Photo-BRENDA GRUNDT, WWW.WAWA-NEWS.COM
Posted on 07/22/2006 5:30:03 PM PDT by kanawa
A Waterloo man and his dog made a harrowing escape from the clutches of a vicious black bear Thursday while portaging near Wawa, Ont.
Tom Tilley, 55, killed the nearly 200-pound bear by jumping on its back and stabbing the aggressive animal with a six-inch hunting knife after his dog alerted him and distracted the bear.
"Love is a very powerful emotion and my thought right away was, 'You're not going to kill my dog,' " Tilley said yesterday.
"I really consider my dog a hero. Without that first warning I would have had the bear clamping down on my neck."
Tilley had planned on spending 12 days portaging through the area near Wawa with his American Staffordshire, Sam.
Four days into the trip, as he was making his third trip back to the water near Abbey Lake to retrieve his gear, he heard his dog growl and noticed the bear closing in on him. He said he did what he's been taught to do when a bear is close -- he starting waving his arms and slowing started backing away from the animal.
The bear moved off the trail, but a few seconds later reappeared, cutting off Tilley's escape route.
"That's when I knew I had a serious problem . . . I was lunch," he said.
Sam, who was behind Tilley before the bear moved up the trail, was now between the bear and his owner. Instead of taking an aggressive stance, the dog stood sideways blocking the bear's route.
"The bear took a few steps down the trail and clamped its mouth on the back of my dog," Tilley said. "By attracting the bear's attention like that and distracting the bear from me 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."
Tilley had recently purchased the knife that would save his life after reading the story of Jacqueline Perry, the young Cambridge doctor who was killed by a bear last September.
Perry's husband attempted to fend off the animal with a Swiss Army Knife -- the only weapon he had.
"When I read the report about her death, it really hit home to me that these things are possible," Tilley said.
"I owe her husband a real debt of gratitude because if I hadn't heard her story and got that knife, I wouldn't be telling this story."
After making sure the animal was dead, Tilley realized he had suffered a wound to his hand and Sam had two puncture marks on his back. He needed to get help, but was a two-day portage away from civilization.
Dragging his canoe across the short portage, Tilley paddled for about an hour before he came across a pair of Americans who happened to have a satellite phone.
They called for help and two hours later, a cargo plane arrived to take Tilley back to Wawa for medical attention.
He was treated and released from hospital.
News of his feat passed quickly through the small community, with a population of just over 3,000.
"He had a lot of cojones to do what he did," said Brenda Grundt, who operates the local news site Wawa-news.com and drove Tilley two hours back to where he'd left his van after the incident.
LUCKY TO HAVE KNIFE
"It's pretty amazing. Here's a guy that wouldn't be here if he hadn't happened to have a knife on him."
As for Tilley, it wasn't until he was back in his van alone with Sam that he took in the gravity of the situation.
"I just thanked God I was alive and that my dog was alive and cried a bit, but they were tears of thanks and relief," he said.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has sent the bear's body to Guelph and Ottawa for testing.
"It's very unusual for a bear to attack a person (and) pretty amazing this gentleman was able to kill it just with a knife," said Jolanta Kowalski, spokes-person for the ministry.
Because Wawa doesn't have a veterinarian's office and a specialist wasn't available to treat his hand, Tilley decided to push through and make the long journey home that night.
Back in Waterloo, news of his experience trickled back to amazed friends and family. Despite the danger, Tilley said the incident hasn't erased his love of the outdoors.
"My daughter says I'm not allowed to go up there anymore," he said with a laugh. " But I left my canoe there knowing I'll have to go back to get it."
Photo-BRENDA GRUNDT, WWW.WAWA-NEWS.COM
click here for full sized PDF of above
BTW, please feel free to now go totally nuts.
On one thread, one of your fellow travelers actually claimed the Veterinarians' professional organizations oppose so-called 'breed ban' laws because they've all been bought off by some imagined pit bull cartel !!!
Knives don't kill bears.
Freepers kill bears.
The "ban" will be taken care of by insurance carriers who refuse to issue homeowners policies to owners of dangerous dogs. It's already started in many states around the country.
Heck of a way to bag your bear, ping.
If you had been a liberal, you would have tried to understand the bear's feelings about surviving hungry in the wilderness since birth without a living wage and without free healthcare because of Republicans and Wal-Mart. You would have made a well thought-out plan to negotiate with the bear, give him half of everything that everyone else owned, and then.......the bear would have taking everything YOU had.
< /sarc>
Wow!! What a story! I'm glad to hear you got out of the mess in one piece and with your dog!
Excellent!
5.56mm
I've been up around Wawa a few times -- that's some pretty rugged country up there.
I am so impressed.
What a GREAT dog--what an impressive feat! You are a FReeper among FReepers!
Makes me proud to be a dog person. ;-D
This is not the thread for this kind of discussion.
Can't we just enjoy this heroic tale and praise this one good dog.
This won't really compare either, but I had a cornerned cat attack me, all twenty claws and teeth gripping my bloody leg, and faster than I could even react, out of nowhere MY cat came charging from behind me and bodyslammed it off me,and it ran. I was sooooo shocked...I just love her to pieces now!
My son and his son have made several camping trips into the Boundary Waters Area of northern Minnesota.
The Boundary Waters Area is a wilderness area, but it is legal to carry a pistol of a large caliber that would dispatch a bear.
They spend from 7 to 14 days paddling, portaging and camping and love it.
Since both of them are sane humans they carry one or more firearms with them.
WOW!! Just WOW~!
Do you get to keep the bear skin? I had a girlfriend with a bear skin coat that had belonged to her grandmother. It was great.
H.B. 1016 Breed-Specific Insurance Ban
Mandates that insurers may not cancel, fail to renew, or deny application for homeowners insurance based on the ownership of a specific breed of dog.
Gotta read this story.. to KP.
You da man kanawa.
Can I have your autograph.
Why I remember reading your rat story! Bit you in bed wasn't it?
Can you run for the Senate.
We need some folks with back bone and know how to "kil a bar"
Wow! Amazing story - thanks for sharing it with us. Best wishes to you and Sam.
Uh, that's not a Texas law. Some, not all, insurers in Texas have already implemented their "breed ban."
Praise God! You're definitely Sam's best friend.
What a feat!
Nothing comes between a man and his dog. You've got each other's backs.
God bless.
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