Posted on 07/11/2017 3:09:18 PM PDT by MtnClimber
While sleeping under the stars in the mountains near Boulder County, Colorado, on Sunday morning, a 19-year-old camp counselor was awoken by what he initially perceived to be a loud crunching sound. The sound, it turned out, was a black bear pressing onto his head as it dragged him from his sleeping bag.
Speaking with local Denver news station KMGH-TV, the teen, who was identified only as Dylan, claimed he believed the crunching sound was caused by the bear's teeth digging into his skull.
As the bear tugged at him, Dylan and the four other campers sleeping by the lake tried to fight the bear off. He estimates the bear dragged him a total of 12 feet before he was able to pry himself free.
Dylan teaches wilderness survival at the camp and knew the best way to fend off a black bear attack is to fight back. He and the other campers attempted to scare the bear away before it eventually left. (When confronted with other bears, such as grizzlies, experts recommend curling into a ball.)
The 19-year-old was treated at a nearby hospital and received staples for his wounds.
"I'm not afraid of the bears. I'm not afraid of sleeping outside anymore. You just have to be aware and respect the animals," Dylan told KMGH-TV.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
That was predatory/scavenging behavior.
Based on the article one would think this Dylan knew that and practiced safe and proper hygiene. One thing, though, it is doubtful the bear attacked him for no reason.
Not since they ruined bear hunting in CO. They are over running their habitat and very bold.
Reminds me of the movie ‘Backcountry’ only Dylan faired much better than the gent in that story which I believe was based on an actual event. Good movie, like jaws in the woods.
Was he previously unaware of bears and did not respect them prior to having one chew on his skull? What do his words of wisdom mean?
“Just wait till the wolves start grabbing kids. “
wolves need to eat too, you know ...
Yes. Old bear found a sleeping snack.
A bear food commercial:
You know it is good when you hear a crunching sound
Not so much in South Park. Dry as hell.
40 yrs old? Wow. If true maybe the bear was grumpy.
IMHO there is no scientific, cultural, intelligent, logical, or any other reason for the classic nincompoopery called rewilding.
Our forefathers knew what they were doing when they got rid of dangerous wild animals that eat humans and livestock.
Maybe one exception would be the wholesale slaughter of buffalo, but then they would have been competition to the livestock industry. Still a large herd would have benefited the Indians considerably.
“Just wait till the wolves start grabbing kids.”
...so? Don’t forget, these leftist rarely have kids...and beyond that, they look at ‘spawn’ as they call kids, as a disease (to the planet), needing to be eradicated.
That seems to be the excuse whenever a female is attacked by a wild animal.
Large, old male bears are dangerous. They go for the easy score. So are young displaced males.
5000 acres isn’t a very big area when it comes to large predators. Wolves,bear,and cougars can travel out of that area in less than half a day easy.
My friend that raises and trains Karelian Bear Dogs for search and rescue says they are fast enough that a bear can't lay a paw on them.
He recently told me about a KBD that killed a pit bull that threatened a child in its family.
Based on the article one would think this Dylan knew that and practiced safe and proper hygiene. One thing, though, is that it is doubtful the bear attacked him for no reason.
Lol! I have been ‘greeted’ by a few of ‘em up here but it sure wasn’t at any WalMart!
It’s amazing how much difference there can be in weather patterns between northern CO and southern CO. Also between the Front Range and western CO. Sometimes the jet stream barely dips south across the Wyoming line and can leave the whole state dry while the Rockies to the north are soaked by frequent thunderstorms.
This was in Boulder cty though, which is only six miles south of me, so I’m sure it has been getting about as much rain as we have here. The article never really did say why he was attacked it just posited a bunch of speculative hypotheses. Which is fair because who knows what a bear is thinking. Might have been a territorial issue in this old boar’s mind. But the title suggested they were going to tell us why.
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.