BEEEEEAAAAAAAAR!

[JackM]

Scout Not Seriously Hurt in Bear Attack
By Associated Press
1 hour ago

WHITE HAVEN, Pa. - A Boy Scout played dead when attacked by a bear during a camping trip, avoiding serious injury.

Chris Malasics, 14, curled up in the fetal position in his sleeping bag after the bear ripped down his tent at Hickory Run State Park around 11:30 p.m. Friday.

"I was just trying to figure out what to do to not get hurt," he told the Daily Local News of West Chester.

As the bear started tossing Malasics around, a Scout leader tried to create a disturbance by banging pots and pans and flashing car headlights. The bear eventually wandered off.

Malasics, of Chester Springs, was taken to a hospital for treatment for his cuts and bruises. He was also given a precautionary rabies shot.

Malasics said the experience will not deter him from going camping. In the future, though, he intends to make sure he has a pepper spray for bears, and perhaps a gun.

"I know how to shoot," he said.



I wonder how our furry friends are fairing with the lower water/drought conditions. Maybe the berry and nut crops were bad this year. Be careful out there.

 

[tabasco_joe]

Most likely either had food in the tent or had some food scent from supper on his clothes. I remember when I was a scout we always had a bag of Chips Ahoy in there. We also used to stand in the smoke from the cook fire to keep the bugs away.

 

[afishinado]

I have fished and camped at HRSP many times. I've seen bears there, and they are not afraid of people. They have become accustomed to them.

Here's a video about the incident.


http://www.yahoo.com/s/707409

 

[thedude1534]

The bear may also have been a little more desparate for food this time of year. Usually before hibernation they tend to take more risks to stock up on grub

 

[Padraic]

http://www.wikiality.com/Bears

 

[tomgamber]

Pad thats funny!!!!

Food, pre-hibernation...you experts figure out the "why". All I know is if you come into close proximity of one, you better show it some respect. Its bigger than you and faster than you and can kick your @ss if it chooses to do so.

 

[sandfly]

I think thats the third incedent at hickory run in the last 3 years, I would take a guess they have a problem there..

I was out trakin one in the corn yesturday, never saw it though...
saw where there was a lot together on top the mountain last week..

 

[JackM]

By the way that picture one object is glistening, I would say you were "hot" on its trail.

 

[jaybo41]

Wow Jack, that one "stinks" :lol:

 

[steveo]

Like sandfly said it's the third incident in the park in the last 2 years. The other 2 were the people's fault. The bears were just doing what bears do. We talked to one of the rangers 2 weeks ago. They are trapping and removing bears from the park. It's really a bad situation for the bears and the idiots that cause the problems.

 

[brookieaddict]

We complicate things because we think we are above what goes on in the WILD. We live in our heated,air conditioned ,dry houses and after a few centurys we distance our selfs from what we are, predators living in an enviroment. We are smarter than most animals when it comes to technology but , when we enter the world from where we evolved we are part of the food chain folks. We visit our favorite haunts and orded steak with the trimmings, while we watch a show about carnivores and when our undercooked steak is served we send it back..toooo rare for us. We like steak sandwiches ,the Bear like boy scouts, we eat french fries by the ton, Bears eat what they can catch and dont send it back. I guess what im trying to say is we have become animal dumb,and complacent about who we are and where we go when we leave the saftey of the shopping mall. I never leave the saftey of my cave with out a boom stick of some kind, it keeps my family and me off of the menu of a predator bipedal or qudaraped. ;-)

 

[tabasco_joe]

More and more of the land in the area is being developed. It's being placed off limits to hunting and the local bear population is climbing. A number of people I know who have summer cabins in the area are complaining of bear problems. When bear populations go up in a small area they start getting into trouble. Like a bunch of unruly teenagers.

 

[troutbert]

Does anyone know if these incidents are occurring at the main, big campground, or at the group campground down by Mud Run?

 

[ryanh]

A frind of mine lived in Chicken which is just outside of Indian which is outside of Anchorage. You get the picture. He was comming home from work and there were a bunch of Game Commish guys on his road. He asked what they are doing.

They said that ther was a problem Grizz in Indian that they were relocating :-o

 

[schrec]

I read somewhere that, while Black Bear attacks on humans are extremely rare, if one attacks you in a tent, at night, the snack he has in mind is you.

I was in the Smoky Mountains in July. They are having a hundred year drought down there. Anyway, the Rangers were saying that animal behavior had become very unpredictable because of the drought.

In fact, there was a report on the late night news that a Black Bear attacked a car at night in a campground because the owner's grandkids had dropped some candy in the backseat. The bear ripped the car apart. Tore off part of the bumber and its teeth almost punctured the sheet metal on the front fender.

I'd say that scout was extremely fortunate to escape with minor injuries.


rising trout always
schrec

 

[tomgamber]

Bear's gotta eat!

 

[steveo]

troutbert,
From what I was told all of the issues were at the Group Camp near Mud Run & the Hickory House. That's also where the Game Commission has their traps. Having said that we encountered bears at the day use area this spring, not far from the family camp ground.

 

[Salvi1]

I had my metal Powell flyrod case with heavy as brass ends used as my "Bear Beater" in my tent last week.

 

[brookieaddict]

Joe you have explained whats wrong in most cases with wildlife and us monkeys, we think were not an animal any more. :lol:

 

[afishinado]

I’m not surprised to hear of the bear attacks at the park, there are too many people leaving food around for the bears to feed on. The last two times I fished a HRSP I ran into bears. On my last trip, I parked at the end of the group camping area and began walking down the hill towards Mud Run. A bear escorted my down to the stream, walking parallel to the path about 30 yards away. I tried to shoo the bear away like a dog, and he just looked at me and continued to walk along. When I saw that, I realized that the bears were used to people, and probably associated them with having food. Not good, and not a lot you can do. There is really no other option; those bears have to be killed. A lot of people that love animals don’t realize that feeding bears, either consciously or because of lack of knowledge, may lead to the injury of another person and/or the destruction of the animal. Sad.