View Full Version : Strange Bear Attack in Michigan
http://www.freep.com/article/20101011/NEWS06/101011060/1319/Deer-hunter-fights-off-bears-in-Bear-Creek-Twp.
Pedaling Fool
10-12-2010, 11:07
That is strange, would have been less strange if it was just one bear.
The wildlife "experts" in their attempt to explain this attack just showed how ignorant many of them are. I acknowledge their very good schooling, but many of them lack real-life experience, maybe go out once in a while, but mostly sit behind a desk. I would have respected them more if they'd just say, "I don't know...", but they had to propose two utterly stupid theories.
StorminMormon
10-12-2010, 11:23
Agreed, I'm not sure what they had to gain by offering theories that hold very little water since none of them were there to see the event. They should have just kept to the script and rattled on about how bears are dangerous and unpredictable and they're glad that this guy is going to be ok.
TIDE-HSV
10-12-2010, 18:43
The game people really come off like idiots. First, all of us have residual food smells which the sharp nose of a bear can pick up, and the cub protection theory with him treed is just BS. Yearling bears are pretty good size by the time they leave the sow. That is really strange, aggressive behavior - completely out of character for a black bear...
Could be the bears were attempting to protect a species towards which they are sympathetic. Here is a hunter up in a perch, out to kill deer. Could the bears have sensed this, or from previous experience seen the results? Far-fetched, I know, but there are stories about dolphins protecting humans from shark attack... such as this one http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21689083
Also, we have groups out there doing extreme things to protect dolphins and whales. I wonder if they (the fish) have sensed this?
And a final comment, my golden retriever, the kindest and most gentle animal on earth went after me and my son to break us up when we were wrestling (in fun). Is there more to this than we know?
Follow up.
http://www.freep.com/article/20101012/SPORTS10/101012087/1318/Wildlife-officers-to-euthanize-aggressive-bear-that-attacked-hunter
Pedaling Fool
10-13-2010, 08:59
Yearling bears are pretty good size by the time they leave the sow. That is really strange, aggressive behavior - completely out of character for a black bear...
Yes they can be pretty damn big by they time they leave mom. I think there's a really good chance this was mom w/ cubs.
Black bears do on occasion hunt. This could possibly be a case where they are desperate to gain some more fat for winter.
This is not an act of sympathy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JVkaMqD5mI Do you hear that crying? I'm not a touchy-feely kind of person, but it does make me feel somewhat sad to hear that. I know someone that witnessed a black bear run down a fawn, all the mom could do was sit there and make a noise that sounded like a cry.
vamelungeon
10-13-2010, 11:16
Sounds like a simple case of a bear that has learned to associate humans with food.
Don't feed the bears.
Could be the bears were attempting to protect a species towards which they are sympathetic. Here is a hunter up in a perch, out to kill deer. Could the bears have sensed this, or from previous experience seen the results? Far-fetched, I know, but there are stories about dolphins protecting humans from shark attack... such as this one http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21689083
Also, we have groups out there doing extreme things to protect dolphins and whales. I wonder if they (the fish) have sensed this?
And a final comment, my golden retriever, the kindest and most gentle animal on earth went after me and my son to break us up when we were wrestling (in fun). Is there more to this than we know?
Anthropomorphism.
TIDE-HSV
10-13-2010, 18:19
Sounds like a simple case of a bear that has learned to associate humans with food.
Don't feed the bears.
From the fact that the same bear family had been wandering around residences, IŽd say youŽre exactly correct...
Harrison Bergeron
10-14-2010, 09:51
I don't know why the obvious explanation never occurred to the "Experts".
Four hungry foraging bears come across a single puny unarmed human in the woods. What usually seems like a dangerous meal doesn't seem so dangerous when the odds are four to one. And unlike Grizzlies, black bears, are known to actually attack humans for the purpose of eating them.
To me the most remarkable thing about the account was how easy it was to drive them off. The guy probably could have saved himself a trip to the hospital if he'd had an ounce can of pepper spray on his key chain.