On Sep 3, 11:00 pm, Mike Vandeman wrote:
On Mon, 3 Sep 2007 12:00:50 -0600, "Ist-e Mundus, Furia bundus"
wrote:
"Mike Vandeman" wrote in message
.. .
What crime did the bear commit, that it deserves to die?! She was only
defending her cubs!
Mike
http://www.komotv.com/news/9538012.html:
Black bear attacks bicyclist in park
Story Published: Sep 2, 2007 at 4:14 PM PDT
Story Updated: Sep 3, 2007 at 7:33 AM PDT
By KOMO Staff
Watch the story
NEAR OLLALA, Wash. -- A man was attacked by a bear while mountain
biking in the Banner Forest Heritage Park just before noon on Sunday,
according to South Kitsap Fire and Rescue officials.
Spokesman Ron Powers said a 51-year-old Port Orchard man was biking
with his two dogs alongside him when the dogs ran ahead and around the
bend, then started barking fiercely. The man turned the bend and saw
the dogs were barking at a bear.
Powers said the bear immediately charged at the man, who tried to use
his bike to shield himself from the animal. But the bear managed to
injure the man's arm, back, neck and ear before he was able to get
back on his bike and ride away.
Down the path, the injured man ran into other mountain bikers, who
called 911.
The man was conscious and alert when he was taken to St. Joseph
Medical Center in Tacoma. The unidentified man is in serious
condition, but is expected to recover.
One of the man's dogs is still missing. It is not known whether the
dog suffered injuries during the attack. The second dog is said to be
OK.
Officials evacuated the park and shut it down in order to search for
the bear. Powers said if the bear is found, officials plan to kill it.
Officials said crews will search through the night until the bear is
found.
Another bicyclist who was at the park on Sunday told authorities he
saw mother bear and two cubs while riding on the trail.
Powers said Sunday's attack is a freak accident, stating black bears
rarely attack humans and, unless provoked or threatened, will run
away. The man or the dogs may have appeared as a threat to the bear,
who may have been protecting her cubs, Powers said.
Area resident Teri Nelson agrees, while bears are not uncommon at the
park, she didn't expect them to be aggressive.
"Attacking somebody would make me have second thoughts about walking
through this forest by myself," she said. "It's pretty scary."
--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are
fond of!
How do you know it was defending cubs? The article only says "may have
been", and that there was a report of a bear with two cubs. No guarantee it
was the same bear as "bears are not uncommon at the park". There you go
leaping to conclusions again, reaffirming your status as the primo number
one twit-extraordinaire on usenet.
It's a well-known fact that black bears don't attack humans, except to
defend their cubs. Do you think it was offended by the color of his
outfit?!
WTF?
Tell that to the family in Utah whose 11 year old was dragged out of
their tent and killed in June by a male black bear. Male black bears
aren't known for being protective of their cubs. Some are known to
attack cubs, which could include their own young.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n2947472.shtml
Here's a California DFG listing of black bear attacks in California.
Fortunately there's never been a reported human fatality from a black
bear attack in California or Nevada.
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/news/issues/be...incidents.html
Black bear attacks on humans are extremely rare. However - when
attacks do happen, it's for far more reasons than simply defending
cubs. NPS rangers have told me that more often than not, a black bear
sow will run away when scared off by humans. In that case, they'll
typically come back for their cubs later. That doesn't mean caution
isn't warranted around a black bear sow with cubs, because they have
been known to attack.
I'd be far more concerned about a grizzly bear sow defending its cubs.
http://www.bear.org/Black/Articles/W..._Wildlife.html
"Unlike grizzly bear mothers, black bear mothers seldom attack people
in defense of cubs. Black bear mothers typically bluff or retreat.
Researchers who routinely capture cubs by chasing them up trees have
not been attacked even when they have held the screaming cubs. The
ferocity of mother black bears is one of the biggest misconceptions
about this species."