'Bear attack' killed local man

SWISSDALE - State police say a Woodward Township, Clinton County, man died from a bear attack.

The state Game Commission, however, disagrees, believing that Gary Lininger died of injuries caused when a tree fell on him.

Lininger, 62, died on Oct. 16, according to the Clinton County coroner. His body was found four days later outside his secluded mountain home along Tedrow Lane, just off Route 664, the Coudersport Pike, above the village of Swissdale and some eight miles north of Lock Haven.

Coroner Donald G. Walker said the death was not suspicious, but he ordered an autopsy to determine the cause because of the uncertain circumstances surrounding Lininger's passing.

Walker declined any comment on the case other than saying the death was accidental.

But his finding prompted an immediate investigation by state police at Lamar and the state Game Commission.

Trooper Matthew R. McDermott, who headed the probe, released his final report Tuesday afternoon, saying that, while Lininger's death was accidental, "a bear attacked the victim."

"The victim fell a tree, it struck him, rendering him dazed or unconscious. While in this state, a bear attacked the victim, which ultimately resulted in his death," McDermott wrote in his very brief report.

"There's never been a documented bear killing of a human in Pennsylvania. With that said, we dispute that this was a bear attack that killed this individual," David A. Carlini, the agency's information and education supervisor for the Northcentral Region based in Jersey Shore, told The Express.

"We investigated along with state police and also conducted our own investigation. We do not believe a bear attack killed Mr. Lininger. We absolutely believe that the victim was in the act of cutting the tree down, the tree fell on him and caused injuries that he died from," Carlini said via telephone.

"I am very sure of our findings of the facts. We are the wildlife experts. We've dealt with bears killing livestock, pigs, horses ... We know the characteristics of bear kills. We are basing our conclusion on that knowledge and experience," he continued.

"We are not seeing evidence of a bear attack. There were multiple scratches on the body... a lot of them post mortem. Many of the other injuries were also post mortem. Some of the injuries were not post mortem ... believed caused by the tree falling on him."

Part of the reason the Game Commission believes Lininger died from injuries from a falling tree or limb is because the victim was feeding bears at his property, Carlini said.

"There were bear droppings in and around where the deceased was found. Those droppings contained contents of what was being fed in a feeder at the deceased's property ... so that's a reason why bears would be there," he said.

"We're not disputing all of the facts, we're disputing the summation and opinions by others in this case.

"We are not disputing there could have been bear or other animals involved. He was in the woods for three or four days. They could have taken advantage of that body laying in woods. We're not disagreeing that a bear found him afterwards," Carlini explained.

Despite the disagreement on Lininger's cause of death, Carlini said he doesn't want people to be afraid or panic that there's a dangerous bear on the loose in the county.

"People should always be cautious and respect bears. But to fear there is a man-eating bear attacking and stalking people, we do not believe that," he said.

Clinton County is considered bear country, typically coming in among the top three or five Pennsylvania counties in the number of bears harvested each hunting season. The just-ended bear season was no exception, with an estimated 217 bears harvested, just behind Lycoming County's 239, according to preliminary figures.

The Game Commission has studied black bears in Pennsylvania since its inception.

Wildlife conservation officers and biologists regularly provide information on bear habits, and offer precautions that people should take as the bear population continues to increase and more of the animals come into contact with humans.

"Our perceptions of bears are a product of their mostly shy, mysterious nature and powerful presence, not to mention the timeless tales that have been told about them. Unfortunately, there's as much misinformation about bears in circulation as there is fact. And that's too bad, because bears needn't be feared, nor should they be dismissed as harmless," the agency advises.

Bears "simply need to be respected," the agency says. "Pennsylvania's bear population has been increasing for decades, and at the same time, many people have moved into the areas where bears reside. As a result, bears and people are coming into contact more than ever. And most of these encounters occur when bears learn that where people live there's easy-to-obtain food. Learning about bears and being aware of their habits is important for people who live in bear country, which now includes most of the state," the agency advises on its web site.

"Bears may be on the move at any time, but they're usually most active at dusk and dawn. Bears are omnivorous, eating almost anything, from berries, corn, acorns, beechnuts and even grass, to table scraps, carrion, honey and insects. During late summer and fall, black bears fatten up for winter hibernation. At this time they may actively feed for up to 20 hours a day, ingesting up to 20,000 calories."

The agency advises that, if you live or have a summer home or camp in bear country, make accomodations to peacefully co-exist with these large animals.

"Make sure you don't encourage bears to become problem bears by putting your garbage where it's available to them or, even worse, by intentionally feeding them. Black bears will consume almost anything. They will eat human food, garbage, bird feed, pet foods and livestock feed. They also raid cornfields and beehives. Once bears find easily accessible food sources, whether on a farm or in a housing development, they lose their wariness of people and will keep coming back as long as food is available. The best way to get rid of these unwanted visitors is to remove the food source for a month or more, but even then, there are no guarantees. A persistent bear may damage property, increase the risk of human injury or become an unwanted visitor in other parts of the neighborhood. And, all too often, fed bears become dead bears."

I was about 16 when the preacher asked me to take a hike with him and his son. The trip would be on the Appalachian trail across the crest of the Smokies from New Found Gap to Davenport Gap. It was a distance of about 35 miles and would be 4 nights and 5 days on the trail.
I was an Eagle Scout an experienced camper and had spent a good bit of time in the Smokies. I was table to add some experience to the crew as well as to have a great adventure.
After a very wet and uncomfortable night at the severely crowed Ice Water Springs Shelter we awoke to a clear morning. At breakfast we learned from the other hikers that there were bears. That is, we will have bears in camp at the other shelters. Later that morning, on the trail, Dr Allen advised not to worry about bears on the trail……. He could smell bears and we would certainly have advance notice of a bear’s presence.
That evening we arrived at the shelter, an open front Adirondack stone lean to with a chain link fence across the front, After supper we saw a mama bear and two cubs emerge into the clearing below the shelter. She sent the cubs up a tree and ambled toward us to check out the smell of our supper. Having had bears in camp before, I knew that if we beat on our pans and yelled , the bear would go away. That is what happened.
The next day we made good time and arrived in the early afternoon at the next shelter. Already there was a party of young women, good Presbyterian girls, from Queen’s College in Charlotte. The preacher did not like the idea of another night in a crowded shelter, especially one with nearly all women. He decided we should continue to the next shelter. We had plenty of daylight and it should be no problem. At some point before leaving were advised…… there’s a mean bear at that camp.
Somewhere along the trail we encountered some of the Queen’s stragglers. One girl was hiking in sneakers and the going was slow. We were told a bear took one of her boots and carried it away.

The shelter was an Adirondack lean to made from logs. It had no comforting chain link fence enclosure across the front. We settled down, ate and went to bed. It had been a long day. Then we heard the bear. It was just outside the front. We had our packs hung from nails on the beam across the top front roof line. The packs and the food were what the bear was after. We yelled and beat on something and the bear apparently left. It was hard to tell in the dark. Anyway, we returned to our sleeping bags.
Sometime later, we were again disturbed. It was the bear. The ol bear was at home, his home, and he knew all about it. He waited and then came from behind and climbed up on the roof to get the pack from above. I don’t remember exactly what happened but we discouraged the bear and he left the roof. It was apparent that something must be done to remove the temptation. The solution was to take a length of parachute cord and throw it up and over a tree limb and suspend all the packs and food off the ground out of harm’s way.
The bear came back and gave his attention to the packs. It turned out that by standing on his hind legs and swiping with an extended paw, he could barely reach Dr Allen’s steel framed army surplus rucksack. He swiped one of the pockets and out came our bottle of pancake syrup and a tin of crackers. The syrup bottle broke and made a mess. The bear took off with the cracker tin. We found the cracker tin the next morning mangled, with tooth holes and no crackers.
So there we were. It was the middle of the night, we were tired from the extra miles. The bear was a better player of the game than we , and something had to be done. There was only one solution. Find a higher branch. Throwing a stick tied to a parachute cord over a high branch at night in the dark is no mean feat. It was however accomplished.
My job was to snub the line around a nail in the shelter while Dr Allen hoisted the packs as high as he could over his head. It was being done and then it happened. I can’t remember if the cord broke, or if it parted, or if the knot gave way but the pack fell. It fell onto Dr Allen’s head and shoulders, knocked him aside and hit the ground beside him. He shouted “DAMN!!!”
There it was…. the preacher cussed. It is a memory still firm in my mind.
The next day we had only a few miles all down hill, so we dumped our excess food in the garbage pit down below the shelter. Included was a big plastic bag of peanut butter. As we were saddling up to hit the trail, we heard a commotion at the garbage pit. There was loud coughing and gagging. We concluded the bear found the peanut butter and devoured the bag whole

I recently read a brief piece on the use of the "environment" facade to gain control. What is the "environment"? It is everything...air, water, land, soil even the damned wind if applied within the necessary parameters. Look at the controls, restraints and confiscations all applied in the name of "The Environment."

It is the core of the problem exposed (perhaps unintended?) by the author.

I added a tag of agenda21 to the post because of the intergovernmental infighting between two agencies, one driven by environmentalism and the other by fact finding.

Here in the "T" of Pennsylvania people are truly upset at the obfuscation by the game commission.

Interestingly, in our particular part of the state we recently found out that there is an 'environmentally sensitive' species listed in the state register as 'can not be named' by a state agency that also 'can not be named' due to it's sensitive nature!?!

I jokingly mentioned to my wife that it was probably referring to us!

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