Posted on 09/16/2014 10:38:26 AM PDT by george76
Lorna Weafer, the 36-year-old Suncor instrument technician who was mauled and killed by a black bear ... Weafer was on her way back to work from a washroom when she was attacked by a large, male black bear while working at a Suncor oilsands site north of Fort McMurray, Alta., around 2 p.m. on Wednesday. She was declared dead on the scene.
...
Mike Ewald, an investigator with Alberta Fish and Wildlife, said Weafer’s co-workers tried to scare the bear off using fire extinguishers, a water cannon and air horn — “all general things that should scare it off,” Ewald noted.
Employees told him the bear would shy off for a bit, but kept coming back, eventually killing the woman.
“This bear was very determined,” Ewald said, adding that the attack lasted about an hour.
...
The last fatal black bear mauling in Alberta was somewhere around 1991 in Slave Lake.”
In that incident, as 12-year-old boy was killed at a campground. Prior to that, in 1980, two oil rig workers were killed by a black bear near Zama Lake, Alta.
Attacks by grizzly bears are more common,
(Excerpt) Read more at cbc.ca ...
Gun free zone in bear country? Hard to believe.
You can bet the bear was hungry... trying to load up on calories before going into his/her den for winter.
Ya think?
Restrictions on handguns are fairly severe, but the present government abolished the long gun registry. Most people in my neck of the woods have guns.
And bear ‘n beans tastes good.
According to some people in the know in the comments section, most of the oil companies have a “no firearms” policy on their premises. Really worked out well for that poor woman didn’t it?
Bear spray DOES work. Show me a real incident where it didn’t when used properly.
But ... but ... I thought Nature was kind and benevolent. And all the furry woodland creatures just wanted a big group hug.
Canada....no guns allowed.
I hope all the people that watched this attack for an hour feel worthless. They are worthless.
This story doesn’t add up. Bear spray, air horns, water cannons, intermittent attacks for an hour? The bear should have been scared off, and/or they should have been able to drag or carry her away from the attack.
I wonder if it’s a cover story for a rape that needed covering up, or maybe just an outright murder that needed a cover story.
Probably they all stood back a safe distance and waved their arms and made a bunch of noise. The problem is not a luck of guns but a lack of balls. Take that fire extinguisher over there and whack that bear as hard as you can. If you can hit it on the nose, so much the better. The bear was not frightened by noise because it was used to that. It’s just big dog and a group of people with heavy objects could have beaten it down in no time. They were more worried for their own safety.
Isn't that the Obama tactic for attempted rape? But a gun would work for either kind of predator.
The lady was at a work site. One of the comments was from a guy who worked for an oil company, and said the big oil companies have a "no guns at work" policy.
“Attacks by grizzly bears are more common,”
Uhmmm...No they’re not.
Increasingly more Encounters with two legged picnic baskets are more common.
Really? They are worthless? Well tell us, oh mighty one, what YOU would have done differently?
They should put up a sign that says “no bears allowed”. That should fix it.
In light of the rising frequency of human/grizzly bear confrontations, the Montana Department of Fish and Game is advising hikers, hunters, and fishermen to take extra precautions and be alert for bears while in the field. ...We advise that outdoorsmen wear small bells on their clothing so as not to startle bears that aren’t expecting them, and to carry pepper spray with them in case of an encounter....
It is also a good idea to watch out for fresh signs of bear activity. Outdoorsmen should recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear droppings. Black bear droppings are smaller and contain lots of berries and fur. Grizzly bear droppings have little bells in it and smell like pepper.
One of the trainees asked him if he ever encountered a bear and what he did. His reply was simple; "I ran like hell".
You can get all the classroom instruction you want, but when you're alone and emotion and adrenaline takes over, there is nothing that beats being armed.
In an hour no one could think of anything that would solve the problem better than a hose? Pathetic. Someone should invent a tool that uses pressure (something like the three tools used here, but even more pressure) to eject something more solid than powder/foam/water at a sufficient velocity to solve this sort of problem posed by bears, the Amish, and other problems encountered in the jungles of Canada and big cities. We could call it a Generic Urban/Undeveloped Neutralizer because it would neutralize generic problems, whether encountered in urban areas or in undeveloped countryside, or we might even find a way to shorten that name, somehow.
Here in northern Alberta, I don’t leave the house without my stainless 45—70.
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