Posted on 04/14/2006 6:52:17 AM PDT by george76
Authorities hunted Friday for a black bear that picked up a 2-year-old boy in its mouth and mauled his mother, critically injuring them before killing the child's 6-year-old sister.
Witnesses told authorities the bear picked up the boy in its mouth while the mother and other visitors tried to fend it off with sticks and rocks, said Dan Hicks, a spokesman for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
When the bear attacked, the girl ran away, authorities said. Rescuers found the girl's body about 100 yards down the trail from the falls.
A bear was standing over her.
"Allegedly, after the rescue squad found the little girl, one of the squad members fired a shot from a small caliber handgun," Hicks said Friday.
"We don't know whether the bear was hit or not. There was no blood, but it chased it off."
In May 2000, a woman was killed by a black bear near Gatlinburg.
Glena Ann Bradley, a schoolteacher from Cosby, was attacked by two female bears when she took a walk on a trail near a Smoky Mountains campground.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
That's not the case here... This is perfectly normal bear territory, in National Forest land. Still, even with millions of people accessing public lands every day, black bear attacks are rare. That said, black bears who become bold enough to be seen in recreation areas usually need to be taken out. They are a game animal, and many bears are probably taken from this very Forest area every year.
Either you mean you never took your kids to the wilderness anywhere that you were aware a bear could attack you, or you have never been to a part of wilderness that has bears. One NEVER knows when and where a bear may show up, you don't have to be in the wilderness, even places that haven't seen bears for over a century are getting visits from them once in a while. Your ideas about bears hunting wildlife implies your lack of knowledge on what bears usually eat. This bear is dangerous and needs to be killed.
Some places are worth the risk, because it is extremely rare. Your sympathy for the bear, without voicing any sympathy for the girl killed, the baby mauled, and the injured mother facing the possible loss of 2 children puts you dangerously close to PETA-land. Whether you actually think that way or not, you should have realized your post would come accross that way.
The TN Wildlife guy on TV said these bears don't hibernate... very mild winter area. But available food would probably be at it's lowest right now.
In a lot of places it's not, "our population expanding." In all of the woods around here you find stone walls and building foundations.
In my WV eighth grade history they told us that the state was 90% cleared in the late 1800's. It was 90% forested in 1967 when I took that class and it's probably around 95% now. All the farms and cleared fields around where I grew up are completely grown up and filled with deer, turkey, and yes, bears. When I was a kid there wasn't even a deer season.
I think there are very few places where they are plonking down new neighborhoods and parks in wild territory. I think it's more like historically farmed land that has been allowed to go fallow.
I don't think you are mean. I feel sorry for these people, but I also understand the greater point you are trying to make. Certain humans expect animals not to act like animals - "The shark just came up and bit me!" (like that is totally against a shark's nature), or, "I told the bear to stop."
By the way, a couple of years ago there was a thread on here about a bear cub that was pelted with rocks by tourists in the Smokies - it was trying to attack a deer, and the humans just wouldn't have that.
Prayers for this family. Cannot imagine the terror, the guilt and the pain.
Yes he does, unless he's been fed by or is harrassed by idiots who get all their knowledge about the outdoors from Disney nature films. Bears and other predators have a natural fear of humans and will usually go out of their way to avoid contact with them, unless they're threatened or have been conditioned to view people as a source of food.
And these days, with development sprawling all over and predator populations exploding in the decreasing wilderness areas because the Bambi-huggers won't allow any kind of population control, the areas where you're likely to encounter bears and other predators aren't so remote any more.
We have a growing population of Black Bears here in Missouri down in the Ozarks along with Arkansas. The population was estimated back in 1998 to number around 200. By now we probably have maybe a thousand. Except for when I was a Boy Scout I've never camped without being armed. Just too many bitey things out there. Anyone who hand feeds a wild bear is being extremely foolish.
"Prayers for this family. Cannot imagine the terror, the guilt and the pain."
I certainly agree with you. And I most certainly feel sympathy for the family. You're right....terror. And the pain will last forever.
I just was under the impression that wildlife, like bears, mountainlions, etc., will follow their instinct to kill. But a few smart people here were kind enough to explain that I was wrong about bears.
Mountain lions, thats a whole nuther ballgame there. They do have a kill instinct.
But you'll never see them if they're gonna getcha. ;~D
Did you see on news, just within the last few months, about the man and his son being interviewed because the shark, on the end of his fishing line, tried to "jump into the boat to attack them?" It was repeated on every TV newscast for two days. My daughter and I just looked at each other in amazement that these two men were accusing a shark of attacking them while they were reeling him in! I am not kidding.
One thing most people do not realize is that an animal can also suffer from mental illness so to speak, making it a killing machine. Just killing for killings sake. I think thats what happens even in some dog attacks. Again rabies could be an explanation.
You have evidentley never been shark fishing and have one in the boat with you. Yes they will at times attack and try and bite you when caught.
I do not mean to be raggin on ya toldyou, but many of us outdoor folks have seen and experienced some prety wild thing about nature.
They are speaking of grizzlies and grizzly bear county, not black bears.
This is not a minor point.
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