Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:05:15 -0600
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: camping amidst bears, safety question
In-Reply-To: <EBBAB873-27DF-4E05-A331-71610161DD41@shaw.ca>
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Well, that story is rather incomplete, Alistair. I do believe the broadcast NPR stories I heard provided more information. However, I believe Loren is expressing his views, and projecting them onto "... most .... " Having read the AP story, I am convinced that I just remembered incorrectly.
mcneely
---- Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA> wrote:
> from NPR website, you decide if Loren has it right in his opinion:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/2c9rbps
>
>
> >
> July 29, 2010
>
> by FRANK JAMES
>
> IAN MCALLISTER/RAINCOAST CONSERVATION SOCIETY
> A female grizzly bear thought to be responsible for horrifying night-
> time attacks that killed one camper and wounded others as they slept
> near Yellowstone National Park in Montana was captured, wildlife and
> law enforcement officials said.
>
> The bear was caught in a culvert trap (here's an example of one) after
> it returned to the scene of the attack just as officials had suspected
> it would. The bear was caught with two of its three cubs. No word in
> any of the reporting I've seen on the on the whereabouts of the third
> cub.
>
> The bear will be killed, if it already hasn't been. There was no
> indication from authorities on what would happen to the cubs aside
> from the information that they wouldn't be returned to the wild.
>
> People knowledgeable about bear behavior say the Tuesday attack on
> sleeping campers was unusual in that it wasn't a case of a mother bear
> or sow displaying protective behavior.
>
> Instead, the bear entered several tents and attacked the campers for
> no reason readily apparent to humans. The man who was killed was
> camping alone at a site a quarter mile away from where other campers
> were attacked.
>
> The Billings Gazette described what one family experienced as the
> attacks occurred at their camp site. An excerpt:
>
> Campers Paige and Don Wilhelm, of Aledo, Texas, were camped in site
> No. 12 of the 10-acre campground when they heard a scream at about
> 1:30 a.m. At first, they thought it was just teenagers screwing
> around. They checked on their two boys, ages 12 and 9, and then tried
> to go back to sleep.
>
> Then they heard another scream, this one closer.
>
> “I heard somebody yell, ‘Stop! No!’ ” said Paige Wilhelm.
>
> And then they heard the woman yell, “A bear’s attacked me!”
>
> As they arose to dress, they heard a bear come by their tent, making a
> “huffing” sound.
>
> The Missoulian reports that the woman, Canadian Deb Freele of London,
> Ontario, eventually played dead, which caused the bear to break off
> the attack.
>
> While attacks like this are unusual, it did cross my mind that one
> result of something like this could be that more national park campers
> decide to protect themselves by packing gunsalong with their sleeping
> bags. And who could blame them, now that it's legal to do so?
>
>
>
> On 11-Feb-11, at 4:17 PM, Loren Busch wrote:
>
> > RE:P Bear Attack
> >
> >> This AP story seems to confirm your recollections, not mine. I
> >> heard the
> >> reports on two different NPR stations very near to the time the
> >> incident
> >> happened, actually hearing of the incident one day, and of its
> >> resolution a
> >> day or so later. I also seem to recall the fate of the younger bears
> >> incorrectly, as this AP story states that the two young bears were
> >> sent to a
> >> zoo.
> >> Memory is a funny thing. Mine seems to be wrong in this case, at
> >> least
> >> based on this AP report and your recollections.
> >>
> >
> > Your memory may not be the problem, it might be the source. Most
> > don't
> > consider NPR much of reliable source for news, known for really
> > sloppy and
> > biased reporting.
> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
--
David McNeely
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