Posted on 04/26/2013 10:07:06 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A 42-year-old Salish Kootenai College student who was attacked and mauled by a grizzly bear Friday near campus continued to recover in a Kalispell hospital Monday, while the sow grizzly reportedly retreated into the mountains following the attack and has not been spotted since.
Wildlife managers will not take action against the bear, which they say was with two yearling cubs and acted defensively after a surprise encounter with the male student.
Karen Sargent, public information officer for the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, said the student’s injuries were serious but not life-threatening. He is recovering at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, she said.
The victim was bitten in the head and arm, Sargent said, and would require cosmetic surgery to repair tissue damage to his head and face.
Germaine White, Natural Resources spokeswoman for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said the student was hiking alone in a brushy area along Mud Creek when he surprised the bear, which charged and mauled the man. He was not aware of the bear’s presence until after it began charging. He was not carrying bear spray, and his name was not disclosed.
“It was a surprise encounter between a female grizzly and her two yearling cubs in an area that is frequented by bears,” White said. “The bear charged, attacked, and retreated and left the area. It was clearly defensive behavior. She was defending her cubs.”
SKC interim president Elaine Frank said the college was notified of the attack, which occurred between 10:30 a.m. and 10:50 a.m. about a mile from campus, and quickly assembled its emergency response team.
At 11:12 a.m., faculty, staff and students received an alert text message notifying them of the bear attack. Several minutes later, the college, which uses the Rave Alert System, sent out another alert: “Grizzly bear was seen in the area of SKC dorms. Please stay inside and wait for update.”
Frank learned later the bear was never on campus, but had been spotted just east of campus.
At 1:40 p.m., the college canceled classes and instructed students to leave campus. College buses were available to pick up students from their building.
She said the student, who was collecting water samples along the creek, was not doing so as part of his SKC curriculum.
“At first we thought he was there on school business, but we soon found out from him that it had nothing to with SKC work,” Frank said. “He was working on a separate project. He is expected to make a full recovery, and we wish him well.”
Another jackass who thought he was Grizzly Adams. Glad the bear is okay.
1911 was a special year.
Must be a tough school to graduate from if he is that old!
When I was third grade we had to stay inside during recess because of a bear sighting a couple times. They had lots of rules about recess. We could only catch frogs in the creek when the high school needed them for bio labs. The students had to catch their own frogs for dissection. Some of the girls didn’t want to catch frogs so they would give us a quarter to catch one for them. We couldn’t go outside while it was raining unless we were walking home.
How quaint! At my (inner-city) school, one of the rules was "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight!"
Regards,
How is he a jackass for walking in the woods?
As for the bear’s “defensive” behavior I don’t see how unprovoked attacks against people who are no threat to grizzlies are defensive in nature. It’s what grizzlies do but it’s not defensive.
Funny, I thought the article said he was out collecting water samples. Do you think people should just stay out of the woods altogether?
Reminds me of a sign on the path from the parking lot to Mt. Palomar observatory: “Stay on the path—rattlesnakes.”
Maybe a sign here would have averted this tragedy: “Don’t pet grizzly cubs.”
Getting between any animal and her young is risky business. Especially the two-legged variety.
I agree with you. People in grizzly country should be packing a .50 caliber pistol at the least, high power rifle is better.
I have a feeling that he was surprised too I also have a feeling that if he had "charged and mauled" or otherwise inconvenienced the bear he would be facing charges of some sort.
SHE had one cow in the barn that had a calf several days earlier...She was walking through the barn to get out to the pasture and that old cow came after her, full speed. She was hit so hard in the upper thigh, the muscle and flesh flatten out and never did get back to norm. When the cow backed off her to get another running ram, it gave her time to exit the barn. She said it was clearly her own fault, she knew the cow and calf were in the barn but made the mistake of walking between the cow and her calf....Even after raising animals for years, all it takes is not thinking about what you are doing for a split second
How about Dumass?
I read an article in the Milwaukee-Journal/Sentinel some years back about a similar incident. A columnist for the paper ran a hobby farm not too far from where I live and wrote articles about farming for the paper. One time he was out in the pasture attending to a calf, and mama cow thought he was doing something objectionable to her little darling. She charged the guy and knocked him a.. over teakettle as the saying goes. The next day she was on the truck to market.
I”m with you.
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