74-year-old man fights off bear, 3 cubs that broke into Colorado home

[GoneFishin]

74-year-old man fights off bear, 3 cubs that broke into Colorado home

A 74-year-old man managed to fight off a mother black bear and her three cubs after they broke into his Lake City, Colo., home through a partially cracked sliding glass door, authorities say.

The man, who was not named, sustained “significant wounds” in the attack but declined hospital treatment, Colorado Parks and Wildlife stated in a press release.

The four bears were euthanized after the incident. Wildlife authorities say this “tragic” result underscores the need to prevent bear-human interactions as much as possible, for the safety of not just people, but bears too.
74-year-old man fights off bear, 3 cubs that broke into Colorado home - National | Globalnews.ca

 

[Warrigal]

Been to Canada. Would not go walking in the woods after seeing how Canadians had to lock their rubbish bins inside heavily wired cages. Also saw evidence of a bear breaking through the wall of a cabin to raid the kitchen cupboards.

The advice that the best thing to do if you are out walking and encounter a bear is to lie down did not sound very helpful to me. Added to that was the advice that finding yourself between a she bear and her cubs would certainly provoke a deadly attack.

Cranky kangaroos and emus are pussy cats compared to bears.

 

[Murrmurr]

Colorado Parks and Wildlife area manager Brandon Diamond said, “Clearly, these bears were highly habituated and were willing to enter an occupied house with the residents sitting just feet away. When a bear reaches this level of human habituation, clearly a lot of interaction with people has already happened, and unless communities are working with us collaboratively and communicating issues, we have no opportunity to intervene.”

No. Not clearly. Bears will enter any structure if they smell food inside it, even when they also smell humans.

I'm horrified that CO P&W euthanized a mother bear and her 3 cubs in this instance. Totally unnecessary, imo. Calif wildlife generally relocates bears in similar cases, and I think most wildlife agencies do. They just sedate the animals and take them farther away from residential communities.

 

[dusty]

When I lived in Md. I was an avid hiker. I decided to hike Hawk Mountain which is 4,000 ft. There is a trail that is good walking and slants up. Everybody hiked Hawk Mountain. I had a backpack with water and a few medical supplies...no food.

About halfway up I think I hear a noise to my northwest. I stop and listen and hear it again. I stepped behind a very large tree to my left and stood very quiet. I was downwind. I watched while breathing softly through my nose and Mama appeared running across the trail with 2 very little cubs right behind her. She was close enough that I could see her eyeball. She kept going with her two cubs while I continued to stand perfectly still. So I decided to turn around to avoid seeing her aain. There were no other hikers that I saw that day.

I really love bears and am glad nothing happened that day for all our sakes.

 

[AnnieA]

Colorado Parks and Wildlife area manager Brandon Diamond said, “Clearly, these bears were highly habituated and were willing to enter an occupied house with the residents sitting just feet away. When a bear reaches this level of human habituation, clearly a lot of interaction with people has already happened, and unless communities are working with us collaboratively and communicating issues, we have no opportunity to intervene.”

No. Not clearly. Bears will enter any structure if they smell food inside it, even when they also smell humans.

I'm horrified that CO P&W euthanized a mother bear and her 3 cubs in this instance. Totally unnecessary, imo. Calif wildlife generally relocates bears in similar cases, and I think most wildlife agencies do. They just sedate the animals and take them farther away from residential communities.

Does California relocate after an attack on humans? I've always thought any animal was euthanized if it attacked a human unprovoked.

 

[Murrmurr]

Does California relocate after an attack on humans? I've always thought any animal was euthanized if it attacked a human unprovoked.

When a bear attacks someone, it is usually euthanized. That's not what this was.

Once the mother bear was inside the guy's house, it felt trapped and threatened. This wasn't an attack, and I think Cal Wildlife would agree.