Archive for the 'Animals' Category

Bear news from Colorado.

Chernosky realized that the bear was now between him and the cell phone in his room, so he couldn’t call for help. But he knew he had to try to coax the bear toward the door where it had walked in unannounced (yes, bears can actually open doors and cars).

Chernosky said he calmly talked to the bear, ushering it away from the stairs to where his kids were sleeping. According to the National Park Service (NPS), once a bear has noticed you, it’s important to talk to it so the bear can identify you as a human. Remember, humans are not their typical food choice. You should also make yourself look as large as possible, and back away sideways.

This method worked for Chernosky—initially. “The bear slowly backed away and opened the garage door. It went into the garage and the door shut behind it. I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the problem was solved,” he says. After waiting a few minutes, Chernosky cautiously opened the door to the garage and hit the button to open the garage door so the bear could go outside.

“The garage door spooked it, and it ran back toward where I was standing. I ran down the hall and hid in the corner, and it came back inside,” he continues. “I couldn’t see it because it was so dark, so I came back to the hallway to look, and when I came around, I realized it was standing right in front of me. It was a total shock to the both of us.”

The 400-pound black bear instantly hit Chernosky in the head so hard that it spun him around in a full circle. “It felt like a brick smacking you in the side of the head and instantly tore the skin off my forehead, my right eye, and sliced my ear in half. I was bleeding immediately and crawled back behind the counter thinking, ‘This thing’s about to have me for lunch,'” he says.

I guess the thing I don’t get is this.  Why would you hear someone or something trashing your home, and go out to meet that someone or something without a gun?

Tennessee.

SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is investigating after a man was reportedly attacked by a bear on an island on South Holston Lake.

TWRA spokesperson Matthew Cameron told News Channel 11 on Tuesday that officers were investigating after a man reported being dragged from a hammock while camping on the island.

TWRA reports that victim Matt Marvin was camping at an “undeveloped campsite” across from the 421 Access Area.

Marvin was asleep in a hammock early Sunday morning when he woke up to a bear biting his foot.

Marvin told investigators he defended himself by shooting at the bear.

Later Sunday evening, TWRA says that Marvin reported the incident to Washington County, Virginia 911 and told TWRA about the encounter on Monday.

TWRA reports that Marvin gave them a photo of the injury, which showed “a small wound to the heel of his foot.”

A dead or injured bear was not found at the campsite, nor did investigators find any sign of one.

TWRA reports human food was left behind at the campsite, and a warning of bear activity has been left in the area.

Connecticut.

A man who was walking three dogs on a trail in Simsbury was attacked by a black bear Sunday morning.

The incident happened at approximately 7:30 a.m. in the McLean Game Refuge off Firetown Road, police said.

Police said the attack happened about 20 minutes into the Eddy Loop Trail.

The man was walking three dogs on the trail when a bear came out and bit one of the dogs, according to Sergeant Brad Chase. The man tried to intervene and help the dog when he himself was bitten in the leg.

The man sought medical attention and is doing fine, police said.

The police department said they are working with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection who is handling the bear aspect of the incident.

One of the three, Lucy, a golden retriever who weighs about 50 pounds ran away when the incident happened. Simsbury police announced Monday morning that Lucy was found safe at the McClean Game Refuge.

At least the Tennessee camper had a pistol.  I don’t even think that’s allowed in Connecticut.  The first article recommends cooking far away from your camp site.  That’s hard in most instances, but it’s a good practice to elevate food in a tree, and camp with a dog, or multiple dogs.

News from North Carolina.

A 17-year-old was out collecting wood near his home in Hillsborough when he bent down to pick up a branch and a snake bit him on his left hand.

He knew almost immediately that it was a copperhead.

“He knows his snakes; he went to herpetology camp,” said Amy Carabetta, whose son Ian was bitten.

“I was scared,” she said. “His hand started to swell almost immediately.

Carabetta called 911 for an ambulance.

“My hand was really hard to move while I was in the hospital,” Ian said. “It surprisingly wasn’t painful.”

Carabetta was especially scared for her son because he wants to be a carpenter and his left hand is his dominant hand

“It was pretty scary the first night he was in the hospital,” Carabetta said. “I handed him a bottle, and he couldn’t unscrew it with his left hand.”

Ian got the treatment he needed, but when the bill came in the mail a few weeks later, Carabetta was shocked.

“I immediately got it out, put it on the hood of the car and took a picture of it and sent it to my husband,” she said. She then posted it on Facebook.

The bill totaled more than $225,000.

Ian’s hand healed completely, and his father’s insurance helped bring the family’s cost down to $175, Carabetta said.

“I don’t know if it would’ve happened that way if we hadn’t have had the treatment,” she said.

“The patient received 12 vials of antivenom, which cost about $200,000, including the hospital’s markup,” Duke Health officials said in an emailed statement to The News & Observer. “The patient’s insurance paid roughly half of the total amount billed based on its contract with Duke, which provides for a substantial discount. Duke has assumed the remaining balance, and the patient’s total out-of-pocket obligation is $175.”

I happen to know a little about this because I did some research when my Heidi-girl, the best dog ever in history, got bitten by a Copperhead.

The antivenom is made usually south of the border in Mexico.  They make it by injecting a select bovine population with venom, and extracting the antibodies over time to formulate the antivenom for humans.  By the way, this can cause stray bovine proteins to enter the human bloodstream if you have to be injected, and that itself can cause problems.

This antivenom is biological material and has to be refrigerated.  The cost when I looked into it was on the order of $10,000 – $12,000 per vial, or treatment, and the cost of recovery depends on how many vials you need.  Apparently the cost has gone up, and there is also a markup at the hospital (probably for simply investing the capital to have it in stock along with the shelf life of the material).

I don’t know how to advise, except to wear boots and watch your six if you’re going to be out and about in the summer and early fall.  This is one reason I don’t prefer to go hiking and backpacking in the summer.

News from Alaska.

Well, I don’t think he did everything right.  I’d be carrying a large bore handgun.

I have written the AP reporter who authored this report and asked her what weapon was used and what caliber.

She wrote back immediately and stated that she didn’t know, but gave me the contact information of the plant.  I have contacted them with these same questions.

If I get a response I’ll let you know.  Both I and Dean Weingarten would be very interested in that information.

News from Canada.

Francis Levasseur is happy to be alive and well after being chased and charged by a predacious black bear in the remote community of Hills, B.C., in the West Kootenay’s Slocan Valley.

He was out for a jog on a secluded trail during the Victoria Day long weekend, when he noticed the bear crossing the trail about 100 metres away. Levasseur stopped and, after waiting a while, noticed the bear didn’t seem to be bothered by his presence, so he continued on his way.

But then the bear started approaching him, Levasseur said.

“The bear came back on the trail and then he looked at me and started walking toward me,” Levasseur told CBC’s Bob Keating.

“I’ve had a lot of encounters with bears and I never had that kind of behaviour from a bear.”

Levasseur said at no point did he run toward or away from the bear because he didn’t want the animal to view him as prey, and added that he wasn’t carrying any food.

Levasseur started yelling, making loud noises and waving his hands in the air, even using a large stick, to try to look big.

Then, from 100 metres away, the bear charged at Levasseur.

“I thought well, I have to do something. I’m going to get killed,” he said.

He turned, saw a tree, and instinctively began to climb it.

The bear tried to climb another tree nearby, so Levasseur continued to scream and shook the tree in an attempt to scare it off. It seemed to work — the bear walked away. Fifteen minutes later, Levasseur figured it was safe to come down.

However, the bear came running back, chasing Levasseur up the tree about six metres from the ground.

The bear left and then came back every 10 minutes for two hours.

“It was really, really awful,” Levasseur said. “I thought I would die from the worst kind of death you can possibly have — being ripped apart by a bear. Not fun.”

[ … ]

According to the Valhalla Wilderness Society, predatory black bear attacks on humans are extremely rare.

“Extremely rare.”  Remember that.

So this guy would have had time to grab a weapon.  Can I say it, dear reader?

If I could give one piece of advice, it would be to carry a large bore handgun while in the bush.

News from the Northern Redoubt.

HENRYS LAKE, Idaho (CBS2) — A hiker in eastern Idaho has survived injuries he sustained in a grizzly bear attack.

Idaho Fish and Game says the man and his wife were hiking along the Outlet Overlook Trail at Henrys Lake State Park when the attack occurred. He was able to walk out on his own and was treated and released at a local hospital.

The hiker, identified as 73-year-old Gregory Godar of West Yellowstone, told Fish and Game that he had bear spray with him but it was strapped to his chest.

“If I had one word of advice, it would be to carry your bear spray in your hand and not strapped to your chest,” Godar said.

By the time Godar’s wife deployed her own can of bear spray, the mamma grizzly and her two cubs had left the area.

So if I could give “one word of advice,” it would be to carry a large bore handgun in the bush.

This man is very fortunate he wasn’t killed.  It might be that if he had no time to get to spray, he wouldn’t have had time to get to a handgun.

But I know when I was in the bush in Colorado I had my head on a swivel.

From reader BRVTVS, this report from Canada.

British Columbia’s Conservation Officer Service says it’s investigating a lone wolf attack in Port Edward, on the North Coast.

Insp. Cam Schley says the attack happened Friday, shortly after 11 p.m., as the victim was walking home after visiting with friends.

“He didn’t do anything to provoke the attack. It just happened,” Schley said.

Officers have spoken with the man in hospital, where he’s recovering from non-life-threatening injuries.

Schley said officers are trying to locate the wolf. He said it’s not clear if this wolf might be linked to incidents in nearby Prince Rupert, just 20 kilometres away, where some pets have been killed.

Residents are being advised to walk in groups, if possible, and to be aware of their surroundings.

Dog owners should keep pets tied up in their yards and not let them run loose, the conservation service said.

Although wolves are known to frequent the North Coast, Schley said, wolf attacks are extremely rare in B.C.

I wonder how he ended the attack?  I love how they always say after every bear, Coyote, wolf and cougar attack that it’s “extremely rare.”  Every one.

I would otherwise say always carry a large bore handgun, but you know, this is Canada.

At a time where your thoughts are running to two-legged predators, don’t forget about the four-legged ones.

News from Washington.

A cougar appeared to be stalking two cyclists as they biked over the weekend in the Cascade Mountains near Seattle. Suddenly, the animal charged, a survivor of the animal’s attack that killed one told authorities.

The man said he hit the cougar in the head with his mountain bike, and the animal ran into the woods. But as he and the other cyclist were catching their breath and getting back on their bicycles, the animal returned and fastened its mouth on the survivor’s head, crunching down, shaking the cyclist side to side like prey, King County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ryan Abbott said Sunday, describing the man’s account.

The cyclist managed to get loose when the cougar decided to chase his friend, who was running away, according to Abbott.

[ … ]

When the cougar released him, Sederbaum jumped back on his mountain bike to get away. As he looked back, he saw the cougar dragging Brooks into the woods, Abbott said.

He rode 2 miles for cellphone reception to call 911, according to KOMO.

When sheriff’s deputies located Brooks, the cougar was standing on top of the cyclist’s body, Abbott said. Brooks had been “dragged a short distance to where the animal partially buried the body under a log,” Myers said.

First of all, what a pussy.  He saw someone being dragged away to be killed by the cat and literally hopped on his bike to get away.

Folks, every man dies.  It matters how you live, and it matters how you die.  Turning someone over to a beast because you’re afraid is not a manly thing to do, because man is made in God’s image.

Second, you’d better carry a large bore handgun in the bush, boy.  Don’t ever do something like that again – either failing to carry means of self defense, or leaving someone in distress.

Colorado.

A couple camping southwest of Colorado Springs got a rude awakening when a bear started to rustle through their campsite, causing a commotion by knocking over a stove and plates. However, what happened next was far more invasive.

According to a report from Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), the bear reared up and placed its paws on the couples tent. The bear then fell forward onto the tent, causing it to collapse. The incident happened at 1:30 AM Monday morning at the Golden Eagle Campground off of Highway 115.

After the tent collapsed, the bear retreated a bit before turning and huffing at the couple. The couple was then able to scare off the curious bear by shouting and starting their car alarm.

Montana.

A man who was part of a Sun River floating party was attacked by a grizzly bear Sunday morning after he inadvertently got between the sow and her cub, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Greg Lemon, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman, said a man was attacked after he stepped into the bushes to relieve himself.

“He put himself between the sow and the cub,” Lemon said. “The sow saw him and immediately attacked him, bit him in a couple of places.”

Oregon.

Sons if Liberty Media.

Putnam County, FL — Proportionately, cops kill far more dogs than they do people. It’s quite a strange phenomena because postal workers, UPS drivers, and food delivery drivers don’t seem to have the same problems with dogs like cops do. It’s so devious, the killing of family pets by those sworn to serve and protect the public, we actually keep an archive of stories of cops killing man’s best friend. But one cop learned the hard way shooting a dog can be dangerous. He shot himself instead of the dog.

Chris Crenshaw, of Putnam County, had committed no crime and had harmed no one when a Putnam County deputy came to his home, walked into his gated yard and knocked on the front door before attempting to kill his dog.

Police were reportedly looking for a person who’d ran away from home. When the deputy knocked at the door, Crenshaw’s dog ran outside and police claim it charged the officer.

That’s when the deputy opened fire. Luckily for the dog, however, the deputy shot himself in the foot instead and the dog is fine. News 4 JAX reports that according to the Sheriff’s Office, the deputy reached for his gun to shoot the dog, but the dog moved out of the way and the deputy accidentally shot himself in the foot.

If readers think I get sappy and emotional from time to time, there is good reason.

I am a sucker for a happy ending.  This one brought tears to my eyes.

Woof says the bad dog.  Bite him!  Bite him!

Via WiscoDave.