beauchamp, of Newville, had just shot the bear with a .444-caliber rifle and was within 15 feet of it. He turned to run, but the bear put a claw around his hip and bit him twice, once in each thigh, before dying.”

“sorry thought you were dead bye now”

“last night camping in the smokies, i was sure i heard a bear grunting. i was so sure i shouted out and blew my whistle. im pretty sure now i was hearing things. that happens when im next to running water. i sometimes imagine i hear music, and this morning at the campsite i imagined i heard dogs barking”

“Did you imagine seeing fireflies too?”

“i was camping in the smokies, not smoking in the campies!”

“LOL!”

“i should add that i was in my tent at the time”

“I black bear brushed up against my tent when my wife and I were camping. That was not fun.”

“yea, i know. ive camped with your wife. shes no fun. oh, you mean the bear”

“I saw in the MOBILE PRESS that a bear climbed a tree to attack a hunter over the weekend. He managed to kill the beast with a 22 and his rifle. Not before the bear took out a chunk of his leg. By the way, the hunter was in a deerstand.”

“Deer hunter bitten by black bear

Associated Press


MOBILE, Ala. - A deer hunter was bitten on the knee by a black bear in Mobile County woods near Turnerville.

Kenneth Scoggin of Chunchula underwent surgery Friday night at Springhill Medical Center in Mobile.

"I just knew I was a goner," Scoggin told the Mobile Register for a story Sunday.

Scoggin said he was near the end of a deer hunt near the Bush Coon Hunting Club when he heard a grunt.

"By the time I saw her and she saw me, up the tree she came," he said.

Scoggin, who said he was at least 30 feet up a pine tree in a climbing tree stand, hung onto the seat of the stand, his safety harness unhooked.

The bear climbed up the tree, bit him on the right knee, he said, and wouldn't let go.

"She was hanging onto the meat, and I was hanging onto the seat," Scoggin said. "When that meat gave way, she fell to the ground, and I got my pistol around."

Scoggin said the bear started to climb the tree again when Scoggin shot it four or five times with a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol. The bear fell to the ground a second time, and Scoggin said he fired a fatal shot with his deer rifle.

He used a cell phone to call a neighbor for help.

Daniel Powell, coordinator for the Alabama Black Bear Alliance, said the bear that bit Scoggin was a female with two cubs, though the cubs had not been recovered.

"If any bear is going to be aggressive, it will be a mother with cubs," Powell said, "But even a mother black bear with cubs is not normally going to attack humans - maybe one in 100,000 times."

The bear's body was taken for testing by the Game and Fish division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information from: Mobile Register, http://www.al.com/mobreg/mob.html”

“CB, if you really want to hear things, stay at CS 74 on Forney creek in the winter. The acoustics of the area will have you thinking there's cars, families, horses, music, everything.”

“The only bear population in Alabama is in the north end of Mobile County.”

“i was very close, tb. i was at campsite 75”

“im glad i didnt read these reports before this past weekend!”

“http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/9071013/detail.html?subid=22100484&qs=1;bp=t


Are there more bear encounters, or just more thorough news coverage?”

“Hope the bear gets away alive....although he/she seems to not have the fear of humans. Felt sorry for the guy....they were both at the wrong place at the wrong time....”