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Midlothian woman survives bear attack at Douthat State Park
Roanoke.com ^ | August 10, 2015 | Laura Kebede

Posted on 08/10/2015 9:39:19 AM PDT by Perseverando

A Midlothian woman survived a bear attack Saturday at Douthat State Park in Bath County that left her with 14 stitches in her back and 14 in her leg.

An adult female black bear believed to be the attacker was tracked and killed early Sunday. The bear attack prompted the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to close several miles of trails on the west side of state Route 629, which was scheduled to be reopened today.

Laurie Cooksey was hiking Saturday with three of her four children after a day of canoeing and camping the night before. When they reached the Tuscarora Overlook and took a selfie, rain clouds were quickly forming, she said. So about 6 p.m., the foursome headed down the steep, windy trail — with Cooksey and her 19-year-old son Ellis walking ahead of her daughter Hannah Cate, 16, and son Blake, 22.

Within five minutes, Ellis spotted the black bear peering at them from behind a tree about 10 yards away, Laurie Cooksey said. Almost immediately, the bear charged.

They retreated in the opposite direction, but the bear caught up and headed them off.

“He was fast. He was just so fast,” she said.

The bear clawed Cooksey’s back and knocked her to the ground off the trail.

“The saving grace was it was raining hard and the leaves were slippery,” she said.

They both slid in the leaves and she found herself slightly uphill from the bear when it bit her twice on the leg.

Cooksey kicked just enough for the bear to lose its balance on the incline and slide far enough away for Cooksey to make a run for it, she said.

When they caught up with the other two who were unaware of the incident, the bear reappeared.

(Excerpt) Read more at roanoke.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: bear; blackbear; douthat; hiking; virginia
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“Get big! Get loud!” or get faster than the other guy, or get "et."

"Et" would translate "ate" for city folk. LOL

1 posted on 08/10/2015 9:39:19 AM PDT by Perseverando
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To: Perseverando

Who did she outrun?


2 posted on 08/10/2015 9:45:40 AM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: Perseverando

How to survive a bear attack:

Trip your buddy


3 posted on 08/10/2015 9:50:48 AM PDT by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
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To: Vendome
Who did she outrun?

Apparently no one.

4 posted on 08/10/2015 9:51:23 AM PDT by Perseverando (For Progressives, Islamonazis & Totalitarians: It's all about PEOPLE CONTROL!)
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To: Perseverando
**A Midlothian woman**

Does Midlothian predate Neanderthals?

5 posted on 08/10/2015 9:52:28 AM PDT by Gamecock (Many Atheists: "There is no God and I hate Him!")
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To: Gamecock

LOL!

It’s a region of Britain, and also a suburb of Richmond, VA.


6 posted on 08/10/2015 9:56:24 AM PDT by Tax-chick ("All the time live the truth with love in your heart." ~Fr. Ho Lung)
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To: Perseverando
"Et" would translate "ate" for city folk"

My wife grew up in England. She says "et" for "ate" quite a bit. It's not just a rural American thing. Or did you grow up in England too?

7 posted on 08/10/2015 9:58:27 AM PDT by driftless2
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To: silverleaf
"...tracked the bear to a location near the site of the incident and humanely killed the bear around 4 a.m. Sunday."

Here a photo of the bear just before it was shot. It was night so they used a flash. Note the "deer in the headlights" appearance:

Smile. Now wait for the flash.


8 posted on 08/10/2015 9:59:16 AM PDT by Perseverando (For Progressives, Islamonazis & Totalitarians: It's all about PEOPLE CONTROL!)
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To: Tax-chick

And, a city close to Dallas/Fort Worth.


9 posted on 08/10/2015 10:00:56 AM PDT by SuzyQue
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To: Perseverando

no bells pr pepper spray?

(refering to the old joke: for those readers with no sense of humor) :)


10 posted on 08/10/2015 10:01:03 AM PDT by themidnightskulker (And then the thread dies... peacefully, in it's sleep....)
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To: SuzyQue

Huh, I didn’t know that.


11 posted on 08/10/2015 10:01:27 AM PDT by Tax-chick ("All the time live the truth with love in your heart." ~Fr. Ho Lung)
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To: driftless2
My wife grew up in England. She says "et" for "ate" quite a bit. It's not just a rural American thing. Or did you grow up in England too?

Cheerio, mate! But acutally, no. I think it's some sore of colloquialism carried over from years ago. I've heard some old time geezers refer to the county sheriff as the "high sheriff" which I think is a Brit thing also.

12 posted on 08/10/2015 10:03:17 AM PDT by Perseverando (For Progressives, Islamonazis & Totalitarians: It's all about PEOPLE CONTROL!)
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To: Gamecock
Does Midlothian predate Neanderthals?

Is that similar to Midlothians speed-dating Neanderthals?

13 posted on 08/10/2015 10:04:38 AM PDT by Perseverando (For Progressives, Islamonazis & Totalitarians: It's all about PEOPLE CONTROL!)
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To: Perseverando

I had an experience just this past week involving a bear that I don’t want to repeat. I was on my bicycle on an old logging trail going through a wooded area when I came across a bit of thinned out area where the vegetation was quite high (mostly grass and some brush that was say 2 to 3 feet high. All of a sudden about 40 feet in front of me, a small black animal popped out of the grass and on to the trail and he turned in the same direction I was going. For a millisecond, I thought it might be a black cat…. common sense quickly told me there were no cats for a gazillion miles around and that it obviously was a baby bear. So, I made the snap decision to just hit the pedals as hard as I could and get past him and hope his mother was following and thus behind him. In a couple seconds, I was right beside him as he loped along in the adjacent track and when he looked up me and saw me as I got level to him, he peeled off into the grass like he had just received the biggest fright of his life. I never did see the mother and am glad that I didn’t have to second guess the decision to speed up instead of stop when I saw the baby.


14 posted on 08/10/2015 10:05:05 AM PDT by hecticskeptic (In life it's important to know what you believeÂ….but more more importantly, why you believe it.)
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To: Perseverando

Oh No Ranger Bob! I was just returning the pic-a-nic basket!


15 posted on 08/10/2015 10:05:29 AM PDT by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
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To: Perseverando
An adult female black bear believed to be the attacker was tracked and killed early Sunday

Black bear lives matter!

16 posted on 08/10/2015 10:05:46 AM PDT by GreenHornet
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To: driftless2
My wife grew up in England. She says "et" for "ate" quite a bit.

David Suchet ("Hercule Poirot") has an excellent audio version of the NIV Bible. In it he, too, pronounces "ate" as "et". IIRC, he is also a stage Shakespearean actor, so he probably knows "the Queen's English".

17 posted on 08/10/2015 10:07:37 AM PDT by BwanaNdege (.)
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To: GreenHornet
Black bear lives matter!

ROFLMAO!!

18 posted on 08/10/2015 10:08:24 AM PDT by Perseverando (For Progressives, Islamonazis & Totalitarians: It's all about PEOPLE CONTROL!)
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To: hecticskeptic
I had an experience just this past week involving a bear that I don’t want to repeat. I was on my bicycle on an old logging trail going through a wooded area

Bears call mountain bikers Meals on Wheels.

19 posted on 08/10/2015 10:10:11 AM PDT by Perseverando (For Progressives, Islamonazis & Totalitarians: It's all about PEOPLE CONTROL!)
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To: Perseverando

IMHO, there’s now an orphaned bear cub somewhere on that mountain searching in vain for its mother.


20 posted on 08/10/2015 10:10:19 AM PDT by DJ Taylor (Once again our country is at war, and once again the Democrats have sided with our enemy.)
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