Another predatory black bear attack.

A man sleeping in Southern California foothills was attacked by a bear who then followed him as he hiked for help, a wildlife official said.

The attack occurred Tuesday night off Chantry Flat Road, which runs through Santa Anita Canyon into the Angeles National Forest seven miles east of Pasadena.


The man said he was sleeping when he was woken by the noise of a bear, said Lt. J.C. Healy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“He reached out, extended his hand so the bear could smell him. The attack occurred,” Healy said.

The man fled his camp and walked down Chantry Flat Road toward the homes of Sierra Madre. The bear, he said, followed him.

“He came to a house on (Arno Drive), got behind a gate and waited for the bear to go in another direction,” Grant Cadzow, a Sierra Madre police officer, told TV station NBC4.

Police received a call at 11:23 p.m. about a man standing on someone’s porch, Sierra Madre police Sgt. Edward Delcoure said. The man told responding officers about the bear attack. He was treated on the scene for cuts to his head and arm but declined going to a hospital.

Police said the man is an 83-year-old transient who stays in the mountains.

Wildlife officials were looking for the bear and plan to kill it, Healy said.



“Unfortunately, we have to err on the side of public safety,” Healy said. “We can’t take the risk of an animal without fear of people.”

The plan could change, however, if officers determine from interviews with the victim that the man’s behavior exacerbated the attack, Healy said.

Healy said officials have the shirt the man wore Tuesday night and his sleeping bag. They will attempt to get the bear’s DNA from the items to make sure they catch the right animal.

Wow, he is very lucky.

Sounds like they should move the homeless up into the mountains. Maybe they should call the forest a sanctuary?

Maybe they should relocated bears and mountain lions that attack people to our southern border?

Might save a lot of taxpayer money.

BH63

Seems like a smart thing to do, stick your hand in the bears face