On the news: bear attack

[Spleenstomper]

Please excuse if this has been posted before:

Bear attacks travel trailer with family inside

[navegator]

I lived in my uncles farm in Sweden and he had a big bull, and had the girls, cousins and my sister forbiden to go in the barn or the pen when they where menstruating, the bull would really get exited and trashed about wanting to get out, nature is nature and we have to be aware of what can happen while in the wild, we are ANIMALS after all.

Think before you condem an amimal that is only doing what nature and instinckt tells it to do.

navegator

[loulou57]

navegator wrote:
I did not know that there where attacks by bears yust for the kill, I do know that some female bears will defend a territory when in heat specially if there is a woman during her period, remember that bears can smell a lot better than us, there was an incident in Sweden when one of the girls in the camping party was menstruating and was the only one "ATTACKED" the other girls in the tent where not touched, this kid came close to death but lived, I was part of the rescue effort to helivac her out of the woods.

navegator

The whole issue of menstruation and wilderness camping were part of the lessons taught to us. People usually tend to laugh or have a few questionable comments and jokes about the topic.

[navegator]

I did not know that there where attacks by bears yust for the kill, I do know that some female bears will defend a territory when in heat specially if there is a woman during her period, remember that bears can smell a lot better than us, there was an incident in Sweden when one of the girls in the camping party was menstruating and was the only one "ATTACKED" the other girls in the tent where not touched, this kid came close to death but lived, I was part of the rescue effort to helivac her out of the woods.

navegator

[rfryer]

I have to agree with down home, animals are sort of like people. Most are not belligerent unless you appear to be a threat to them somehow. But there are also exceptions that are more malicious.. It reminds me a little of the old belief that the man eating cats of Africa and India were old, infirm, or injured animals that couldn’t hunt their normal game. That’s long since been proven false by the professional hunters that were hired to eliminate them.

In a lifetime of wandering the mountains I’ve never been attacked. I was trailed by a bear once while deer hunting but I think he was just curious. And I once had a lion track alongside me in the brush for some distance periodically screaming. I’m not sure what his motive was but I’m more wary of cats than bear, they’re more stealthy and faster and there are a lot of them in AZ.

I know of one fellow yanked out of his tent by a bear. He was sort of asking for it, though, he cleaned a bunch of fish and didn’t clean up well or change clothes and the bear probably though thought he’d stumbled over the biggest fish he ever saw. His friend saved his butt with a 357.

And a friend and his wife were scouting for deer and he stopped the truck well short of a fence and walked up to open the gate. His wife glanced out to the left and a little ahead and saw a lion crouched in the brush. Being a cat person she recognized the body language of a cat preparing to jump and she hopped in the driver’s seat and practically ran my friend down gunning the truck up between him and the cat. He was lucky she was with him.

About 2 months ago my youngest granddaughter was visiting and wanted to go camping and spot a lion or bear. Good luck with that.:D In the process we ran across a guy living in a cabin in a very remote area along the Blue River. He had some black and tans and puppies he used for lion hunting and while the DW and GD played with the puppies we talked about hunting. He told me if you want bear go up adjacent to the Apache Reservation which is primitive country. He had lived in a cabin near there and said he kept a 30/30 in his living room and shot at least one and sometimes two bears a year that were coming through his window. In that case I suspect they weren’t rogue bears but just smelled food in the cabin.

So I think wandering around the wilds thinking animals won’t bother you if you don’t bother them is sort of naïve at best; you’re counting on not running into that exception. Incidents like described are uncommon but they do happen and one should at least have a plan how they’ll deal with the situation.

[loulou57]

toedtoes wrote:
The report says there was a bear hunt going on nearby. Maybe the bear was just trying to escape those crazy people trying to shoot it...

I know the need for bear hunts. What bothers me about them is the fact that some hunters put out bait pails. These bait pails consist of human food. We then wonder why bears are attracted to human food at Camp sites, garbage landfills etc. I know it is not only hunters that add to the issue it is also irresponsible people who do not store food, bird feed, garbage etc.

[loulou57]

westend wrote:

loulou57 wrote:

westend wrote:

loulou57 wrote:

navegator wrote:
Bears only "attack" if they are startled, cornered or have cubs, this bear probablly smelled food in the RV or some IDIOT fed it some food from a trailer door and this one was looking for food.

With all the fires that have destroyed so much food for all the animals it does not surprice me one bit if these animals are going hungry.

I am very happy that only the trailer is damaged and no one else, the kids must have been terrified.

navegator

l

I am sorry but Bears do not only attack for the reasons suggested. Bears do stalk humans and do kill just to kill.

Do you have some reference to this statement?

Actually yes... A Dr from our area was stalked and killed by a bear at a place we frequent. Look online...woman killed by bear near Chapleau Ontario.
We knew the couple, we were there. The bear had been following them. The husband noticed every time they came ashore the same bear showed up shortly after. I won't get into details that were not made public but this bear did not kill her for food. There was no way she would have been revived by the Dr's. That came upon them. This has happened more times than this incident. Not every case hits the news.

I guess we have a difference as to the definition of "do kill just to kill". "Stalking" and an unreasonable urge just to kill something is probably not a reason for any wild animal attack. It is usually caused by territorial, predatory, or defensive reasons. Yes, a bear will follow a person if it thinks there is an invasion of it's territory and will attack but I wouldn't label this as an uncontrolled urge just to kill a human. As was posted, wild animals have a different thought process about keeping us out of their way, even if not for a meal.

This bear had followed them for quite a distance, not only a mile or so. It was concluded that the bear attacked and killed her for as we humans would say if the tables were turned "sport". As you say, we don't know how animals think. Some animals kill for fun. Think of a dog chasing a rabbit, he doesn't want to eat it, just catch it, play with it and kill it.

We really have to respect and expect anything from wild animals.

[westend]

loulou57 wrote:

westend wrote:

loulou57 wrote:

navegator wrote:
Bears only "attack" if they are startled, cornered or have cubs, this bear probablly smelled food in the RV or some IDIOT fed it some food from a trailer door and this one was looking for food.

With all the fires that have destroyed so much food for all the animals it does not surprice me one bit if these animals are going hungry.

I am very happy that only the trailer is damaged and no one else, the kids must have been terrified.

navegator

l

I am sorry but Bears do not only attack for the reasons suggested. Bears do stalk humans and do kill just to kill.

Do you have some reference to this statement?

Actually yes... A Dr from our area was stalked and killed by a bear at a place we frequent. Look online...woman killed by bear near Chapleau Ontario.
We knew the couple, we were there. The bear had been following them. The husband noticed every time they came ashore the same bear showed up shortly after. I won't get into details that were not made public but this bear did not kill her for food. There was no way she would have been revived by the Dr's. That came upon them. This has happened more times than this incident. Not every case hits the news.

I guess we have a difference as to the definition of "do kill just to kill". "Stalking" and an unreasonable urge just to kill something is probably not a reason for any wild animal attack. It is usually caused by territorial, predatory, or defensive reasons. Yes, a bear will follow a person if it thinks there is an invasion of it's territory and will attack but I wouldn't label this as an uncontrolled urge just to kill a human. As was posted, wild animals have a different thought process about keeping us out of their way, even if not for a meal.

[toedtoes]

The report says there was a bear hunt going on nearby. Maybe the bear was just trying to escape those crazy people trying to shoot it...

[FLY_4_FUN]

The Hay River NWT airport is now named after Merlin Carter. He was a long time bush pilot who was attacked and killed by a bear after docking his seaplane at a remote fishing/hunting lodge.

Daryll

[ksg5000]

I am glad the husband came and scared the bear away .. hate to see the women and kid get killed just to settle a foolish argument implying that Bears don't attack humans.

Edit: Worth a look. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

[Roy_Lynne]

Does wasp spray really work? We don't own firearms for a good reason,(id probably shoot my foot off) so another defense would be a good idea as we like to camp and huckleberry pick in bear country.

[loulou57]

down home wrote:

navegator wrote:
Bears only "attack" if they are startled, cornered or have cubs, this bear probablly smelled food in the RV or some IDIOT fed it some food from a trailer door and this one was looking for food.

With all the fires that have destroyed so much food for all the animals it does not surprice me one bit if these animals are going hungry.

I am very happy that only the trailer is damaged and no one else, the kids must have been terrified.

navegator

Bears are not just unfortunately misunderstood critters. They are individuals. They will get angry and go about tearing anything they come across up. They will come after you unprovoked, if it is that bears bent. Going into bear woods without a firearm is a fools errand. At the same time many cause confrontations and get killed and injured. Several years ago a crowd chased a bear and two cubs, in the Smokies, getting within feet of the last cub. They are fortunate a bunch of these idiots didn't get killed or hurt seriously. Many were children but many were adult deliquents. Bambi will stomp you too pieces too. They don't want to be cuddled. They ant your food and if bedeviled a piece of your hide.

I am glad to hear someone else who can respect the wild animals we share this land with. Never assume an animal will not try to or attack you. You never know. Saying this, I would not want people to not enjoy the wilderness. The key is...get educated by professionals. Respect where you are, respect the animals.

[down_home]

navegator wrote:
Bears only "attack" if they are startled, cornered or have cubs, this bear probablly smelled food in the RV or some IDIOT fed it some food from a trailer door and this one was looking for food.

With all the fires that have destroyed so much food for all the animals it does not surprice me one bit if these animals are going hungry.

I am very happy that only the trailer is damaged and no one else, the kids must have been terrified.

navegator

Bears are not just unfortunately misunderstood critters. They are individuals. They will get angry and go about tearing anything they come across up. They will come after you unprovoked, if it is that bears bent. Going into bear woods without a firearm is a fools errand. At the same time many cause confrontations and get killed and injured. Several years ago a crowd chased a bear and two cubs, in the Smokies, getting within feet of the last cub. They are fortunate a bunch of these idiots didn't get killed or hurt seriously. Many were children but many were adult deliquents. Bambi will stomp you too pieces too. They don't want to be cuddled. They ant your food and if bedeviled a piece of your hide.

[loulou57]

westend wrote:

loulou57 wrote:

navegator wrote:
Bears only "attack" if they are startled, cornered or have cubs, this bear probablly smelled food in the RV or some IDIOT fed it some food from a trailer door and this one was looking for food.

With all the fires that have destroyed so much food for all the animals it does not surprice me one bit if these animals are going hungry.

I am very happy that only the trailer is damaged and no one else, the kids must have been terrified.

navegator

l

I am sorry but Bears do not only attack for the reasons suggested. Bears do stalk humans and do kill just to kill.

Do you have some reference to this statement?

Actually yes... A Dr from our area was stalked and killed by a bear at a place we frequent. Look online...woman killed by bear near Chapleau Ontario.
We knew the couple, we were there. The bear had been following them. The husband noticed every time they came ashore the same bear showed up shortly after. I won't get into details that were not made public but this bear did not kill her for food. There was no way she would have been revived by the Dr's. That came upon them. This has happened more times than this incident. Not every case hits the news.

[westend]

loulou57 wrote:

navegator wrote:
Bears only "attack" if they are startled, cornered or have cubs, this bear probablly smelled food in the RV or some IDIOT fed it some food from a trailer door and this one was looking for food.

With all the fires that have destroyed so much food for all the animals it does not surprice me one bit if these animals are going hungry.

I am very happy that only the trailer is damaged and no one else, the kids must have been terrified.

navegator

I am sorry but Bears do not only attack for the reasons suggested. Bears do stalk humans and do kill just to kill.

Do you have some reference to this statement?