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
I wish I had known about the trouble Mad Ivan was having. I would have been in there with a knife in my teeth.
PING is right.
Two heroes. One less problem bear.
I do.
You can't be serious with this comment can you?
I too am semi urbanized, but live in rural Vermont. During my college years I happened on a dream job of operating a geochemistry team for Noranda Exploration in Canada's wilderness. That meant when college was over each Spring I got into a bush plane and essentially disappeared into the bush for 3 months each year. I have over 4 years in tents during my lifetime, and thats if you count only the weeks and not successive days. I paid my way through college that way.
As a result I can cook just about ant kind of food over an open fire, and that includes bread and cake.I have run into every wild critter there is in the wilderness of Eastern Canada, including eagles that fished the same pool I did. On average I traversed 10 miles a day through the wilderness using a compass and 1/50,000 topo maps and sometimes aerial photos. I wore out 2 sets of hiking boots each summer and well into the third. Bears often wanted to investigate our camps and we learned that the only way to handle them if they came into our tents was to move. Canadian wildlife officials would not let us kill them or carry guns. I learned a lot about bears.
I am still immune to mosquito itch when bitten. I developed a dislike for crowded places and even now can take the city for only 2 or 3 days without feeling uncomfortable.I found that my sense of perception changed in the wilderness, my sense of sight , sound and smell were invested with more accuity. My mind certainly was more peaceful and more sensitive. I missed women but then made up for it. ( LOL). I also found that women who go in the wilderness for long stints become dead sexy after a week or so, but thats another story altogether. I also learned that a woman in good shape have a naturally superior lower body strength than a man does and can walk men into the ground, a fact few people would admit.
I think there is no greater gift one can bestow on ones friends or children, than to spend time in the wilderness with each other and teach the skills.
I rarely get the chance to go on a walk about these days but my house is on the side of a small mountain surrounded by pine oak and maple, and life is good. Deer often walk right up to my windows and look in. Mr. Bear visits every spring, and after looking around disappears with a few whiffs at the sequestered garbage cans.
I see you are Texan, the only place I would want to move to in retirement! I bet you have a grizzly story or two from the cascades. I have many stories, particularly about moose. In interior Newfoundland we found them as tame as milk cows, they never having seen men before, they had no fear.
It's been kinda nonstop with calls from the media.
Did onair interview with CBC Sudbury earlier
and just got finished with the Mope and Wail.
(Oops not quite finished, they just called
and asked if it would be ok to send a photographer around.)
I won't be sorry when the media attention dies down
but I'm willing to put up with it for two reasons..
One, if my story can help even one individual be better prepared for a bear encounter
then it will have been worth it.
And two, I haven't been able to help financially in the fight against BSL
as much as I would have liked to,
but I have been given this opportunity to spread some good news about our dogs
and I owe it to our dogs to see it through.
Dang kanawa.
Just, dang.
Just make sure it's NOT a bear hug... that could be disastrous.
So how's your dog doing?
"We are creatures of creation...Our bodies belong to creation"
No, we are creations of God, and our bodies belong to Him. He is separate from His creation. But that's not something He chose to reveal in creation, only through the means He chose: His Word.
"We are linked to creation."
No, that "link" is the command by God to rule over it,to use it; it is made for our use. But that information isn't found in nature; only in Scripture.
"Our souls are eternal with the Creator."
No, HE is eternal having no beginning or ending. We are not eternal: we have a beginning. We are not "with" the Creator: We are separate from Him because of our sin, unless we accept His only provision for sin: His Son's death. But that is knowledge not found in creation.
Just because Scripture mentions animals, you cannot then arrive at the conclusion that they should be elevated to a position other than what they are: created beings. It also mentions used menstral cloths, comparing our sins to that filthiness.(Isaiah)
I'm in Alaska right now and have some video of a grizzly from about 20 feet away. Fortunatly I was on a bus and it wasn't interested in coming on board, cause all I had was a can opener to fight with.
AWESOME!
And you will be in the FReeper Hall of Fame. What a story.
My late wife was all excited about seeing bears in the Smokies. One day we were climbing one of the mountains and I became too hot so lay down on a flat rock to rest. She was going to go up the other 500 yards or so to the top. So I was kinda dozing when she comes running back down yelling that she had seen Two bears and one of them "snorted" at her. Another time we were on a narrow trail when we saw one ahead coming down toward us. She kinda climbed a little ledge and I grabbed the biggest rocks I could find in case it got closer. Fortunately the bear sniffed us and took off.
Old-day Texas ran out of black bear because we loved so much to fry our cornmeal in its grease. You have any plans for sampling any part of this bear? Lemme know how it tastes.
Dum@$$.
They are illegal in some places now...thank God.
I really miss MadIvan. Wish he would come back, I'll help defend him.
Wow, enjoyed the story about your time in the wilderness, and you make some very good points.
I go for weeks without seeing other people where I live, and wouldn't have it any other way. I grew up in the country, spent many years away from it, then came back recently.
I have oil lamps, a firepit, and could survive here just fine without electricity, and for long periods of time. I have plenty of deer and squirrels I could kill, and I grow my own vegetables. Am in the process of building a greehouse so I can grow my own veggies year-round.
The state of Tennessee's elk reintroduction project is near me, and I am about 30 miles from the state of Kentucky's elk reintroduction project (abandoned coal mines). Also I'm not too far from the Smokies and the Cumberland Plateau, both of which have bears.
I love sitting in the yard and listening to hoot owls, and once in my yard I heard a big cat off in the distance (bobcat most likely).
Some folks don't like the seclusion, including my mother, who says she's afraid she'll have a heart attack or something and can't get to a doctor. But I wouldn't live any other way if I could help it.
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