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#1
04-15-2006, 12:26 AM
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Bear Attacks in TN
Anyone hear about this?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060415/ap_o...DltBHNlYwM3MTY- BENTON, Tenn. - Authorities put out traps baited with honey buns and doughnuts Friday in hopes of capturing a potentially crazed black bear that killed a 6-year-old girl and mauled her mother and 2-year-old brother. ADVERTISEMENT It was only the second documented attack on a human by a black bear in modern Tennessee history, said state Wildlife Resources Agency spokesman Dan Hicks. "There is a chance that the same bear would attack someone else, so I hope they do catch him," said Lynn Rogers of the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minn. Black bears generally avoid humans, animal experts said. Rangers at the Cherokee National Forest, where the attack took place Thursday, said a disease, tumor or parasite might have made the animal more aggressive. The 350- to 400-pound bear attacked the family at a waterfall near a campground after several adult visitors tried to drive it off the trail, Hicks said. The bear bit the boy's head, then went after the child's mother after she tried to fend off the attack with rocks and sticks, Hicks said. The animal picked up the woman with its mouth and dragged her off the trail. The girl apparently ran away, and almost an hour passed before rescuer Danny Stinnett found the bear hovering over her body about 100 yards off the trail. Stinnett, a county fire and rescue chief, said he approached and was about 25 feet away when the bear charged him on all fours. He said he fired at the bear twice with his .380-caliber pistol, scaring it off. "I know I hit it," Stinnett said. "It reared up on its hind legs. It was as big as you and me." Authorities said they didn't know whether it was wounded. Dogs failed to pick up the bear's trail in an overnight search, and authorities set out traps in the thousand-acre area around the attack site. The girl was identified by the U.S. Forest Service as Elora Petrasek. Her mother, Susan Cenkus, 45, was in critical condition at a Chattanooga hospital, while her brother Luke Cenkus was upgraded to stable condition. Both are expected to recover. The family is from Clyde, Ohio, between Toledo and Cleveland. Luke suffered a bite wound that punctured his skull, while his mother had eight puncture wounds to the neck and too many claw and tooth injuries to count elsewhere on her body, doctors said. Authorities have not been able to talk to Susan Cenkus because of her injuries. "She may not remember the attack at all," Hicks said. Rogers, the bear expert, said there have been only 56 documented killings of humans by black bears in North America in the past 100 years. Rogers said the current population of black bears in North America is around 750,000, and there is generally fewer than one killing a year. In May 2000, a woman was killed by a black bear near Gatlinburg as she walked on a trail near a Smoky Mountains campground. Joe Clark, a wildlife ecologist with the U.S. Geological Service who has been studying black bears for about 20 years, said injuries or sickness can make them more aggressive. They also may attack when surprised or, in the case of females, to protect their cubs. "I've never experienced any type of aggression in all my time in the woods," he said. "Typically you won't encounter one because they sense your presence a long time before you sense theirs. "As the populations of people and bears continue to grow there will be more opportunities for this type of thing," Clark said. "We are dealing with a large, powerful wild animal." Authorities at the Cherokee National Forest said that if the animal is captured it will be killed so tests can be done to determine if it was ill. "We may never find it," Hicks said. "It may be on the top of another mountain by now." The attack occurred in a mountainous area, 10 miles from the nearest highway. The national forest covers 1,000 square miles along the Tennessee-North Carolina line. No more than six groups of campers were at the campground at the time, and they were evacuated after the attack, Hicks said. He said that this is the time of year when bears are usually active, and that there have been 42 bear sightings in the area in the past couple of weeks. 
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#4
04-15-2006, 01:07 AM
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Re: Bear Attacks in TN
Bears are damned scary..
Last summer I was up in Canada fishing with my dad, uncle & cousin. We were at a camp of 12 small cabins or so. The dump for the camp and a couple other surrounding camps was about a mile down the road. The owner of the camp offered to take us down there on a trash run to see a black bear & cubs who usually frequent the area 'cause they can get a free meal after the garbage has been dropped off. My cousin and I decided to go, we pulled up in his truck and got out, and there was mama bear and three cubs purusing the trash piles. We were about.. 20 feet from the Mom? The cubs were behind her (although exploring on their own). The place was kinda nasty, totally infested with mosquitos (like don't open your mouth at the dump). The mama bear was absolutely COVERED in mosquitos, it was pretty disgusting. There was a cloud about 6 inches thick that literally blocked the view of her somewhat. We left pretty quick 'cause the bugs were really bad. Later in the week, my uncle, cousin and I were on a walk (he has a bad back, has to keep walking when he can). We decided to go down to the dump and show my uncle the bear if she happened to be there. We walked down there and when we got there another truck was there from another camp dropping off some trash. Right as we got up there to see, something spooked the mom, and all the bears ran off into the dense, surrounding woods. After a few minutes of waiting, the truck decided to leave and we started walking out behind it. This is about the point we realized that walking here was a terrible, terrible idea. There was no vehicle to stand next to and take refuge in if this bear (with cubs) would happen to get aggressive (and the owner of the camp said this has happened, but no actual attacks). As we were walking out, three separate times we heard loud footsteps in the woods on either side of us, less than 50 yards from where we stood (yet invisible due to the density of the brush). We took inventory and had one pocketknife between the three of us for use as a possible defense - this would basically be like sticking a person with a toothpick. We decided a shot to the eye would be the best idea if needed (yes, we talked about this - it felt like that big of a threat). I've read about bears and seen them on TV, they have a thick, thick hide which can often withstand bullets, along with an armored chest of bone that protects their vitals like no other animal. Even a very small bear can toss the largest, strongest human around like a rag doll (they used to have "wrestle the bear" competitions at sport shows with trained bears, until someone was killed). Seeing bears up close does not make you think less of them either. If we were attacked and the bear was at all serious, this would not be fun. We got out of there as fast as possible without making noise, no harm done. But after hearing those noises in the woods so close to us - being totally alone - we were all pretty terrified for a few minutes. Bears are scary.
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#5
04-15-2006, 01:11 AM
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Re: Bear Attacks in TN
One walked right past where my friend and I were sitting in Yosemite. Scared the crap out of me, but he acted like we weren't even there.
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#7
04-15-2006, 01:32 AM
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Re: Bear Attacks in TN
[ QUOTE ]
I wonder how many humans it would take to take on a bear. [/ QUOTE ] just saw The Edge. 2 did it, but they did have a gigantic spear kill device.
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#10
04-15-2006, 01:59 AM
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Re: Bear Attacks in TN
Im glad somebody stepped in, and put an end to all these people, and their pro-bear agenda
[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [ QUOTE ] Time for the Threat Down.  [/ QUOTE ]
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