Bear kills 6-year-old girl in Tennessee

msnbc.com ^ | 4-14-06 | msnbc

[Liberty Valance]

BENTON, Tenn. - A bear attacked a family at a camp site in the Cherokee National Forest on Thursday, killing a 6-year-old girl and injuring her 2-year-old brother and mother, authorities said.

The attack took place near a pool of water on Chilhowee Mountain, said Dan Hicks, spokesman for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

Witnesses described the bear picking up the boy in its mouth while the mother and other visitors tried to fend it off with sticks and rocks, Hicks said. The mother was injured before the bear was chased away.

[kx9088]

Why not? Shot placement is key.

[ConsentofGoverned]

Hair I reread your response and others you have posted..we are in agreement on most of the points-where we disagree is the conscious decision to go camping in a wilderness area and not being prepared ..I think from your reply that you were trying to justify why people who go camping/hiking are rational to not bring fire arms. If that was not point of your comments please accept my apology.

[moondoggie]

Black bears "ARE" more timid than other breeds, so there is some truth to that. I can stick my head out the door and bang on a pan lid with a wooden spoon and scare them away. They don't like loud noises.

As far as them "eating us"....they aren't carnivores, as a general rule. Black bears prefer berries and acorns and get most of their protein from eating grubs in hollow logs or under rocks.

Black bears have been known to eat meat if their food supply is dwindling and they find a mountain lion kill, but that's pretty rare. They "ARE" opportunists.

But a Grizzlie or Polar Bear would not only kill you, but have you for supper, too.

[CFC__VRWC]

For rougher country, I've always been intrigued by the big bore lever actions, i.e., .444 marlin, .45-70 etc.

The .45-70 Marlin lever gun is a great weapon - I have one. It's a nice, handy piece and it's just fun to shoot. If you get one, do yourself a favor and spend a few bucks on a slip-on recoil pad - the wallop it gives your shoulder is brutal without one.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't trust 9mm for home defense either. It's just not enough punch to stop momentum on a large target. I carry a .357, and I wouldn't bet that's enough on a bear.

Anyway, I guess it's not really on topic.

[moondoggie]

BTW..I'm not an environmental wacko and wouldn't hesitate to kill a bear if I thought my life or the life of a loved one was in danger.

And, I would advocate that anybody hiking in bear country either be armed with pepper spray or a gun.

I've seen bears get shot just for loping across somebody's property.

Some of the killing of them is absolutely senseless.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think from your reply that you were trying to justify why people who go camping/hiking are rational to not bring fire arms. If that was not point of your comments please accept my apology.

It can be rational to not have a gun handy, if you aren't the type to usually do so. To bring a gun camping with you adds a lot of sure complications just to avoid a much smaller possibility. I've done it. Lots of times. I'd be more likely to be armed if I was the only adult around, but it doesn't sound like she was.

Picture the scene. Mom with two kids camping. She could ~wear~ the gun on her person all the time, I suppose, but maybe that's not her usual picnic attire and would have felt odd. There were apparently lots of other people around, this was a popular campground. She can't set it down anywhere or the kids might get to it. She could lock in in a vehicle, but then it's not accessible. So there you are.

[Joe 6-pack]

"If you get one, do yourself a favor and spend a few bucks on a slip-on recoil pad - the wallop it gives your shoulder is brutal without one."

LOL....my brother has a .45-70 barrel for his TC Contender. Up to a point, I'm a glutton for recoil, firm in the belief that Newton will settle the score on the receiving end of what I'm shooting at...but somethings are simply beyond human reason...;-)

[CFC__VRWC]

Unfortunately, they'll probably know soon enough if they got the wrong bear, because the "right" bear will probably be back if it's still alive. A bear that just goes into a camping area is probably one that has lost it's fear of humans and views them as a food source. It's probably either been fed by people, or it's discovered that foraging through human garbage is an easy source of food. At any rate, that bear is now a menace, and will end up being destroyed at some point. Hopefully, it won't take another child before it is destroyed.

We have the same problem with alligators in Florida. There's a reason why you don't feed these things.

[moondoggie]

You're right about the two-legged predators.

Our property abutts a National Forest and during hunting season we have to limit our outdoors activites because of stray bullets.

[HairOfTheDog]

Alligators would freak me out much more than bears even, and I suppose they're easier to avoid and slower ;~D

All about comfort zone.

[two23]

"you get as close as you can"

Yup, but none the less, a situation I would prefer to avoid.

[kx9088]

Yes, I agree, there are idiots out there but that doesn't mean that the rest of us should be put at a disadvantage when wanting to enjoy what our tax dollars are supporting.

Our hunting club has 4 owners, my dad and 3 of his buddies. Each of them have any from 14-19 acres. Total is about 58 acres that we all share. There is a pond that we fish at and there have been sightings of a bear or two there. Nobody goes to the pond without a sidekick.

Heck, 2 years ago I went out on a Sunday morning to verify that a deer that I thought I hit wasn't down in the vicinity. I carried my 9mm with me. In the thick pines we hunt we are always watching our backs.

[cva66snipe]

That happened just a few miles from me. We've been listening to it on the scanner. I've spent many hours in that forest. Most black bears here are timid. Somebody shot this one but it ran off so they are tracking it. Bear attacks here are extremely rare but we have a lot of bears. They don't hibernate here and are fairly active most of the year. We have one that hangs out on our farm and I've seen it a few times from horseback. It's peaceful and hasn't been aggressive.

Here's some CNF and ajoining frequencies if you don't have them. 168.025, 168.0750,168.6250,415.5250,411.3250, 168.6750, 169.9250 {Tellico}, 168.7250 {common} I don't know how active some of these are now. I have more but I can't find my cheat sheets.. TWRA you can forget as they went to ASTRO years ago and broadcast digital.

If there were cubs around that was the most logical reason. You can be in danger and not even realize it as many times the cubs are high up in trees and mama may not be in sight at the time. Really it's best to make some noise {enough just to be heard} so the bears can leave the area before you get there. But like others have said I've seen plenty of persons who think black bears are tame and try to get as close as possible. Cades Cove in the Smoky's is the worse for it. Actually the bears that frequent campgrounds etc are much more a danger than others as they have lost the fear of humans. Unless they shot it with a large caliber all they managed to do was make it more angrier.

[P8riot]

Hmmmmmmm. I carry a factory 110gr 9mm load with a velocity of 1475ft/sec and a muzzle energy of 483ftlbs, which is very close to the 158gr .357Mag Gold Dot load. It is more than adequate for two legged snakes, but you are right neither are right for bear.

I carry a Ruger Redhawk chambered in .475 Linebaugh when I'm in the woods. Properly placed, that round can stop a charging rinoceros.

[Liberty Valance]

Bears

(by Steven Fromholz)

Some folks say there ain't no bears in Arkansas
Some folks never seen a bear at all
Some folks say that bears go around eating babies raw
Some folks got a bear across the hall

Some folks say that bears go around smelling bad
Others say that a bear is honey sweet
Some folks say this bear's the best I ever had
Some folks got a bear beneath their feet

Some folks drive the bears out of the wilderness
Some to see a bear would pay a fee
Me I just bear up to my bewildered best
And some folks even see the bear in me

So meet a bear and take him out to lunch with you
And even though your friends may stop and stare
Just remember that's a bear there in the bunch with you
And they just don't come no better than a bear

[eastforker]

Alligators are by no means slow.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, they are when they're out of the water. They ain't distance sprinters at any rate.

[little jeremiah]

Thanks, I'll do some investigating. Meanwhile, I don't go to the back of my property without a firearm. Lost of wildland very close with plenty of bears and cougars.

[eastforker]

Thats when they get you. As you approach the shore they are lurking, you don't see them. Thats when they shoot out of the water and grab you. And, even out of the water they are prety darn quick when they want to be.