Preacherman
Member
From the Toronto Star (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...geid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1056709607776):
Jun. 27, 2003. 02:26 PM
Woman survives fight with black bear
BEAUSEJOUR, Man. (CP) — A woman who fought off a black bear said the thought of her son having to watch the animal eat her helped her survive.
Diane James, 50, said she began to wonder what would happen if she died as she grappled with the bear outside her Beausejour-area home Tuesday.
"I thought if this bear kills me, the person who's going to find me was my 16-year-old son, and I wasn't about to let my son see this bear eating his mom's carcass," James said yesterday while in hospital.
She suffered several injuries in the fight, including a partially ripped scalp, a gash below her right eye and numerous lacerations and bite marks. Nearly three hours of emergency surgery was needed to repair the damage, she said.
"It was absolutely horrible. He tried to rip the scalp off my head and he did a pretty good job of it too."
James had just returned home from grocery shopping when she saw the bear attacking one of three alpacas the family keeps on its hobby farm.
She was trying to call Manitoba Conservation officials on a cordless phone when the bear — a yearling about the size of a German shepherd and weighing about 23 kilograms — saw her and attacked, she said.
"Once he saw me, he came straight at me. He came so fast I was only able to take two steps back toward the house before he was on top of me."
What followed was a five-minute brawl with a bear seemingly hell-bent on killing her, James said. Despite its small size, the bear knocked her over, clawing and biting at her head, while she attempted to twist its nose to break free.
"He wasn't an ordinary bear," she said. "I know you're supposed to play dead if a bear attacks you, but I knew if I played dead with this bear that he would kill me."
James eventually got inside and snuck away to her car while the bear was preoccupied. She drove to her neighbour's house and was taken to hospital while another neighbour returned and found the bear attacking the family's border collie.
The neighbour shot the bear dead. Its body was transported to Winnipeg for analysis and rabies testing, said provincial black bear manager Hank Hristienko.
The dog and one alpaca suffered minor injuries. Another alpaca had to be destroyed.
Unprovoked attacks by black bears are rare, said Hristienko. He said people who encounter bears should avoid contact at all costs.
"They should be respected for the threat they pose."
Beausejour is about 60 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
Jun. 27, 2003. 02:26 PM
Woman survives fight with black bear
BEAUSEJOUR, Man. (CP) — A woman who fought off a black bear said the thought of her son having to watch the animal eat her helped her survive.
Diane James, 50, said she began to wonder what would happen if she died as she grappled with the bear outside her Beausejour-area home Tuesday.
"I thought if this bear kills me, the person who's going to find me was my 16-year-old son, and I wasn't about to let my son see this bear eating his mom's carcass," James said yesterday while in hospital.
She suffered several injuries in the fight, including a partially ripped scalp, a gash below her right eye and numerous lacerations and bite marks. Nearly three hours of emergency surgery was needed to repair the damage, she said.
"It was absolutely horrible. He tried to rip the scalp off my head and he did a pretty good job of it too."
James had just returned home from grocery shopping when she saw the bear attacking one of three alpacas the family keeps on its hobby farm.
She was trying to call Manitoba Conservation officials on a cordless phone when the bear — a yearling about the size of a German shepherd and weighing about 23 kilograms — saw her and attacked, she said.
"Once he saw me, he came straight at me. He came so fast I was only able to take two steps back toward the house before he was on top of me."
What followed was a five-minute brawl with a bear seemingly hell-bent on killing her, James said. Despite its small size, the bear knocked her over, clawing and biting at her head, while she attempted to twist its nose to break free.
"He wasn't an ordinary bear," she said. "I know you're supposed to play dead if a bear attacks you, but I knew if I played dead with this bear that he would kill me."
James eventually got inside and snuck away to her car while the bear was preoccupied. She drove to her neighbour's house and was taken to hospital while another neighbour returned and found the bear attacking the family's border collie.
The neighbour shot the bear dead. Its body was transported to Winnipeg for analysis and rabies testing, said provincial black bear manager Hank Hristienko.
The dog and one alpaca suffered minor injuries. Another alpaca had to be destroyed.
Unprovoked attacks by black bears are rare, said Hristienko. He said people who encounter bears should avoid contact at all costs.
"They should be respected for the threat they pose."
Beausejour is about 60 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
