Posted on 07/22/2006 3:43:18 PM PDT by nuconvert
Ontario canoeist survives bear attack
22 Jul 2006
CBC News
A man escaped from a marauding bear deep in northern Ontario Friday after his dog rushed to his defence.
Tom Tilley, 55, of Waterloo, Ont. killed the nearly 90-kilogram bear by jumping on its back and stabbing it with a 15-cm hunting knife. But Tilley and his dog were both bitten in the incident.
"Love is a very powerful emotion and my thought right away was: `You're not going to kill my dog,' " Tilley told the Waterloo Region Record. "I really consider my dog a hero. Without that first warning I would have had the bear clamping down on my neck."
An avid outdoorsman, Tilley was portaging north of Wawa, Ont., four days into a 12-day canoe trip he was making with his American Staffordshire dog.
Tilley said he heard his dog growl and noticed the bear closing in on him. He waved his arms and slowly backed away. But the bear came closer, cutting off his escape route.
"That's when I knew I had a serious problem … I was lunch," he said. "The bear took a few steps down the trail and clamped its mouth on the back of my dog. It gave me the quick opportunity I needed to run around to the back of the bear, get on its back and with my knife start stabbing it."
After making sure the animal was dead, Tilley realized that both he and dog had been bitten.
He dragged his canoe across a short portage, and paddled for about an hour before he came across a pair of Americans who had a satellite phone. They called for help and two hours later, a cargo plane arrived to take Tilley to Wawa for medical attention. He was released from hospital shortly after.
Humans are attacked by bears in Canada, but the incidents are rare, particularly in Ontario where the local black bear is less aggressive than the western grizzly.
The story is a bit lacking in details regarding the severity of the bite to the dog. But I guess he's okay.
Ping
But what about the dog?
My sentiment exactly.
After re-reading, it sounds as though the guy is talking about his dog as though he's ok.
There's a lesson for bears here. Don't bring teeth to a knife fight.
After lambasting the Americans for U.S. foreign policy for half an hour, the bleeding Canadian then continued his journey back to civilization arriving three days later at .....
;-)
The man in this article is a Freeper!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1670661/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1670661/posts
Here's his story.
I see that now but, before I knew that, it would have been immoral to pass up an opportunity to yank Canada's chain. ;-)
W O W !!!
Thanks for the link!
Leni
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.