Posted on 08/01/2006 3:11:49 PM PDT by george76
Planning to overnight at the Kenai's most popular campground?
Leave the tent at home.
Tent camping is now banned in the Russian River campground. Campers there must sleep in a hard-shelled vehicle.
This comes after a bear grabbed a man sleeping in his tent early Saturday morning and bit him.
Other campers scared off the bear after the man started yelling. He suffered minor injuries.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
Wakened from sleep in a tent at the Russian River Campground early Saturday, Chicago tourist Daniel Kuczero didn't consider the possibility that a grizzly bear tugging at the nylon woke him.
He figured it had to be a dog he heard outside in the 4:30 a.m. stillness, witnesses say.
Then the animal collapsed the tent on him.
That, according to Russian River campground manager Butch Bishop and others, was the first indication Kuczero had that the animal probably wasn't a dog. Kuczero apparently decided the best thing to do was play dead.
He changed his mind when the bear grabbed his body -- still wrapped up in a sleeping bag inside the tent --
That was enough to start Kuczero screaming.
"When it bit him in the shoulder," Dunn said, "he yelled."
by CRAIG MEDRED
Anchorage Daily News
Bears are smart. They know what people keep wrapped up on those blankets ~ meat!
The bear was looking for a human taco for breakfast.
Maybe he was lathered in mustard... a bear hot-dog.
Bear attacks close portions of Kenai, Russian rivers
Details are still unfolding for two separate bear maulings — one in Soldotna and another in Cooper Landing — that occurred this weekend.
Another Saturday morning attack resulted in a hospital visit for an Anchorage man.
At 2 a.m. Saturday, Alaska State Troopers received a report that a mauling victim was taken to the Emergency Room of the Central Peninsula General Hospital in Soldotna.
http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/073006/news_0730new002.shtml
I don't know about that. My parents' lab knocked the tent down on my mom when they went camping a few weeks ago!
Kuczero didn't consider the possibility that a grizzly bear tugging at the nylon woke him.
He figured it had to be a dog he heard outside in the 4:30 a.m. stillness...
http://ap.peninsulaclarion.com/pstories/state/ak/20060730/75625003.shtml
Ping :~)
Funny thing about that is I had a Newfoundland check out my campsite one night, and in the dark, I thought he was a bear... till he panted :~)
My tent has been attacked by field mice at night. They make quite a racket as they sort through your stuff.
I hope that you had a good tent ( full bottom, good zippers...)
Having mice run over your chest would cause another big racket.
Yes, it was quite a relief :~D
The next day out walking, we saw the camp the dog came from, and he cam bounding up. I let them know the dog ran a serious risk of being mistaken for a bear if they let him wander at night.
Rather than ban campers, how about explaining proper food storage. I've been around bears in tents without any trouble. And I've been in "hard shells" and they've been curious, including a houseboat they climbed all over. They're giant racoons, they're not afraid of humans in areas they're frequently exposed to (non hunting) humans, and if you smell like food they're going to visit.
If the bear wants to eat you while you're camping, a hard shelled vehicle will do no good. Sounds like they got a problem bear that they will have to deal with.
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