Bear Attack!

[jdb]

Caught On Tape: Bear Bites Sleeping Camper (http://javascript<b></b>:window.parent.popUp('/slideshow/news/4813555/detail.html','width=1024,height=750,top=0,left=0,s crollbars');)

[jdb]

Never mind, the link didn't take and I can't find it now!:confused:

[ShakeyLeggs]

The link is bad

[weary]

Never mind, the link didn't take and I can't find it now!:confused:
I did a google search on "bear bites camper," and the story was the first listing.

Weary

[Cutty]

you have a bogus link! resend. get iy rigt dude!
cutty

[TIDE-HSV]

you have a bogus link! resend. get iy rigt dude!
cutty

Is your middle name "Sark?" :)

[TIDE-HSV]

BTW, the bear is now dead...

[Connie]

Weary,

I "googled" bear bites camper.

I got a story from 2008, 2006 and 2002.

[Blue Jay]

This is kind of amusing an actual Bear Scare Misfire.:banana

[dzierzak]

Da link...


http://www.wdsu.com/slideshow/news/4813555/detail.html

[Pedaling Fool]

I wish there was a databank of blackbear attacks that didn't result in death, than this list would be much larger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

You do take a chance when you go into the woods, but it is usually an overstated danger concerning black bears, but it is something to consider. But I will still sleep with my food next to me in my tent.


I always get a chuckle when I read comments similar to this (I read this on a NJ website about someone that was attacked).

"Although I feel sorry for the groundskeeper if he is telling the truth, I find the details of this so called "attack" suspicious. This is not normal black bear behavior, and I believe there are a lot of missing facts here. Black bears are not predatory animals are usually quite timid of people. There is no reason this animal had to be destroyed. People need to become more educated on black bears in NJ."



That's just typical ill-informed animal lover talk. Black bears are predators, but luckily for us they are omnivorous and spend more time looking for berries and such than big game meat. However, if given a chance they will snatch a kid in no time.





.

[bus]

why did the folks shooting video not wake up the sleeping camper?

[TIDE-HSV]

why did the folks shooting video not wake up the sleeping camper?

Are you kidding me? That's a horrible breach of YouTube etiquette. :D And, John, there have been two predatory black bear attacks in the area in the last several years, one in the Smokies, where the target woman was partially eaten and one to the south in the Cherokee National Forest (a campground), where a child was eaten...

[Tinker]

I wish there was a databank of blackbear attacks that didn't result in death, than this list would be much larger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

You do take a chance when you go into the woods, but it is usually an overstated danger concerning black bears, but it is something to consider. But I will still sleep with my food next to me in my tent.


I always get a chuckle when I read comments similar to this (I read this on a NJ website about someone that was attacked).

"Although I feel sorry for the groundskeeper if he is telling the truth, I find the details of this so called "attack" suspicious. This is not normal black bear behavior, and I believe there are a lot of missing facts here. Black bears are not predatory animals are usually quite timid of people. There is no reason this animal had to be destroyed. People need to become more educated on black bears in NJ."



That's just typical ill-informed animal lover talk. Black bears are predators, but luckily for us they are omnivorous and spend more time looking for berries and such than big game meat. However, if given a chance they will snatch a kid in no time.
.
I was looking at bear attack cases online and found one (a while ago) where an infant was snatched from a stroller on the front porch of a home in NY not that many years ago. I'll try to Google it up again, don't know if the link is still active.

[TIDE-HSV]

Here's the link to the attack in 2006 near Chilhowee Campground in the Cherokee Nationat Forest:

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/dec/04/story-of-bear-attack-to-air/

Here's the link to the 2000 attack on the Little River trail (near the "Y" to Cades Cove):

http://www.mysmokymountainvacation.com/news/bear-attack.html

As I said, both attacks were predatory. When I started hiking the GSMNP extensively in the early '70s, there were an estimated 500 bears. Now, the rangers estimate 1500, and rangers have told me privately that they regard that as a substantial under-estimate. With that kind of population, it's amazing there haven't been more incidents...

[Pedaling Fool]

And, John, there have been two predatory black bear attacks in the area in the last several years, one in the Smokies, where the target woman was partially eaten and one to the south in the Cherokee National Forest (a campground), where a child was eaten...


I was looking at bear attack cases online and found one (a while ago) where an infant was snatched from a stroller on the front porch of a home in NY not that many years ago. I'll try to Google it up again, don't know if the link is still active.



Here's the link to the attack in 2006 near Chilhowee Campground in the Cherokee Nationat Forest:

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/dec/04/story-of-bear-attack-to-air/

Here's the link to the 2000 attack on the Little River trail (near the "Y" to Cades Cove):

http://www.mysmokymountainvacation.com/news/bear-attack.html

As I said, both attacks were predatory. When I started hiking the GSMNP extensively in the early '70s, there were an estimated 500 bears. Now, the rangers estimate 1500, and rangers have told me privately that they regard that as a substantial under-estimate. With that kind of population, it's amazing there haven't been more incidents...
I believe you two have misread my original post or maybe I'm misreading your replies? I do agree that black bears are predatory. And the links you provided are all listed in my link I posted (Post #11) above (and here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America).

What I was saying is that I wish there were a database to go to that listed all black bear attacks, not just the ones that resulted in a fatality.

[DocHolliday]

That looked more like a curious bear nibble than a Bear Attack! haha

Poor camper - Poor bear. They both probably **** their pants.

[fw2008]

That looked more like a curious bear nibble than a Bear Attack! haha

Poor camper - Poor bear. They both probably **** their pants.
Sure does!
Poor bear looked just as scared as the person.
Looked like a cub. Thought it was just a dog at first.

I think the bear was just trying to find out whether the person was alive.
If he was not, bear may have had a good meal:D

FW

[TIDE-HSV]

John, I apologize. Reading fast, I missed the quotes around the statement about bears being timid, etc. I realize now that it's not your thinking. And I agree that a single database would be helpful. It would depict where certain behaviors are likely to occur. There are DBs, but they're splintered...

[Lilred]

I thought there was some discussion about that attack on the woman before. Wasn't her ex suspected of killing her and smearing her with peanut butter? It was never proven and he may have gotten away with murder.

[weary]

why did the folks shooting video not wake up the sleeping camper?
I suspect the bear handled the wake up call, quite well. I understand it's hard to rest with a bear chewing on one's thigh.

[Buzz_Lightfoot]

Da link...


http://www.wdsu.com/slideshow/news/4813555/detail.html

That little bear? I would have got up and kicked it in the backside!

[sidebackside]

I thought there was some discussion about that attack on the woman before. Wasn't her ex suspected of killing her and smearing her with peanut butter? It was never proven and he may have gotten away with murder.

Are you being serious?

[envirodiver]

I thought there was some discussion about that attack on the woman before. Wasn't her ex suspected of killing her and smearing her with peanut butter? It was never proven and he may have gotten away with murder.


I did hear that the circumstances were suspicious and he was a person of interest. Never heard about the peanut butter part.

[bus]

I suspect the bear handled the wake up call, quite well. I understand it's hard to rest with a bear chewing on one's thigh.

I mean before he nibbled on the camper, silly :)

[jdb]

That was the link I saw on the Baltimore 11 news site. After I posted and saw it was bad and I couldn't find it again. The reason I went to the news site in the first place was I heard on the radio some campers were attacked and robbed at a campground in Frederick MD. I never found the story but if your in the area be careful and keep an eye out.

[TIDE-HSV]

That was the link I saw on the Baltimore 11 news site. After I posted and saw it was bad and I couldn't find it again. The reason I went to the news site in the first place was I heard on the radio some campers were attacked and robbed at a campground in Frederick MD. I never found the story but if your in the area be careful and keep an eye out.

Just goes to show there's still more to be feared from the two-legged predators...

[Megan1125]

This actually happened to my dad as well! He and my mom were backpacking in the Smoky Mountains and around 5 in the morning he felt a hard chomp on his big toe, which obviously woke him up! He quickly opened the tent to see a small bear running off. He assumes it was just curious as it didn't even tear the tent.

[lunchbx]

I have heard bears can be extremely predatory at times. Maybe it is more of a behavior of a grizzly but I have heard of instances where a bear has stalked a person for miles waiting for them to get tired or stop for the day before attacking. If someone can back this up or refute this please do so :)

[brooklynkayak]

I think that sounds like a hungry Grizzly Bear when there is a shortage of food. They tend go for the easiest meal and stalking isn't easy, but he could have been desperate.

One person on one of the backpackers forum received two broken legs when he woke up to a grizzly licking his face. It scared the bear so much when he screamed that it fell backwards crushing the persons legs.


I have heard bears can be extremely predatory at times. Maybe it is more of a behavior of a grizzly but I have heard of instances where a bear has stalked a person for miles waiting for them to get tired or stop for the day before attacking. If someone can back this up or refute this please do so :)

[East Coast Alex]

Just a little reality check type question (on my end), but what do you guys think is the prospect of using a machete as a defense against a bear, either black or brown?

Many hikers carry machetes, and seeing as how government doesn't seem especially fit to let people of this country properly defend themselves on public lands, via the appropriate means (i.e. a large caliber, high powered gun), a machete seems like the only remotely possible means available to the average person of even successful defense. A well sharpened machete could certainly hack off a body part of a bear, so it seems feasible.... but do you think a bear would more than likely pounce and have you pinned down, before you could even raise your hand in defense?

[bullseye]

I didn't watch the video since that was a story that happened a few years back, and the whole thing stunk of a setup. It was shot at Mashpicong shelter as I remember, which has in the past been known for bear activity (even in the late '80's when the bear population was lower). The person in the bag turned out to have a candybar or something in the foot of their bag. Why the foot? Well, as someone asked, why didn't the person shooting the video wake up the camper? IMHO it was a setup, and that basically got the bear killed.

[sheepdog]

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Graywolf]

I didn't watch the video since that was a story that happened a few years back, and the whole thing stunk of a setup. It was shot at Mashpicong shelter as I remember, which has in the past been known for bear activity (even in the late '80's when the bear population was lower). The person in the bag turned out to have a candybar or something in the foot of their bag. Why the foot? Well, as someone asked, why didn't the person shooting the video wake up the camper? IMHO it was a setup, and that basically got the bear killed.

Thats actually a pretty cruel joke and I hope the jokesters got what they deserved too..

FYI, I have been working on a data base on Black Bear maulings..Been considering about adding Grizzilies to the list..

And NO!!! Black bears are not predators..Most of their prey are small mammels and berrie..Grizzilies and Kodiaks on the other hand are predators.

Graywolf

[sheepdog]

Thats actually a pretty cruel joke and I hope the jokesters got what they deserved too..

FYI, I have been working on a data base on Black Bear maulings..Been considering about adding Grizzilies to the list..

And NO!!! Black bears are not predators..Most of their prey are small mammels and berrie..Grizzilies and Kodiaks on the other hand are predators.

Graywolf
If it eats a small mammal it's a preditor by definition

[Pedaling Fool]

Just a little reality check type question (on my end), but what do you guys think is the prospect of using a machete as a defense against a bear, either black or brown?

Many hikers carry machetes, and seeing as how government doesn't seem especially fit to let people of this country properly defend themselves on public lands, via the appropriate means (i.e. a large caliber, high powered gun), a machete seems like the only remotely possible means available to the average person of even successful defense. A well sharpened machete could certainly hack off a body part of a bear, so it seems feasible.... but do you think a bear would more than likely pounce and have you pinned down, before you could even raise your hand in defense?
I'm always building a fire, so I carry one of these foldable Sven-Saws. I can either whack it on the nose or gouge it's eyes out. And I always sleep with my food. http://www.svensaw.com/




http://www.svensaw.com/images/picture.jpg

[Pedaling Fool]

Thats actually a pretty cruel joke and I hope the jokesters got what they deserved too..

FYI, I have been working on a data base on Black Bear maulings..Been considering about adding Grizzilies to the list..

And NO!!! Black bears are not predators..Most of their prey are small mammels and berrie..Grizzilies and Kodiaks on the other hand are predators.

Graywolf

The black bear IS a predatory. True it’s not the most ferocious predator and it does tend to take the easier prey, and not always just little mammals. See here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDEW-nIg844


And many of the killings in this link were not defensive, they were predatory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

A couple of examples from the above link:

50, female May 2000
Killed and partially consumed by a 112-pound (51 kg) female and her 40-pound (18 kg) yearling. The attack occurred near the Goshen Prong/Little River trail junction 1.5 miles (2.4 km) upstream from Elkmont (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkmont,_Tennessee), Great Smoky Mountains near Gatlinburg, Tennessee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatlinburg,_Tennessee)[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America#cite_n ote-0)

5 months, female August 2002
Bear grabs and kills 5 month old infant from stroller on the porch of home in Fallsburg, New York (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallsburg,_New_York).[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America#cite_n ote-4)

[Pedaling Fool]

I have heard bears can be extremely predatory at times. Maybe it is more of a behavior of a grizzly but I have heard of instances where a bear has stalked a person for miles waiting for them to get tired or stop for the day before attacking. If someone can back this up or refute this please do so :)

I do remember seeing a show where a black bear (I believe in Canada) was stalking someone. It does seem strange that one should fake death when attacked by a grizzly, but fight to the death when attacked by a black bear.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/852155/black_bear_vs_grizzly_bear_attacks.html?cat=5

Copied from the above link:

Black bears are smaller than grizzly bears, and although they are of the same specie of animal, they are a different variety and have differences in behaviors as well. Because of the difference in their natures, you should know a little about the cause and response to black bear and grizzly bear attacks.

Both bears are predatory as well as vegetation eaters, but humans are not generally on the list of menu items for grizzly bears while a black bear may see the human meat as a potential meal. While attacks are uncommon, bears can and do attack humans so it is important to know what to do should you be attacked. There are two types of attack you may encounter by a bear, the predatory attack or the surprise attack. The surprise attack occurs when hikers not paying attention and are walking into the wind may walk within 10 - 20 feet of a grizzly bear unnoticed.

This startles the grizzly bear which then attacks out of response to a possible threat. In this type of attack you should lay down and play dead, this enforces to the grizzly that you are not a threat and will most often walk away once the perceived threat is gone. You should remain laying there until the bear has left the area. The predatory attack on the other hand is generally known to occur by a black bear and is it's natural method of hunting food. In other words, if you are being stalked by a black bear then you are likely a mental photo of his menu for the evening. If you are attacked by a black bear, the recommended response is just the opposite that of a grizzly attack, and you should fight back as if your life depends on it. Using a stick, rocks, fists and fingers, fight with all your might. Most predatory animals, although they typically exert themselves in the process of killing their prey, they prefer not to have to fight for their food and if you put up a strong enough fight, again they will likely leave you alone.

[TIDE-HSV]

I do remember seeing a show where a black bear (I believe in Canada) was stalking someone. It does seem strange that one should fake death when attacked by a grizzly, but fight to the death when attacked by a black bear.

That's not a terribly well written article, but the empirical examination of both types of bear attacks seem to indicate that its general conclusion about defense is correct. The black is a much smaller animal and is more readily intimidated than a grizzly, which don't seem to be susceptible to intimidation at all. Unlike, for example, cougars, which are known to stalk and kill humans as a prey of opportunity, it's generally been shown that both types of bears which predate usually show some signs of being unable to obtain natural foods and prey. Age and broken teeth and disease have all been indicated in cases of predation. One is literally a thousand times more likely to be attacked as a consequence of startling either bear-subspecies than out and out predation. However, if you end up dead as a result of surprise, neither type will pass up an easy meal, so you will end up being dinner...

[Miner]

I do remember seeing a show where a black bear (I believe in Canada) was stalking someone. It does seem strange that one should fake death when attacked by a grizzly, but fight to the death when attacked by a black bear.
What a friend from Alaska told me was, if a Black Bear attacks you, it means to eat you. A Grizzy will often attack for other reasons so playing dead may work. Now if the Grizzy starts to eat your foot, you may want to change your strategy.

[TIDE-HSV]

What a friend from Alaska told me was, if a Black Bear attacks you, it means to eat you. A Grizzy will often attack for other reasons so playing dead may work. Now if the Grizzy starts to eat your foot, you may want to change your strategy.

That's a little too simple. If you walk up on a sow and cubs, she will attack you. It doesn't mean she's about to eat you, in fact, usually the opposite. OTOH, if you keep hearing noises in the bushes and look back and see a black bear with its ears laid back, then, yes, that bear intends to eat you and I'd fight. However, if a griz were chewing on my foot, I'd do my dead-level best to lie still and limp. That would represent my best chance...