Fatal Black Bear Attacks on the Rise

[Alaska444]

Dear Double Naught Spy,

You are so correct that many folks believe it could never happen to them. I just found out the second of my childhood friends was injured by a grizzly bear. The first was mauled by a black bear over 20 years ago and I believe he and three friends beat it off with sticks, but were cut up fairly well. That was outside of the Anchorage area. The second childhood friend I know that was mauled by a bear just happened a few days ago while he was hunting grizzly up near Nome and stopped to take a picture before shooting the bear. In the mean time, the bear decided he wasn't going for the game plan and pounced on him covering 70 feet in just a couple of seconds. He grabbed him by his head and he suffered severe injuries.

Fortunately, his two hunting partners were able to shoot the bear who wondered off and died a few yards away. His hunting companions were dentists and did an excellent job helping him with his horrific injuries. They had a ham radio and got a helicopter out to him and on board a charter jet within about an hour for a flight to Seattle. Not sure what kind of rifle they had, but it was reported as one of the largest bears seen in that area.

Interestingly, keeping with the thread, there really were not any grizzly in the Nome area when I was a kid up there in the 1960's and now it is one of the highly concentrated grizzly populations so much so that the usual one bear very four years rule is not in effect there. They are allowed one grizzly a year in the Nome area. I hope he does well, but he has a long recovery ahead. We have long since lost touch and not sure he would even remember me, but my brother recalls that we did know him as kids. Sad story, but it appears he will survive. I am glad we had no grizzly when we were kids up there since we took long bike rides up to 10 miles outside of Nome. No doubt, we think it will never happen to us, yet I personally know two of my childhood friends who were attacked. In addition, the increased population of bears on the Seward Peninsula contributed to this most recent attack.

http://www.adn.com/2011/05/17/186781...ecovering.html

[Alaska444]

The internet is a wonderful thing. Here is the account of the first person I knew that was attacked by a bear back in 1967. Mike lived at the top of O'Malley road and we were just down below that back in the 60's.

A geophysicist and former Anchorage resident, MacInnes was mauled by another grizzly along the Resurrection Pass Trail in 1967, according to bear-book author Larry Kaniut and U.S. Geological Survey bear biologist Tom Smith. Smith has begun keeping a catalog of Alaska bear attacks.

MacInnes was weeks away from starting high school when the bear jumped him and buddy Mike Moerlein of Anchorage near American Creek. Moerlein, who drowned in 1984 after his skiff overturned in Cook Inlet, was credited with saving MacInnes' life in that attack.

"I saw (the bear) shaking his head like a huge dog, but I didn't know if he was shaking Scott," Moerlein told Kaniut. "I was a little surprised, to say the least - this kind of thing would never happen to you.

"I feared for Scott's life, so I jumped out (of the trees), yelled and waved my arms. I shot the bear with my slingshot. The bear charged me. I ran faster than I had ever run, but he caught me before I had gone 10 steps. As he ran over me, he bit me in the left hip and the left side of the head. I saw him turn around and come back at me, so I, in sheer desperation, grabbed Scott's walking stick and brought it down on his head with all my might."

The whack on the head drove the bear off, although the animal paused to bite MacInnes one more time as it fled. Moerlein had to hike out to get his friend help.

"His right leg had a few tooth marks," Moerlein told Kaniut. "His left leg was real bad, and he said that his arm hurt worse than anything. I didn't see any blood, so I thought he had broken it."

MacInnes had to be flown by helicopter to an Anchorage hospital after that attack but eventually recovered from his injuries.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1387786/posts

Unfortunately, as noted in this article, Mike and his younger brother Gilbert drowned off of Solodotna in 1984 with a third person. Alaska is an unforgiving place where it doesn't take much to lose your life. This is the first time I have actually read the account of the bear attack that Mike survived and it appears quite heroically at a very early age of about 14. Quite a remarkable story.

[eyeball2]

modern wildlife management has nothing to do with tree-huggers. they are preservationists who typically want no hunting. hunters are the ones who began the first national parks and game laws to protect animals to ensure future hunting opportunities. private land owners make millions from sport hunting and now protect game over livestock for economic survival. teddy roosevelt was an avid hunter and voice for the protection of land and animals and was responsibile for protecting yellowstone, etc. thanks, rc

[Double Naught Spy]

they are preservationists who typically want no hunting. hunters are the ones who began the first national parks and game laws to protect animals to ensure future hunting opportunities.

I believe your view of how the national park system came about is fairly biased to a singular view that just is not representative of reality.

http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online...ey/kieley2.htm

[CWKahrFan]

...deleted...

[HotShot.444]

... be sweet to them, like Timothy Treadwell did, and it will all be O.K.
No, wait -- didn't Tim die as bear-chow?? And his gal-friend.

[HotShot.444]

"May 24, 2010 [many 'facts', not a SINGLE numerical fact on numbers of bears!]

DNR biologist says black bear population expanding; people need to learn to co-exist with bears

No injuries or deaths have been attributed to black bears in South Carolina, according to a wildlife biologist with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. But as more people move into bear territory in South Carolina’s mountains and coastal areas, encounters between humans and bears are on the increase. Also, surveys are pointing toward an increasing bear population in South Carolina.

Scent station surveys of black bear in the mountains have increased dramatically in the past five years, according to Richard Morton, a wildlife biologist with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) based in Clemson. While scent stations received 58 percent "hits" in the mountain areas of Oconee, Pickens and Greenville counties in 2003, that number has been on the rise and by 2009 had jumped to 76 percent. Also, every county in South Carolina except Bamberg County had reported bear sightings by 2009."

[hardworker]

I understand that tree huggers want to ban hunting completely. But we live in America, land of compromise. The anti hunting tree huggers compromise with the "blast 'em all" hand cannon owners and we end up with laws that limit but don't eliminate hunting. No, they're not perfect but they're better than either extreme.

[the blur]

how is the meat? I have heard conflicting reports ?

[Wildalaska]

how is the meat? I have heard conflicting reports ?

Quite palatable actually if it is a young bear

WildnotintheclassofaneasterncornfedwhitetailbutdecentAlaska ™©2002-2011

[Art Eatman]

DNS, I think that eyeball2 meant that the tree huggers are the preservationists.

Teddy Roosevelt provided the impetus for the national park system, and he was for-sure a hunter.

Hunters did indeed come together to create wildlife departments with rules and regulations. I'd venture that they supported the national park concept, as well.

[Mainah]

Teddy Roosevelt provided the impetus for the national park system, and he was for-sure a hunter.

Yup, and if you ever owned or gave a kid a Teddy Bear you've got proof of that.

[Double Naught Spy]

You know Art, according to the NPS, Roosevelt did not provide the impetus for the NPS. He signed the bills into law in 1906, but he was actually a latecomer to the program...according to the NPS link I noted above. He was not part of the group that came up with the idea for the NPS. He was not one of the folks giving up their claims to the land that helped make it possible. Heck, it was even U. S. Grant in 1872 that signed the bill creating the first National Park., Yellowstone, when Roosevelt was 13 years old. Roosevelt didn't even visit Yellowstone until 1903.
also see http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/history/timeline/

Roosevelt signed bills establishing 6 more national parks and signed the Antiquities Act of 1906 that covers a lot of my work, but the impetus for all of this preceded Roosevelt.

The original group did not set up Yellowstone the purpose of hunting as suggested, hence my statement that the view was biased. Hunting might have been a benefit of the original effort that was for the setting aside of lands for the enjoyment of all people.

Sure the guys involved were hunters. Such expeditions had to procure much of their own food on the fly, but they didn't sit around the campfire discussing the waterfalls, views, geysers, etc. and say that "We need parks to preserve animals for hunting." I don't see that in any of the literature or legislation. Like I said, it was something of a benefit, but doesn't appear to be a design intent except under the general category of "enjoyment."

Yup, and if you ever owned or gave a kid a Teddy Bear you've got proof of that.

Funny, but no. http://inventors.about.com/od/tstart...Teddy_Bear.htm

[C0untZer0]

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...51C1A96F9C8B63

"Ordering your bear steak well done will not necessarily do the trick, said Dr. Erin D. Kennedy, an epidemic intelligence service officer with the disease centers and the first author of the report in the Dec. 4 issue of the agency's journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Freezing meat is also not a guarantee, because some wild game are infected with freeze-resistant trichinella, she said. Instead, it should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. "

[dsa1115]

All this bear business is way overblown. I can't speak for the lower 48, but up in Alaska, moose injure or kill far more people than bears.

[Mainah]

All this bear business is way overblown. I can't speak for the lower 48, but up in Alaska, moose injure or kill far more people than bears.

The same is true in Maine, although the vast majority of deaths and injuries come from car/moose collisions.

I'd rather see a bear in the woods than a moose in the middle of the highway at night.

[B. Lahey]

how is the meat? I have heard conflicting reports ?

Variable, but generally ok.

I discovered some random chunks of bear in my grandfather's freezer. Put them in a marinade of red wine, various spices, and dried arbol hotpeppers for a few days, pounded them flat with a mallet, cut it into strips, dusted it with flour, salt, and pepper, and fried it up along with some chorizo and onions in a skillet.

The resulting bear-rizo tacos were a hit.

[BIGR]

how is the meat? I have heard conflicting reports ?

Not bad, according to who fixes it. Land owner where I deer hunt is a big time black bear hunter. He can fix some mean bear roast in the crock pot.

[WildBill45]

And to be honest, black bears are just overgrown raccoons.

No way my friend, no way!

If raccoons where as big a bears we would be in worse trouble! They are more aggressive around food, smarter, and would probably attack easier if they knew size was on their side!

A 600 pound raccoon scares me just thinking about it, and I had a pet raccoon, that I got as a babe out of the woods, for over 2 years!