Bear Attacks

[Anonymous]

This has been quite a bear year in Montana...We've had a least a half dozen or more attacks- several injured- and 2 or 3 killed now...Problems with both blacks and grizzlies...Bears again being seen in areas they normally aren't....

So if any of you come hunting in Montana- bring your zucchini to protect yourselves :???: :wink: :lol:

Montana woman fends off bear attack with zucchini

By MATT VOLZ, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 23, 7:18 pm ET

HELENA, Mont. – A Montana woman fended off a bear trying to muscle its way into her home Thursday by pelting the animal with a large piece of zucchini from her garden.

The woman suffered minor scratches and one of her dogs was wounded after tussling with the 200-pound bear.

The attack happened just after midnight when the woman let her three dogs into the backyard for their nighttime ritual before she headed to bed, Missoula County Sheriff's Lt. Rich Maricelli said. Authorities believe the black bear was just 25 yards away, eating apples from a tree.

Two of the dogs sensed the bear, began barking and ran away, Maricelli said. The third dog, a 12-year-old collie that wasn't very mobile, remained close to the woman as she stood in the doorway of the home near Frenchtown in western Montana.

Before she knew what was happening, the bear was on top of the dog and batting the collie back and forth, Maricelli said.

"She kicked the bear with her left leg as hard as she could, and she said she felt like she caught it pretty solidly under the chin," Maricelli said.

But as she kicked, the bruin swiped at her leg with its paw and ripped her jeans.

The bear then turned its full attention to the woman in the doorway. She retreated into the house and tried to close the door, but the bear stuck its head and part of a shoulder through the doorway.

The woman held onto the door with her right hand. With her left, she reached behind and grabbed a 14-inch zucchini that she had picked from her garden earlier and was sitting on the kitchen counter, Maricelli said.

She threw the vegetable. It bopped the bruin on the top of its head and the animal fled, Maricelli said.

The woman called for help from a relative staying with her. They found the collie outside, unable to move, and took it to a veterinarian.

The dog appeared to be fine on Thursday, but the vet was keeping it for observation, Maricelli said.

The woman did not need medical attention for the scratches on her leg, though she got a tetanus shot as a precaution, Maricelli said.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials set up a trap in an attempt to capture the bear, the agency said in a statement.

Besides the nearby fruit trees, there wasn't anything on the woman's property that would attract a bear into the backyard, like garbage or livestock feed, wildlife officials said.

Maricelli interviewed the woman, but said the sheriff's office was complying with her wish not to identify her.

"She was very, very shaken, and it kind of took the humor portion out of it for me," Maricelli said. "She said it had this horrific growl and was snarling.

"(But) she can see the humor in it, and she wanted the story put out so the local residents can take precautionary measures," he added.

 

[Hay Feeder]

I just came back from Montana the story of some of the cattle people in the mountains is the nature people that have been to college think they can go pet a bear and get there photo taken with her cubs. One man told one of them they would be a in a pile of bear stuuuuuf the next day and guess what they were.. and it was the bears fault????

 

[jigs]

while hiking, you want to make the bear aware that you are there...so wear bells, and carry pepper spray as a deterrent. to know what type of bear is in the area, look at the dung. Brown bear dung has berries and twigs in it. Grizzly dung has bells and smells like pepper spray.

 

[bakSovrbar]

I know in the black bear country where I came from, these incidents would usually happen the year of – and the year after – a really bad wild berry crop or otherwise bad year for bear food.

I've never seen a grizzly in the wild yet, but it hasn't been not for looking. Awesome animals, but they sure do deserve a lot of respect. At least with cougars and wolves, we are able to interpret their body language because of all the time we spend with their domesticated relatives. Bears, not so much.

 

[Shortgrass]

They tell me to always carry a can full of rocks in bear country. It works real well if ya carry the rocks fast enough. :lol: :lol:

Along the front range in Colorado, they are having increased bear problems. These animals need managed with knowledge and reason, not by emotion.

 

[Denny]

Everyone just needs to use some common sense. If they get where I see them out in the open on a regular basis I just shoot them. Someone has to have balls enough to keep bears and wolves in check. If your waiting for government to do it good luck. A friend had wolves kill and eat a cow a couple weeks ago they could'nt trap them because they could tell the wolves ate it but none of the wolves confessed to the killing.Now thats a kick in the shorts.About the same time I had one come out while haying that wolf for sure won't bother anymore cattle.

There was an article in AgWeek a couple weeks ago about a couple ranchers in Western ND who shot alot of deer wrecking their winter feedstocks. I know I'd do the same thing if the situation arose. Some people have the guts to take care of the problems some just whine.

 

[Bullhauler]

Pssst Denny the third "s" in SSS stands for SHUT-UP

 

[Denny]

Should be an F for Fed-up. You lose an animal to a wolf here and the chance of getting paid are slim to none.The Feds and the DNR always have a way of weaseling out of paying.

 

[per]

Should be an F for Fed-up. You lose an animal to a wolf here and the chance of getting paid are slim to none.The Feds and the DNR always have a way of weaseling out of paying.

Often the proof is eaten and you are lucky to find a tag left.

 

[Shane M. Moe]

while hiking, you want to make the bear aware that you are there...so wear bells, and carry pepper spray as a deterrent. to know what type of bear is in the area, look at the dung. Brown bear dung has berries and twigs in it. Grizzly dung has bells and smells like pepper spray.

You made me laugh and thats a good thing these days.

 

[I Luv Herfrds]

Tell me about it per.
So far the only thing found has been 3 piles of canine poop full of red hair.
May have found where it happened, but it had rained and snowed.
Why did I think it was there? The cow was bawling over there and the stink of something rotting. Looked all over and didn't find a thing.