Any bear attacks yet?

[steve hiker]

I'm under the covers every night in my bed reading books about big bears who tear hikers and photographers to shreads in a heartbeat. Any bear attacks yet in 2004?

Scared minds want to know.

[steve hiker]

Was looking for something scary before bed and found this.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9404344%5E13762,00.html

Boy fights off bear attack
April 27, 2004
<!-- Ad Tag //-->
A 15-year-old boy on an Alaskan wilderness expedition fought off a 180kg brown bear that entered his tent when he was sleeping.

The boy awoke to find the bear sitting at his feet.

After trying unsuccessfully to back out of the tent, the boy was bitten in the forearm and decided to fight back, punching the bear with his left hand a half-dozen times, Alaska State Trooper Adam Benson said today.

When the teenager tried to run, the bear bit him again below his ribs, this time leaving half-a-dozen puncture wounds on his back, Benson said.

The boy punched the bear again, and again she let him go, but chased him around a nearby stand of trees. He eventually remembered an air horn in his gear, and blew it in the bear's muzzle, waking others in the camp, said Steve Prysunka, director of the six week “Crossing Wilderness Expeditions for Youth” program for emotionally troubled youths.

The bear finally turned and ran after counsellors blasted her with pepper spray and fired a flare at her feet, Prysunka said.

Following the morning attack, officials found the bear in the campsite area on Deer Island in south-east Alaska and killed her.

The boy was flown to a hospital, where he was treated, then sent home to Barrow to give his wounds time to heal, Prysunka said. “I think he is the biggest, baddest thing in the woods. He punched the bear,” Prysunka said.

AAP

[steve hiker]

Look another one.

http://www.sltrib.com/2004/May/05072004/utah/164106.asp

Bear attacks rafter in Desolation Canyon on Green River <!--/RSSTitle-->

FRIDAY
May 07, 2004

By Brett Prettyman
The Salt Lake Tribune
<!--Start Text -->
A black bear attacked and injured a recreational rafter on the Green River in eastern Utah's Desolation Canyon -- the second bear attack there in 10 months.

Details were lacking Thursday, but the victim, whose age wasn't known, received a puncture wound on the calf of one leg and superficial scratches on his abdomen. The attack happened around 10:45 p.m. Wednesday, when two bears entered the camp set up by a commercial rafting company after being chased out of another campsite nearby.

"The first group had an incident with the bears, which grabbed some food and ripped up some tents," said Derris Jones, regional supervisor of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' (DWR) southeastern region. "They were able to chase them away, but the bears ran right into the other camp."

Jones said it was not clear what the victim was doing when he was injured by the bear, but that the wounds were not life-threatening.

The outfitter for the raft trip called DWR offices with a satellite phone and the company then called the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the 84-mile stretch of river used by rafters.

The campers planned to float 54 miles to the take-out ramp near Green River rather than use a helicopter to get the man out, since his wounds weren't serious.

Wednesday's incident happened within three miles of where an attack occured last July, said DWR wildlife manager Bill Bates.

Two government trappers from Wildlife Services, a federal predator control agency under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, were flown by helicopter to the site Thursday afternoon to set snares for the two bears and put up warning signs closing the area to river runners.

"Our intent is to [kill] the bears," Jones said. "Whether or not we are successful remains to be seen. Whenever bears demonstrate a lack of fear for humans, and particularly when they attack people, it becomes a public safety issue and we need to remove them from the environment."

Craig McLaughlin, mammal coordinator for the the DWR, called Wednesday's attack "unusual" and "very rare."

"I would view it as a coincidence that it happened in the same area," he said.

"In my personal history with bears, these sort of incidents with campers are often associated with food."

[eyahiker]

You may be overdoing it on the scard of bears thing, it's really not that common, and common sense/education is the best preventative. Especially along the AT:D

The articles above are referencing locations out west....Alaska has a huge bear population, and grizzlies are WAY DIFFERENT behavior wise that east coast black bears, no grizzlies around.


There are some great posts on here about bears, and bear stories, I haven't heard of anyone getting mauled recently. I started a post about Bear fences across the front of some shelters down south, many have been removed, you can find some good info there:banana

[Chappy]

I'm under the covers every night in my bed reading books about big bears who tear hikers and photographers to shreads in a heartbeat. Any bear attacks yet in 2004?

Scared minds want to know.

Bear Scared...good thing you're not a surfer. I hear sharks are worse than bears! :D

[jersey joe]

just remember, you don't have to run faster than the bear, just faster than your friend!!! :D

[Blue Jay]

There is a bear sneaking up on you right now, quick get under your bed and stay there. There has never been a confirmed case of a bear getting yoou while under your bed. There have been many attacks while showering so never take one again.

[Kozmic Zian]

Yea.....Scared. This is a joke, right? This is the Whiteblaze, right? Appalachian Trail has the Whiteblaze, right? Appalachian Trail is east o' the Misssissippi, right? Grizzly Baars are west o' the Misssissippi, right? Black Baaars are east o' the Mississippi, right? Grizzly Baars are aggressive, right? Black Baars are more scared o' you, than you are o' them, right? Go Figure.....KZ@

'The Onlyest Thang to Be Afeared of, Is Fear itself' .....Barney

[smokymtnsteve]

well them black bears ate that women in the smokies back in May of 2000....

I hear these black bears are getting meaner every year. and hungry too..

talking about hungry the Side Track Cafe here in Damascus is just full of hungry hikers waiting for the donation dinner. Hope no bears show up!

[Kozmic Zian]

Yea....Ate. The woman musta' smelt real good, then....you know parfume and all, cause Baars don nawmally be eatn' no human....yuk...tase like rubba tire. KZ@:D

[smokymtnsteve]

Taste lika RUBBER TIRE????.......now how would you know that??

[flyfisher]

well them black bears ate that women in the smokies back in May of 2000....


I was hiking up on the Little River Trail one day this last March. It was a little spooky the next day, when I came across the article in the outfitter at Gatlinburg about the death on that very section of the Smoky Mountains 4 years before.

When I researched the fatal accident, I found that this is probably the only fatal bear human attack in the Southeast for many years. (The only one fatal to the human...)

[gravityman]

Note that one of the two incidences posted was a black bear.

There are black bears out west. In fact, most bears in the rockies are black. Not many grizzles too far south of North Dakota.

Just because they are black bears doesn't mean you don't have to treat them with the utmost of respect!

Last year a black bear mauled a few campers in Rocky Mountian NP. They had done everything properly with their food. He attacked them in their tent. They did live.

Gravity man

[Blue Jay]

Last year a black bear mauled a few campers in Rocky Mountian NP. They had done everything properly with their food. He attacked them in their tent. They did live.

How many peple died DRIVING to Rocky Mountain NP? Trees falling on people have killed more people than bears so let's be TreeScared. More people have been killed falling off Waterfalls, so let's be WaterfallScared. How about falling in your bathrooms? Give me a freaking break.

[steve hiker]

Trees falling on people have killed more people than bears so let's be TreeScared. More people have been killed falling off Waterfalls, so let's be WaterfallScared. How about falling in your bathrooms? Give me a freaking break.
Yeah but I haven't heard of many trees, waterfalls or bathroom floors that intentionally stalk and jump on and go to munchin on hikers. I can avoid an aggressive toilet if I know it's "lying in wait" behind the bathroom door but I won't know if a bear's got my number till it's too late! :D

[hiknmik]

If'in youall wanta be scared of somethin, be a scared of them there Lightnins.They's real quick and sneeky two. Why they'll pick ya outta a crowd becuse you put a spark in them their eyes! And if'in ya try to hide, they's will find ya. I'd heard theys kilted folk in groups of 10 or 15. Them's lightnin's can reach a long way two, 5-6 miles I'd heard. Youse won't see um comin either. But they's reel noisy afterin theyve gone. Yes sir them Lightnins is the ones to watch out fer. :bse


All kidding aside, lightning is the bigger killer in the outdoors, besides maybe our own stupidity.
Safe trails.
mike

[funkyfreddy]

Bee stings and deer ticks kill more people than bears do, but this year I hear that what you really have to watch out for is alien abductions. Apparently the greys have stepped up their hybrid breeding experiments and are looking for healthy stock to match their spores with before the next presidential election. AT hikers fit their purposes well so be careful, watch out,watch the skies, and don't share a shelter with anyone who has grey skin or pointy ears. :banana

[Ramble~On]

:-? Hmmm. People eat more bears than bears eat people. Hope it stays that way. More to fear from rabid raccoons and the such than bears.
Lightning, falling limbs, ticks, bees, hantavirus (sp?), dogs, drunken idiots, plain idiots, spotted idiots, speckled idiots, idiots, snakes....and pissed off moose.

[okpik]

..............................

[Rain Man]

Lightning, falling limbs, ticks, bees, hantavirus (sp?), dogs, drunken idiots, plain idiots, spotted idiots, speckled idiots, idiots, snakes....and pissed off moose.

You had me on more genuine dangers until you threw in snakes.

:confused:

[gravityman]

There is a GOOD reason to tell people that bears attack!

They DO attack! And why do the attack? Because of STUPID people that assume bears are cute and fun to feed. They get use to the feeding and then maul some poor person out sleeping in his tent. And then the bear gets killed.

So, it's healthy to have a fear of bears. It's a good thing, and it's natural. It makes people respect them more and not treat them like a pet.

Gravity man

[Kerosene]

What about the horror of stepping on one of those massive cowpies you have to tiptoe around in a pasture?

Bears, boar and cougar may be frightening to think about as predators, but nothing gets my heart beating faster than running across some noisily buzzing bees! :(

[eyahiker]

Me too....bees. Yuck. Not so easy to run with a pack and bees in your hair....

[steve hiker]

Someone mentioned lightning kills more people than bears but that don't do any good. I'm real scared of bears even if I know they probably won't hurt me. I go in my tent and crawl in my sleeping bag by sundown cause that's when them bears come out of the shadows. When I'm hanging my food and the forest is getting dark I think I see bears in dark places. Then every noise I hear I'm afraid it might be a bear come around looking for food and MEAT.

And when I read them news stories and books about people and wildlife biologist minding their own business and a bear jumping on them and eating them one bite at a time I don't know what to do but bury down under the covers. I know more people are killed by cars but bears get me so nervous and scared.

[Chappy]

Someone mentioned lightning kills more people than bears but that don't do any good. I'm real scared of bears even if I know they probably won't hurt me. I go in my tent and crawl in my sleeping bag by sundown cause that's when them bears come out of the shadows. When I'm hanging my food and the forest is getting dark I think I see bears in dark places. Then every noise I hear I'm afraid it might be a bear come around looking for food and MEAT.

And when I read them news stories and books about people and wildlife biologist minding their own business and a bear jumping on them and eating them one bite at a time I don't know what to do but bury down under the covers. I know more people are killed by cars but bears get me so nervous and scared.

B(ear) S(cared), You have growlphobia. I hear support groups work wonders for these things...check them out. :)

[flyfisher]

I'm real scared of bears even if I know they probably won't hurt me. I go in my tent and crawl in my sleeping bag by sundown cause that's when them bears come out of the shadows.

OK. At least you recognize the fear "even if I know they probably won't hurt me."

If your fear is real and represented by your words, you can either choose to deal with the problem or avoid it. I.e, you can not go hiking or you can find a way to become more rational about your fear.

If you have already tried to think through it, then the rational approach does not seem to have caught on with your brainstem reflexes. It will hurt no one, if you never spend another night in the woods. That may be a comfortable option for you.

If you want to work on the problem, you may need to invest in some professional therapy for what you recognize to be a phobia.

[eyahiker]

I agree with Flyfisher.

For myself, I find that facing my fears head on is the best remedy, we all have a fear of something...I have seen grown men shake over the site of spiders, and women who are afraid to eat fats.......you never know.

Maybe a week in the woods in bear country would do you good:o

[d'shadow]

I have hiked all over the U.S. and one bear encounter I had was in Northern Wisconsin. One day while out in the woods I came upon a large patch of berry bushes and began to eat those delicious berries. I heard a sound and looked to my right, low and behold, there was a big brown bear about fifty feet away from me also enjoying nature's bounty. :-? I froze for a moment, looked at the bear and the bear at me, our eyes met and the lure of those berries overcame any thoughts of a confrontation. We both took in our fill and went our own ways.
I have also had other encounters with bears and other wild animals and if they are well fed and live in a healthy environment you will have no trouble with them. Just remember you are traveling through their home and passing through their territory. :welcome

[Triple A]

My hubby and I are newbie backpackers. We are planning to do AT when we retire in 2007. Our first multi-day hike will be this summer in Michigan's Porcupine Mountains where there are loads of bears. My poor hubby (the old eagle scout) has started having bear nightmares -- the bears are either chasing us, mauling us or eating us. These nightmares are happening on a pretty regular basis. My solution was to buy a bell to put on his pack to warn the bears that there was a human in the vicinity. My hubby said it was the bell that would call the bears to dinner. He wanted to bring a GUN! :eek: I broke down and ordered him a canister of bear pepper spray -- but not the holster for the pepper spray -- that is way too ridiculous! I sure hope that makes him sleep a little easier. :)

[jojo0425]

The thought of bears is scary, but fear cannot consume you. I saw a bear last summer in N. GA, it ran away faster than I could.

My fear is of snakes, but hey, if I want to hike, I got to get over it, right? The more and more I see snakes, the less afraid I am of them, though I still won't get too close to one.

Just remember to respect nature and use caution.

[Kozmic Zian]

Yea.....Get outa' town wid dat.:D

[pvtmorriscsa]

Howdy All,
I will never forget the one piece of family wisdom that I learned from my grandfather. He and his family were from rural Kentucky, and I guess to hear the way he told it there was a lot of bears down there. He said that the only thing that a person needs when they are going into bear country is a flashlight. I didn't believe him at first, but he insisted that a flashlight would protect me from bears. He said that it was all a matter of how fast you could it. So just to be safe, when I hit the trail for my long a**ed walk next year I am going to carry two mini-maglites. One on each hip.

[Ramble~On]

Not me. When I am being ripped apart by a bear I prefer to not have a flashlight on so as it is nice and dark so that I do not see my body parts going away.

[eyahiker]

It's good to know that someone else knows that the truth is out there Freddy. Funky Freddy and Okpik are right on.........

[okpik]

...............................

[eyahiker]

You got it baby!:banana

[funkyfreddy]

My advice is to face your fears, buy a bear canister if it helps and go out and camp. Don't cook or get any food near your tent, put the canister away from you at night. After a few nights w/o incident you'll probably begin to laugh at yourself and then you will actually begin to enjoy being in the woods. I've seen some bears in the Northeast woods from time to time but not for long as they always run away very fast once they spot me.

Wish I could have seen your post, okpik, before you deleted it. Any info is valuable when it comes to my God apointed task of monitoring the alien presence here on earth. Once I get my website up I will be asking for donations and selling sacred music and incense which is guaranteed to keep those grey abducters away from your tent. Keeps Michael Jackson away too, a bonus for all of you who go hiking with your young ones! :sun

[steve hiker]

I just got back from Chicago and saw lots of cute girls on the "L" there. And I wasn't the least bit scared of beavers, um I mean bears. :D

[okpik]

...........................

[eyahiker]

......................:)

[steve hiker]

Them bears are on the attack again

"Cody Fickett, then 26, was attacked by a bear as he slept in his sleeping bag while camping with his brother in Gardner Canyon on the Santa Rita Mountains' eastern face.

"The bear pulled Fickett from his sleeping bag and mauled his neck, chest and right shoulder. He told the Tucson Citizen in April that he still suffers nerve damage from the attack."

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/breaking/061104bear_shot.html

AND

"Irving Brown lives on Dubois Street, just a few doors down from where Annette Senior was attacked on Tuesday. Every year he sees more bears.

"In fact, last weekend, he had a bear break into his dog pen, knock over these tv's and smash his honey combs.

"Irving Brown from Hallstead says, "The dog there, he's out there by the bear and my 2 black labs carried on. I came to the back door, opened it up and the bear had snuck in and out that fast."

http://www.wbng.com/data/web_5898.shtml

[Pencil Pusher]

Boy fights off bear attack
April 27, 2004
<!-- Ad Tag //-->
A 15-year-old boy on an Alaskan wilderness expedition fought off a 180kg brown bear that entered his tent when he was sleeping.

The boy awoke to find the bear sitting at his feet.

After trying unsuccessfully to back out of the tent, the boy was bitten in the forearm and decided to fight back, punching the bear with his left hand a half-dozen times, Alaska State Trooper Adam Benson said today.

When the teenager tried to run, the bear bit him again below his ribs, this time leaving half-a-dozen puncture wounds on his back, Benson said.

The boy punched the bear again, and again she let him go, but chased him around a nearby stand of trees. He eventually remembered an air horn in his gear, and blew it in the bear's muzzle, waking others in the camp, said Steve Prysunka, director of the six week “Crossing Wilderness Expeditions for Youth” program for emotionally troubled youths.

The bear finally turned and ran after counsellors blasted her with pepper spray and fired a flare at her feet, Prysunka said.

Besides the "If it's brown, lie down. If it's black, fight back" verse we've all been told, I found it hilarious it wasn't UNTIL this kid used the airhorn that everyone else in camp woke up. I have no doubt if I saw a bear of any type cornering me in my tent, I would wake up the dead in China with my screams. Especially after the bear starts chomping on me.

Hey BearScared, your last post... that happened three years ago, per your weblink.

[funkyfreddy]

[QUOTE=Pencil Pusher Hey BearScared, your last post... that happened three years ago, per your weblink.[/QUOTE]


That doesn't matter. He's obsessed with the idea that some big, evil black bear is going to attack him and he has to dredge up every tired and sensationalistic news report to justify his fears. Doesn't matter if the bear was in Alaska or China and was brown, blue or purple - it was a bear and he's bear scared......
:banana

Repeat after me ......

The AT is not in Alaska.....
The AT is not out west....
The AT is not in Alaska.....
The AT is not out west........

[copythat]

[/QUOTE]
Repeat after me ......

The AT is not in Alaska.....
The AT is not out west....
The AT is not in Alaska.....
The AT is not out west........[/QUOTE]

This, above, is very much wiseness. So also is knowing what hazards face we hikers on the AT. Just because it's not the Autobahn, doesn't mean there can't be collisions.

Black bears are roaming farther afield in CT this year than in years before. And there are still two varieties of poisonous snake that make their home here. Having simple precautions to take along on hikes (such as don't cook in your vestibule, where those snakes live and where they hide) can't hurt, right? Any of you in a position to contribute? Mebbe I'll write to the state of CT. They have people who are paid to know all this stuff and not get scairt when they see a bar. And someone else can contact MA. And VT and NH and ME. And on south from CT. See what they say. And we can put together a little e-thing. And we can publish it. And sell tens of thousand of copies. And make mill-- Sorry. Carried away.

I'd also recommend including Human Hazards. I've never felt LESS safe backpacking than on Saturdays just after dawn with cannons going off in the distance. I can just about hear the .30-06 165 grain rounds wizzing through the trees ...

[steve hiker]

Gosh darn i'm scared enough of normal b-b-b-bears, let alone bears that get stoned and do BELLY FLOPS on my tent!


Reefer madness: Grizzly with penchant for human treats captured and marked

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

A marijuana-munching grizzly bear with a history of belly-flopping on tents in Yellowstone National Park likely has a short future in the wild.

The 332-pound, 5-year-old bear has been captured, marked and released so rangers can tell if he reverts any of his old tricks again.

Unfortunately, the bear has earned some food rewards from his behavior. That, coupled with his apparent lack of fear of humans, means that if he pulls any more stunts, he'll likely be killed or sent to a zoo.

For the past two summers, the bear has been pouncing on tents both in front country and backcountry campsites in the northern reaches of Yellowstone, park grizzly specialist Kerry Gunther said Tuesday.

In most cases, the bear got no food rewards.

But in one incident, he might have gotten more than he bargained for. The tent contained some marijuana and some candy.

"There was one where he got marijuana and something like Skittles or gummy bears or something," Gunther said. There wasn't much marijuana in the tent "but it looked like the bear did eat some."

In a case last summer, campers at the Slough Creek campground had a video camera and captured images of the assault on their tent.

"The bear just did a belly flop on the tent and walked away," Gunther said. "It looked like he was having fun."

The bear also has learned to paw through untended saddle bags and backpacks, he said.

Rangers had tried unsuccessfully for two years to capture him.

"He's a hit and run kind of guy," Gunther said.

But they finally caught up with him May 24 in the Soda Butte Creek area.

Distinctive because of some light coloring on his hind quarters and an unusually long tail, officials are pretty sure he's the same animal they've been looking for.

He'll be easy to identify in the future. He's been fitted with red ear tags and a GPS radio collar wrapped in bright yellow ribbon.

Since the capture, a pilot spotted the bear between two buildings in Cooke City, eating garbage, Gunther said, and the bear is now in the backcountry.

Residents in that town northeast of the park have seen him often enough to bestow a nickname. They call him Thumper, Gunther said, while Park Service officials usually call him "the long-tailed bear."

The bear has never injured anybody, but since people have allowed him to get food rewards -- the people who left the marijuana and candy in their tent were ticketed, Gunther said -- park officials have little choice but to remove him if he comes into contact with people again.

"He's definitely food-conditioned and he's acclimated" to people, Gunther said. "It's a bad combination."

It's both illegal and dangerous to leave food where a bear can get it, the Park Service reiterated Tuesday. "Human foods are the chief culprit in the creation of problem bears and can lead to their becoming increasingly aggressive, requiring their destruction or removal from the area."

This isn't the first time in Yellowstone a bear has taken to crashing tents.

A few years ago, Gunther captured a bear with similar habits. That one had been nicknamed Kelty, after the popular brand of tents, and eluded capture until Gunther found the right enticement. "I baited him in with a tent," Gunther recalled.

[Alligator]

Awesome story. :clap :clap

[Big Oak]

I'm reluctant to camp anywhere near a developed campsite or where garbage is found. Don't think that non-habituated bears are any real danger. But let them get a taste of human food, and it's a different story.

[smokymtnsteve]

We piled our packs together in the middle of the camp, by the dying fire. All food was carefully wrapped and sealed tightly inside zip lock bags to minimize odor. We balanaced the cooking pots on the top of the packs, so that if a BEAR did come to the packs searching for food, he would knock over the pots and the noise of the falling pots would awaken us. What would happen next remained vague.

( from GOING TO EXTEREMES by Joe Miginniss)

[steve hiker]

Now them bears are attacking NUCLEAR SUBMARINES!

http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/default.asp?target=bear_sub1.htm

http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/default.asp?target=bear_sub2.htm&source=bear_sub OUCH

http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/default.asp?target=bear_sub3.htm&source=bear_sub

[steve hiker]

http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040624/APN/406240737&cachetime=5

Denton Turner figured he was dead already.

So he didn't cry out, didn't move, didn't even open his eyes as a bear attacked him last week.

"The way he was biting me, I thought that I would be so torn up, I'd lay there and die," Turner, 19, told The Charlotte Observer.

[steve hiker]

Bear attacks outfitter

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20040628p2a00m0dm002000c.html

[Pencil Pusher]

Careful BearScared... keep warning us and the bears will catch wind of what you're doing. Then they'll track your ISP and come-a-knockin' for some BearScared hide.

[minnesotasmith]

So, as part of my preparation, I have done some reading on bear issues. The best book I've read so far is "Mark of the Grizzly" by Scott Macmillon; a bit gruesome, but it contains hard lessons written in something like the style members of this forum seem to favor. I rather like the line about how to tell the difference between black bears and brown bears: if it goes up a tree, it's a black bear, while if YOU go up a tree, it's a brown! :D

You can't really go by color, and not entirely by size; there is a ridge on the nose that is the best quick indicator.

[Noggin]

You can't really go by color, and not entirely by size; there is a ridge on the nose that is the best quick indicator.
The grizzly has a shoulder hump that's pretty easy to spot.

[steve hiker]

Put yourself in Buck Wilde's shoes.

You're hiking alone when you find a blue hat lying in a trail. Then you spot a camera on a tripod, the lens cap on. There's a small red backpack there, too, and this makes you suspicious and curious. You move 30 feet or so back the way you came and there about three feet into the brush you spot the bad news: a pool of blood, a foot or more wide and still fresh.

Then you notice more blood, spots of it leading down the trail, and you see some bear tracks, claw marks scratched into the ground. You follow them, making plenty of noise and moving downhill very slowly for about 500 feet, until you find a bunch of scuff marks on the trail, a place where something heavy has been swept back and forth a few times. You keep going and you find more blood, then little pieces of what must be human flesh.

You find some coins, a bootlace, and more blood. Puddles of it, and a blood trail leading into the woods. The blood trail is there and you have only a can of pepper spray and you know someone will surely die if you don't help so you go into the woods where you find more coins and a wristwatch and a boot and then you see a man lying on his left side.

The man is bitten and clawed from head to toe and the bear has eaten the meat from one arm and one buttock but the body is warm and he might be alive even though you can’t find a pulse. Surely you can do something so you hustle back to the backpack to get a coat to cover him, and when you get back maybe five minutes later the man is gone.

Smears of blood tell you the bear has come back, probably after watching you follow its tracks, and has taken the man away, so you follow this grisly trail for a few steps and all you can see is that it leads into a patch of timber really thick where you can’t see anything at all but you know the bear must be near.

Put yourself in Buck Wilde’s shoes. What are you going to do?

[Pencil Pusher]

Get the eff out of Dodge and bring in the boys with the guns. Maybe you could be somewhat reassured in that the photographer is probably dead if the bear has been eating his arm and buttock. In that case, maybe the bear is sitting fat and happy so long as you don't try to edge in on his territory or meat.

Now up the ethical notch up a bit and say this guy's in really bad shape and moaning for help. Then what do you do?

[SGT Rock]

BTW Bare Scare. Did you wonder why we set the board so you are not supposed to have multiple user names for one user? I guess you think it is funny to have about three screen names.

[smokymtnsteve]

I think Bear Scared is funny...great writing..

[Lobo]

Here is a grisly grizzly bear story about a 12' 6" animal that weighed about 1600 pounds and was a man-eater. Only part of the story is true. Warning - graphic photos. Not for those with weak stomachs.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-grizzlybear.htm

[The Old Fhart]

I assume Lobo's post wasn't meant to be taken as factual (as he states) but you have to be sure to check out the last page of the article to see that the story has been exaggerated to put it mildly. http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-grizzlybear5.htm gives you the analysis without you having to see some doctored images or so-called "facts." Read the link to the last page I list and you will see that this bear was not a man-eater nor near record size. Another fish story, that's all. If you just read the headlines, you miss the point.

Whenever I get an e-mail about some questionable event I check one of the "urban legend" sites and get the story. Ever hear that Microsoft will pay you $5 for every e-mail, etc, etc? These are stories that keep resurfacing and clog e-mail systems as countless people forward them. I do recommend going to the urban legand sites. There is a lot of good entertainment there.

[Pencil Pusher]

Dang, Old Fhart, you mean there's no such thing as an eight foot tall, 30 point buck? ;) Thanks for the link. Now, of your name, why is it Fh? Shouldn't it be F or Ph? Were you thinking of Fart or Phart, or uhat?

As for 'doctored' images, maybe they're not. I bet it's just like fishing photos. If you hold the fish a couple of feet in front of you for the photo, it appears much larger than it actually is. So the photo of the hunter sitting at the rear of the bear is the same thing, the bear's head looks insanely big.

[steve hiker]

Oh no you got it all wrong I didn't make that story up, it really really happened it's TRUE just read Mark of the Grizzly by Scott McMillion, that's where the story came from. It's a good book when I want to read something scary before bed I open a book like this with real life true stories of hikers getting ATTACKED and BITTEN and EATEN ALIVE by bears, I get so scared all I can do is burrow down under the covers and don't dare poke my head out till daylight.

Y'know you might be right Sarge after that bear attacked and scared me so bad a few years ago I stressed out so bad and mighta split into different personalities why just the other day I got a bill I don't know who bought that thing and I think it's one of them others out to ruin my life will I ever go hiking in the mall or the woods again?

[The Old Fhart]

Pencil Pusher-"As for 'doctored' images, maybe they're not. I bet it's just like fishing photos. If you hold the fish a couple of feet in front of you for the photo, it appears much larger than it actually is. So the photo of the hunter sitting at the rear of the bear is the same thing, the bear's head looks insanely big."
I understand the perspective of the first two photos they used and if you check
http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/2147/password/0/sort/1/cat/500 you'll see a picture I took of Model T where his feet are twice the size of his head and I explain why. What I was talking about was the at the end of the article where it says:
When asked by the Anchorage Daily News to comment on the horrific image of what appears to be a partially-eaten human victim, spokesman Ray Massey admitted he hadn't even looked at it. "I didn't want to see a photo of the body," he said. "I know it's bogus."
As to the spelling of my name, visit New Hampshire some time and it will be clearer. If you can say the word "ayuh" like a native from Maine or New Hampshire, that might help. I hope that explains the previous post better, ayuh. :)

[Lobo]

Is this one true? On my hike in 2000, I was more worried about deer ticks & Giardia.

http://www.aldha.org/bearmaul.htm

:-?

[steve hiker]

This bear didn't bite but I'm sure he was thinking about it:

Peeping Tom was too curious to keep his distance. A four-year-old red-coated male grizzly, he became fascinated with the sight of Tom working on his gas-boat. As soon as it was warm enough to work outside, he put the gas-boat at the top of the high-tide mark and crawled under to work. He was lying on his back, pounding oakum into the boat seams, when suddenly he had the odd sensation that he was being watched.

He rolled over -- and looked directly into the face of the big red grizzly b-b-b-bear, peering under the boat at Jim from a distance of eight feet. He stared curiously at Jim for a few minutes, them, apparently satisfied at what Jim was doing, lumbered off a few feet and lay down on the grass, with his head down so that he could see under the boat and watch the work.

This was too much for Scout. He made a furious barking charge and succeeded in running off the bear. But fifteen minutes later the big red grizzly was back again, peering under the boat, his face as friendly and interested as before.

Next morning he was back. Once again Scout ran him off. Fifteen minutes later he was back. This went on for several mornings, and finally Scout got tired of running him. The bear lay on his side of the boat, watching Jim work, and Scout lay on the other, his worried eyes on the grizzly to make sure he didn't start trouble.

He didn't. Each morning during the two weeks that Jim worked on the boat the bear walked over, got down where he could stick his huge head under, "smiled" at Jim, then settled down a few feet off where he could watch. In the afternoon, when hunger finally overcame his curiosity, Peeping Tom would wander over into the flats to dig some roots for his dinner. But next morning he was back--on the dot. He never made trouble--he simply liked to kibitz.

[Pencil Pusher]

SMS is about to take the lead for the top poster. Right now it's SMS at 1332 and Sgt Rock at 1380. A changing of the guard...;)

[Flash Hand]

When hiking north, I forget where but right before Woody Gap I think. I got scared of a bear, but it turned out to be a black dog. That sure got my heart beat faster. When I arrived Woody Gap where One Leg was waiting for me, and told him about it. He said the same, and indeed scare him.

Flash Hand :jump

[Jersey Bob]

at least 10 characters

[steve hiker]

SMS is about to take the lead for the top poster. Right now it's SMS at 1332 and Sgt Rock at 1380. A changing of the guard...;)
Looks like Pencil Pusher will overtake Sgt Rock first. :datz

[Pencil Pusher]

Nah, I did the math in my head when I made that post. Rock and SMS were averaging 2.0 posts per day and I'm at about 7. So at five posts/day delta, it'd take me 200 days to overtake either one, assuming we all kept our averages. JLB flamed out after 22 days with 209 posts... I'm not sure I can keep up this 7/day average either, so maybe it'd be a year before I ever reached top poster. Of course this doesn't take anyone else into account. And gosh, my average would get trashed if I actually went on some hikes :datz

[steve hiker]

Nobody knew when or where the bears would stop. They hit the Germans first. Algis and his sister, Tanya, woke up about three in the morning when their TENT COLLAPSED UNDER A GRIZZLY BEAR. They kicked, they screamed, and the bear moved on but not before leaving Algis severely battered with several deep cuts. Tanya was shaken and knocked around some.

Then the bears moved to the next campsite, where they shredded a tent belonging to two Montana women, Susan and Laura. "I heard huffing sounds outside … and then the bear was in our tent," Olin told reporters two days later from her wheelchair at the hospital. The bear went first for Laura, who was lucky: She was sleeping with her pillow over her head, and the bear ripped away a big chunk of it, clawing her under the arm in the process. Then it laid into Susan, BITING her back and CHEWING on her arm, clawing her face and her shoulders. She fought at first then played dead while Laura tried to make herself small in her sleeping bag. Susan would need more than 50 staples in her body and a row of stiches in her face to close the wounds.

Then came the Australians’ turn. Owen and his friend Andrew were still fast asleep when the bear TORE THE TENT RIGHT OFF THEM. It grabbed Andrew’s sleeping bag and tossed him like a toy. Then it turned to Owen, ripping open his forearm and thigh, CHOMPING down hard on his ribcage. Andrew got out of his bag and came to Owen’s rescue. He bounced a large rock off the bear’s nose (OUCH!) and the bear backed off, GRRRRRRROWLING. They ran behind a picnic table and the bear chased them several times before ambling off.

Susan and Laura made it to their car and later discovered the bear had ATTACKED THE CAR AS WELL, biting or clawing a hole in the spare tire on the back bumper. Clearly, this was a BEAR WITH AN ATTITUDE!

[Pencil Pusher]

Which movie was that from, Bare Scared?

[steve hiker]

Its not from a movie it really really happened. Read Mark of the Grizzly I just read it, that's one real scary book fulla real life stories of bears stalking and pouncing on and eating hikers and hunters alive!

[Pencil Pusher]

Whew! For a minute there I thought that was a book about eating dead hikers. Thankfully they're alive when the bears eat them.

[steve hiker]

This black bear swiped a SLEEPING hiker in the HEAD in a tent and the BLEEDING DIDN'T STOP till the doc-tors had to put 28 STAPLES in his head:

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/07/29/build/state/88-bear-swipe.inc

[Flash Hand]

This black bear swiped a SLEEPING hiker in the HEAD in a tent and the BLEEDING DIDN'T STOP till the doc-tors had to put 28 STAPLES in his head:

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/07/29/build/state/88-bear-swipe.inc

As long its not on the A.T.

Flash Hand :jump

[White Oak]

SMS is about to take the lead for the top poster. Right now it's SMS at 1332 and Sgt Rock at 1380. A changing of the guard...;)
As of today:

Smokymtnsteve 1448
Sgt.Rock 1434

[steve hiker]

:bse Dog injured after attacking black bear

2004-08-25
by Thomas Fraser
of The Daily Times Staff

He may be a hot dog dog, but Swartz the dachsund is no wiener.
The 7-year-old dog -- owned by Mike and Carolyn Roach -- proved his mettle Sunday when he charged a sizable female black bear loitering near the top of a Laurel Valley driveway.

He also promptly learned his place in the natural world.

This is not the type of tale that gets better with each telling. There were ample witnesses to the incident that unfolded early Sunday off Kelly Ridge Road in the Tuckaleechee Cove golfing community.

Neighbors Maureen and Roger Schunk first learned something was off-kilter when the early morning mountain quiet was shattered by the frantic pounding of Carolyn Roach on their door.

The harried knocking was accompanied by hysterical shouting that included -- somewhat ominously -- liberal use of the word `bear.'

``At first we thought she said Mike had gotten attacked in the driveway,'' Maureen Schunk said. Then, somewhat to their relief, they realized the crux of the matter. Carolyn was actually shouting, in various ways: ``The bear attacked Swartzie!''

Seems Catherine was opening the garage at their densely wooded homeplace when Swartz got wind -- or saw -- a roughly 250-pound bear at the top of their steep driveway. Such a sight is not unusual around Laurel Valley, Mike Roach said, but little Swartzie's reaction certainly was. The wee dog, usually leashed, bolted up the driveway after the bear.

``The bear was in his territory. Dachsunds are pugnacious, I guess,'' Roach said.

Actually, at that point, the dachsund -- originally bred to burrow after badgers and similar prey -- was in the bear's territory. And her cub was perched in a nearby tree.

The bear reared up, swatted Swartz a good lick across the belly, and laid a deep bite on the side of the dog.

And that was the end of the ursine-canine conflict.

But for all Carolyn Roach knew, the bear had turned the term ``dog treat'' on its head.

Thus her frantic flight over to the neighbors, which took her up the driveway, between the bear and its cub and across and down the street.

``She ran right by the bear in her fuzzy bedroom slippers,'' Maureen said.

``What you had was two mother bears protecting their cubs,'' said Mike Roach, pointing out the couple have no children. ``We're lucky my wife didn't get hurt.''

Roger Schunk responded to Carolyn's initial panicky summons in a truck, uncertain what he'd find. They also summoned Townsend police to the scene. They were able to chase the bear away after the cub -- a completely innocent party to the mayhem of her mother -- ambled out of the tree.

Six friends and the lawmen searched frantically for Swartz, and later found him on the front stoop of a nearby house.

``The bear could have killed him,'' Roach said.

Instead, the dachsund sustained a couple of broken ribs and a couple of nasty puncture wounds. He spent Tuesday's interview lolling about on the floor with his teeth pressed into a pink teddy bear. Perhaps he was recreating, with a little embellishment, his encounter with the black bear.

Both the Roaches and the Schunks said they have fairly frequent encounters with bears near their mountain homes. One recent encounter featured a black bear peering in the Roaches' external bedroom door at 4 a.m.

``This has been a real bad year for bears,'' said Maureen Schunk.

Both couples attribute it to their proximity to nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park, increased development in bear habitat and poor etiquette on the part of area cabin renters. Some renters have a tendency to throw food off their back decks, Mike Roach said.

Park spokesman Bob Miller said ``frontcountry'' bear disturbances should wane in coming weeks. Initial mast survey indications suggest a good crop of white oak, chestnut oak and northern red oak acorns this fall.

He said the last recorded report of a bear-dog battle in the Park was last year when a pit bull attacked a sow in Cades Cove.

He described that incident as ``a bad move'' in which the ``dog came out second-hand.''

As for Swartz, ``he's going to be sore for a while,'' Mike Roach said.

[eyahiker]

Bear Scared, you've dodged the question, please answer. Do you hike on the AT?

[steve hiker]

Yea i’m a section hiker. But every time i crawl in my bag i’m scared a big bad b-b-b-bear is gonna have me for a midnight snack. Just last fall i was at Blue Mt. Shelter and decided to tent out cause i’m scarda mice i seen em boiling out the floor there -- that’s another thing – ask Mouse Scared about that!

and so i backtracked down to a campsite and put up my tarp and was all a-snuggled in deep burrowed in my bag and having this nice dream about (i forget now) when i hear this CRACK outside just beyond the corner of my tarp and I JUST KNOW IT’S A B-B-BEAR out to have me for a midnight snack so i burrow even further down in my bag then after a minute i cant stand it it any longer and i pull my head out the bag and open my eyes and look and don’t see a bear but i just KNOW there was a 1,000 lb. bruin there slunking around looking for HOT FOOD :eek: and if i’d had so much as a sunflower seed undre my tarp i woulda been a BIG BEEF BURRITO SUPREME for that bear i know it!

[eyahiker]

Thanks for answering.

[steve hiker]

The Jackson Hole News, Sept. 1-7

Bikers battle grizzly bear
Rider fends off repeated charges with bike before friend fires pepper spray in nick of time.
By Angus M. Thuermer Jr.

A mountain biker on Togwotee Pass fought off repeated charges by a grizzly bear Sunday until a companion drove the animal off with pepper spray.

Kirk Speckhals escaped his encounter with the grizzly without a scratch; he had only four dirt marks from the bear's claws on his forearm, a punctured bicycle tire and bent rim. He said he hopes others learn from the mistakes he made during his ride around Pinnacle Buttes and past Kissinger Lakes ­ including not making enough noise to warn bears, not riding together and not carrying pepper spray.

Speckhals, 46, and companion Tom Foley, said the grizzly they battled was persistent and backed off only when there was about a second's worth of spray left in the can of deterrent. Speckhals gave credit to Foley, who carried his can of spray on his hip, for rushing into the fray and saving his life.

"I was on the ground with the bear on top of me," Speckhals said. "I was waiting for a bone-crunching bite. I was ready to die."

Speckhals and Foley said their day started out innocently enough when they left for the loop ride with Mark "Big Wally" Wolling near Brooks Lake. The route traverses a couple of passes on the Shoshone National Forest at approximately 9,500 feet. The area is close to the the Teton and Washakie wilderness areas, is known grizzly country and is considered part of the species' core habitat in the Yellowstone ecosystem.

Speckhals, a ski patroller and quality controller with Evans Construction, said he had ridden the loop several times before but has never carried bear spray. Before taking off, Foley offered his extra can of bear spray. Wolling took it, figuring if anybody got in trouble, it was more likely to be him since he was bringing along his dog, Sir Charles Winston VI.

The day was idyllic, both Foley and Speckhals said, and the ride over the first pass to Kissinger Lakes fulfilling. Speckhals said he had been ringing his bicycle bell at regular intervals to warn bears of his approach and not surprise them. As he climbed to the second pass of the trip, he pulled away from his companions and stopped making his regular warning.

'Bear! BEAAAR!'

Speckhals said he crested a rise and heard a noise he knew meant trouble.

"In the woods, 300 feet away, he was in full charge, coming right at me," he said. No question the bear was a grizzly, Speckhals said.

The mountain biker figured he'd start out on his feet, confront the bear, defend himself with his bike rather than play dead.

"I got off my bike and put it in front of me and started yelling 'Bear! Bear!'" Speckhals said.

Foley, some distance back, heard the cries but could not yet see the confrontation. Wolling was farther behind.

"All of a sudden I heard 'Bear! BEAAAR!!'" Foley said. "Whoa, God, I better get up there," he said he thought.

Foley rode toward the fight.

"His voice was getting more terrified," Foley said. There were grunts. "He sounded like he was fighting something. His screams were dramatic and scary."

Foley said he came to the obvious realization "Oh my God, he's wrestling with a bear."

Meanwhile, Speckhals was battling.

"I lunged my bike out at him and yelled and he stopped," Speckhals said. That wasn't good enough. "The bear seemed like he wanted to meet someone up close."

The bear moved in again. He charged "six or seven times," Speckhals said, each time deterred at the last moment by the bicycle.



An ominous calm

"Finally, he grabbed my bike out of my hands," Speckhals said. "He started stomping on it."

The bear used both front paws to bounce up and down on the bicycle wheel. "It bent my wheel and burst my tire," he said.

With the bear distracted, Speckhals said he decided to make a move.

"I started kind of creeping away," he said. The grizzly wasn't after just a mountain bike.

"The bear immediately left my bike alone," Speckhals said. The bear "put its front paws on me."

In a Greco-Roman wrestling stance, Speckhals said he sensed he was going down.

"This time he just took me out ­ drug me to the ground," Speckhals said. "I knew I was in trouble. I rotated and got on my chest."

Foley, cycling madly, was worried because an ominous calm had settled over Basin Creek Meadows.

"All of a sudden he got quiet," he said of his companion.

Foley arrived on the scene to see a bear sitting atop his friend.

"Immediately, I knew I had to get over there, see what I could do," he said. "There was no fear."

With pepper spray drawn, he advanced to within 15 feet and fired.

"The bear walked off Sparky," he said, using his friend's nickname. The griz wasn't heading away, though, and turned and began circling Foley who was still spraying in the animal's face.

"That's when I got scared," Foley said. "His eyes were that freaking big," Foley said Monday, creating circles larger than silver dollars with his index fingers and thumbs as he told the story. "They were full of bear spray ­ not a blink."

Now Foley was in the crosshairs. The bear continued to circle as he backed up, yelling for Wolling.

Foley's can of spray was running low; "I knew I was almost out," he said.

By now Wolling had made it to the site, along with the dog, and fumbled with his pack trying to find the second can of spray.

"I thought I was going to see a bloody mess of Speckhals around the corner," Wolling said. Instead he saw a standing bear and a retreating Foley.

Into the fray went Sir Charles Winston VI, who rushed up, barked twice, then retreated down the trail at about 30 mph, "as fast as his little legs could move him," Wolling said.

With perhaps a second's worth of spray left, Foley tried a new tactic. He yelled at the bear at the top of his lungs. He said Monday his vocal chords still hurt from the shout.

Something clicked in the bear.

"I could tell his eyes changed," Foley said. "I knew it was over. All of a sudden he took off."



'Huge intelligence'

Foley was so certain the conflict was over that he turned his back on the bear to check out his friend.

"I couldn't believe it," he said of Speckhals' condition. "There was nothing ­ four dirt marks."

Foley remains astounded at the intense glare of the grizzly: "You could tell he's thinking. He was giving it thought. There was huge intelligence."

Speckhals said he didn't see cubs and doesn't know whether the bear was male or female. The group wonders whether the bear spray, about five years old, might have lost some of its punch. It stung their eyes nevertheless.

Vendors at Teton Mountaineering say their brand of spray has a three-year shelf life and has expiration dates printed on each can.

All the cyclists took home lessons they are eager to share. Not making enough noise and not having bear spray were two mistakes, they said. Being in a tighter group might have made a difference. They also wonder whether the speed and motion of a rider on a bicycle attracted a bear possibly looking for a meal.

Wolling knows the group was in prime grizzly country. "We were right in the middle of the whitebark pine forest when it happened," he said. "Typical grizzly habitat."

Both Speckhals and Wolling said they're likely headed to a store to buy their own cans of bear spray. They recommended larger cans, like the one Foley had, rather than small varieties a couple of inches tall that appear more useful against a human attacker.

"You want the big can," Speckhals said.

"The one can was basically not enough," even the larger size, Wolling added.

Wolling said he remains astounded at the experience.

"Tom definitely saved his life," Wolling said. "The bear had him down and was ready to chomp on him. If [Tom] hadn't gotten there in the millisecond that he did, Sparky would have been toast."

Speckhals was able to patch his flat and straighten out his wheel enough to ride the bike the few miles to the end of the loop, albeit without one set of brakes. He said has no bad feelings toward the bruin.

"I was in his world," he said. "I don't want anyone to go remove it or kill it. I have no ill feelings toward the bear."

Wolling said the trip will remain memorable: "That was a little more excitement than we had in mind."

[steve hiker]

Them b-b-b-bears aint slowing down for winter, nosireee.

Man Hears 'Crunch' When Bear Bites His Head


<TEXT id=txt_posted>POSTED:</TEXT> 2:32 pm CDT September 24, 2004
<TEXT id=txt_updated>UPDATED:</TEXT> 2:49 pm CDT September 24, 2004


<!--startindex-->GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, Wyoming -- A hunting expedition in Wyoming ended when a hunter became the target of a grizzly bear attack.

Willy Cash, 67 years old and from Colorado, was hunting in the Grand Teton National Park with friends when he encountered the female bear Wednesday morning.

Cash had just crossed a creek and climbed a drainage area when he came face to face with a protective mother grizzly and her two cubs.


Cash reportedly fired a shot, then called for help, alerting his fellow hunters of the danger he was in. By the time the others were able to reach Cash, he had been severely bitten in the head, hand and back.


"He was able to try to fend her off a bit, but he stated that he did hear a crunch when she bit his head and he put his hands over his head and she bit his hand, as well, and broke his hand," Tom Tolkacz, one of the men hunting in Cash's party, said.


"The bear remained in the area and actually came in to get Wally a second time and pushed him down," Tolkacz continued. "And at that time, (Cash) went into a fetal position to sort of play dead and the bear just pushed on him twice and then left."


Tolkacz used a satellite phone to call for help.


A rescue helicopter arrived to airlift Cash to a medical center in Idaho Falls, Idaho.


Cash, who was expected to be released from the hospital Friday, said he doesn't blame the bear and that he knows she was just protecting her cubs.
<!--stopindex-->
***************************

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=460 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>BEAR ATTACK INJURES HUNTER

Oct 5, 2004

</TD></TR><TR><TD>A Gillette, Wyoming man has his jaw ripped off after being mauled by a grizzly Sunday morning.


Weston Scott was hiking with a group of hunters in the Fish Creek area west of Dubois in northwest Wyoming. The attack happened just before 11:00 a.m. when Scott and his hunting partners were walking through the timber.

The men reported firing several shots to deter the bear and also used pepper spray. A Fremont County Deputy says Scott suffered severe injuries to his face and was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.

This is the second Gillette, Wyoming man that has been attacked by a grizzly in the last two weeks. Them bears is going on a rampage!

http://www.kpvi.com/index.cfm?page=nbcheadlines.cfm&ID=21596

*******************************

Bear attack victim a hero, says paw
WebPosted Sep 24 2004 08:23 AM CDT

YELLOWKNIFE - The son of a former Northwest Territories MLA remains in serious condition in hospital after a vicious grizzly bear attack on Wednesday.

Surgeons in Edmonton reattached 24-year-old Tommy Lafferty's scalp Wednesday after he and another man were attacked at the abandoned Colomac mine.


The mine is about 200 kilometres north of Yellowknife.


His father, former North Slave MLA Leon Lafferty, says his son is a hero.


"He helped out the first guy that was attacked, by attracting the bear to himself and then when the bear attacked him, he played dead and the bear took off," he says.


Tommy Lafferty and two other men were surveying an area near the Colomac mine site when the bear attacked.


The bear also crushed Lafferty's left arm and dislocated his jaw.


The second man was injured and is in Edmonton for treatment.


Territorial wildlife officers killed the bear Thursday. It is being skinned and samples collected.







</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Pencil Pusher]

Oh brother, the sky is falling:rolleyes:

[Flash Hand]

Maybe I should wear a bear costume and sneak up behind bear scared's house during Halloween...



Flash Hand :jump