12/18/2008

Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Conservation Officer David Carlini has ruled that a Lawrence Township, Pa., hunter who was injured in a black bear attack Nov. 25 was merely in the “wrong place at the wrong time.” It was also a clear case of watch out what you wish for.

The hunter was apparently following fresh bear tracks in the snow that went into a cornfield. While standing in the middle of the cornfield he heard and then saw a bear run away from him from about five or six cornrows away. It then turned and ran back toward him. As the one bear ran by him at a mere three feet away, the hunter sensed something to his rear and, as he turned around to look, was struck by a second bear.

The victim suffered puncture wounds, bites and gashes, but nothing life threatening, the PGC reports. As the two bears ran off, the hunter walked to a dirt road and was taken for medical treatment.

“We found no evidence of a wounded bear or bears, no blood trails and no den sites,” Carlini says. “It simply appears to be a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time: in between two bears. Why these two bears were together is unknown.”

Thanks for the story,I have been telling folks for years that Black bears are at the top of the food chain and are powerfull & not much afraid of anything......if your unarmed and a really mean one wants you.... your in a bad spot between a rock and a hard place...I have seen 2 really big bears together walking side by side on 2 differnt occasions,once in the fall & once in the spring,all the bears were 400+ pounds and were in totally differnt areas,not the same bears...I always wondered if the spring bears were mateing or just twin mates/brothers,sisters,etc. and the fall couple were twins that had grown up together and /or were just mates?It was a rare sight both times to see two bigones together...Iam glad for the hunter he survived,those big blackies can out run a deer for a quick sprint i think they can get up and go from like 0 to 40mph in a flash..I have seen this quickness several times in person and it will humble you real quick at there power...my saying is...all ways be carefull & pay attention to your surroudings
when in bear country..and dont run if you see one just backaway slowly and give them there room/space..& allways carry a really big sharp knife if thats all you have,its better than nothing! My cousin was hikeing the applachian trail by himself years back and rounded a corner in the mountain Laural and was face to face with a big blackie that looked to be 500#.He said it stood up on its hind legs and looked down at him,he said he was telling himself,well i guess this is the end,and was braceing for the attack & standing his ground..but tried to show no fear as best he could...He said the bear just stood there checking him out and dropped back down to his four legs sniffed the air and turned around and slowly walked off...My cousin said he couldnt beleive it just let him go like that and was completely terrorfied from the close encounter but didnt have any explanation except it was a good bear or it would have had him easy....he said if he had freaked out and ran,that he felt it would have triggered the bear to charge and that would have been the worst thing he could have done....I agreed 110%!! He was lucky!So was that Hunter!!!