[New Jersey] Bear attack takes on greater menace; Teens pawed and bitten by prowling cub

Newark Star-Ledger ^ | November 19, 2004 | BRIAN T. MURRAY

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The encounter last weekend between three bears and two Boy Scouts at a camp in Warren County was more harrowing than originally reported, as the bears pawed at the teenagers for an hour, bit one of them and attempted to bite the other, according to a report by state wildlife investigators.

The boys, who were later vaccinated for rabies, cowered on a rock as they fended off the two 60-pound cubs and the mother bear at the Yards Creek Scout Reservation in Blairstown on Saturday night, wildlife investigators said.

One of the boys was bitten twice by a cub. The animal first bit down on the boy's left arm -- leaving four scratch marks as the youth pulled away -- and then bit the boy's right hand, leaving three puncture wounds, according to a Division of Fish and Wildlife report obtained by The Star-Ledger on Wednesday. The second boy escaped injury when the second cub bit his coat sleeve -- but missed his arm -- and tried to pull him off the rock, the report said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection did not release the report until last night -- after being pressed by The Star-Ledger-- leaving officials from the Central New Jersey Council of the Boy Scouts to field questions about the incident. The council initially reported the incident as a brief, minor encounter with two bears, and said only one bear had "scratched" a scout's hand before the cubs ran off. . . .

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Mandatory excerpt rule for NJ.com, so I strongly suggest that interested Freepers should go read the full article. You'll not only see that the bear attack was much more serious than initially reported, but you'll also see that the head of the DEP, Bradley Campbell, covered up the details of the attack. He's the goofball bureacrat who just got spanked by a New Jersey court for lawlessly trying to hold up the bear hunt.

[Bluegrass Conservative]

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New Jersey bear hunt ping and bump.

[Alberta's Child]

If my understanding of wildlife is correct, then the motivation for covering up the incident was to avoid having the DEP do what they are supposed to do in this case. If this had been a case of a mother bear protecting her cubs, then it wouldn't have been anything unusual from a wildlife perspective. But when bear cubs show clear signs that they do not have a natural fear of humans, they must be destroyed.

[sandalwood]

One of the bears rubbed its nose on one of the scouts?

He could have ripped the kids' face off, and he rubbed his nose on him?

These are the kinds of bears I want to be attacked by, if I ever have the misfortune of being attacked by a bear!

[Pharmboy]

Thanks. That's about 30 miles from my house...the hunt can't come soon enough for me.

[frog_jerk_2004]

But when bear cubs show clear signs that they do not have a natural fear of humans, they must be destroyed

Preferably right on my grill...

[Grampa Dave]

Typical left wing Peta Enviral whack coverup of an attack by predators.

The young boys are lucky to be alive. It sounds like the mother bear was training her cubs on how to attack.

Mother Mountain lions do that out here in the west. They and their young panthers will attack and kill large numbers of sheep or goats just for the practice.

[d-back]

No problem, and I hope you have good luck. I'll be driving out to bear country from the People's Republic of Montclair myself, hoping I have better luck than last year's hunt.

[yoe]

I couldn’t open the full article, but my guess is those Scouts had food smells all over them if not on them along with using their clothing to wipe hands after eating and perhaps had been actually baiting the cubs. No perfumed hair shampoo, rinse, flavored lipstick, deodorant or sun-tan oils or screens when camping. No food left in the tent or on the ground or left out anywhere, are good rules to follow.

[LizardQueen]

This is one of the weirdest bear attack stories I've ever read.

LQ

[Legion04]

stupid kid..don't feed the bears.

[ZULU]

"Black bear attacks on humans are rare"

Thanks for the PING.

Black bear attacks have been rare due to the infrequency of contact between large numbers of bears and large numbers of people - an increasing occurance in densely populated states like New Jersey.

Nonetheless, more people have been killed and attacked by black bears than by grizzlies. They are potentially extremely dangerous animals.

In more rational states, this scenario would have ended with an onlooker shooting all three of them dead with a handy fire-arm.

However, in New Jersey citizens - excuse me - subjects - are not permitted to go about armed and even if they were, would face legal action if they attempted to defend themselves or anyone else.

Decisions on a bear hunt should be made by professional wildlife biologists and animal ecologists - not by some cheap political hack like Campbell who takes his marching orders from the party (DemocRat) political machine.

Incidents like this will only go on until someone there IS killed by a bear.

[EdReform]

Anyone hiking, camping, or living in an area with bears should have at least one canister of bear pepper spray available at all times. I have the following product:

Counter Assault Bear Pepper Spray

[OldFriend]

Please don't minimize the danger here in NJ

Not only from the wildlife but from the brainless bureaucrats.

[OldFriend]

Does Montclair suffer the same fools as Maplewood?

[ZULU]

So what??

Bears are inherently a dangerous, potentially aggressive animal and when they loose their fear of people through intimate association in a densely populated state like Jersey, they are a menace.

Only regular large bear hunts will succeed in habituating the black bear population to a fear of humans.

[EdReform]

GI Ping

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Yoe: There is nothing at all in the story to suggest that these Boy Scouts were "baiting the cubs."

The kids had Pop Tarts in their backpacks, which certainly contributed to the situation, but it would be foolish to suggest that Boy Scouts cannot carry snacks or food with them when hiking in New Jersey without inviting a bear attack.

There are simply too many black bears in our heavily-populated state, and they have little if any fear of humans.

The answer to the problem: Control the number of black bears in New Jersey by instituting a regular hunting season.

[Pharmboy]

Montclair, huh? The Berkeley of the northeast.

My heart goes out to you. At least in Morris County where I live, Bush got 77% of the votes. You might have been Dubya's only vote from Monclair! LOL!