Bear attacks woman in Aspen

DOW officers are attempting to capture a black bear that attacked a woman in her Aspen condo early this morning.

The woman was awakened by noises in her kitchen about 1:30 a.m. When she walked in, the bear smacked her in the face. She was taken to Aspen Valley Hospital with claw injuries that are not considered life-threatening.

Police said the bear entered the house through a closed but unlocked sliding glass door. It fled the home after the attack.

Bear who attacked man near Aspen killed

This morning a homeowner in Snowmass entering his garage to feed his dogs was charged and clawed by a 350-pound male bear. The man suffered minor injuries but was able to retreat back inside the home and dial 9-1-1. Pitkin County Sheriff's deputies and DOW District Wildlife Manager Kevin Wright were called to the scene shortly after 7 a.m. Upon arrival the bear remained in the garage despite having the opportunity to flee into the surrounding woods. The bear behaved aggressively toward officers and the bear was shot and killed.

Bears are currently preparing for hibernation by consuming large quantities of food. Apparently dog food is on the list. Usually though, black bears aren't so aggressive.

What's bigger than a college lineman?

(Image courtesy of Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management, a nonprofit, grant-funded site that provides research-based information on how to responsibly handle wildlife damage problems.)

I missed this AP story yesterday. Ouch!

BILLINGS, Mont. — A Carroll College student is recovering from a severed hamstring and other injuries suffered when he was mauled by a grizzly bear while bow hunting for elk over the weekend.

Roman Morris, a freshman wide receiver, said he was crouched on a hillside north of Gardiner at dawn Saturday when a female grizzly that was walking by turned and attacked him.

Over the next 30 to 45 seconds, Morris fought with the bear as it bit and clawed, severed his left hamstring, punctured his shoulder, chomped at his head and tossed him around.

“I thought the whole time, This is so messed up. I’m going to die, I’m going to die,’” said Morris, a pre-med major.

The bear ran off after a friend fired a pistol. Morris underwent surgery at a Livingston hospital and was recuperating Monday at his brother’s house in Helena.

“I still have a pretty dang good headache from the whole thing,” he told The Billings Gazette in a telephone interview.

Morris said as he and the bear slid downhill, he held the bear’s head and pounded away with his fist. “I put everything I had into it. It didn’t budge at all,” said Morris, who is 6 feet, 2 inches, and 205 pounds.

Morris said he tried to play dead, but also kept pushing the bear away as it bit and slapped at him. Finally, the grizzly tore into his left leg — leaving a deep 9-inch gash — and tossed him, perhaps five to eight feet, he said.

“I don’t know how you can stay still when it sinks its teeth into you,” Morris said.

A section of Yellowstone National Park west of Gardiner has been temporarily closed due to the attack, park officials said. The same area of the park was closed Sept. 14-18 after another bow hunter was mauled by a bear.

Bear in Red Rock Canyon

My mom walked up to a bear in Red Rock Canyon Open Space on Monday. Apparently numerous people have seen a bear at the park in recent days. Mom heard a noise as she was walking and looked up to see the bear about 8-10 feet away in the scrub.

Wondering what to do if you encounter a bear? Here's what wildlife officials say.

Dramatic bear rescue

I saw these photos - and others - on my desktop this morning at home and wondered where they came from. Apparently locals up near Tahoe in California rescued this 250-pound black bear that jumped off a bridge to avoid getting hit by passing cars. He then got stuck on a ledge.

It's an elaborate rescue.

Check out this story in the Tahoe Daily Tribune.

See the rescue photos side by side here.

Awesome job. The bear was urged back into the forest when it came to. I wonder when it'll venture near a road again!

Bears: Go wild

Seen any bears lately? Wildlife officers say this will be a tough fall for them, as they struggle to bulk up for hibernation, chowing down 20,000 to 25,000 calories a day. They're looking for those yummy berries we were talking about last week.

Officers have killed at least six bears around Aspen that had become too attached to people's garbage cans and kitchen fridges.

First offenders are captured and taken into the wilds for release. Officers even give them a shot of "aversive conditioning" - blasts of rubber pellets to the butt. That's still not enough for most of the bears. They're just too hungry and locked in survival mode.

The Denver Post has a story today -- www.denverpost.com/ci_6703409 -- about the struggle for the bears to keep up with their eating and the struggle of officers to keep up with bear removal.

I bet that made a dent

An adult, female grizzly died after being struck by a motor vehicle on U.S. 2 about 10 miles east of West Glacier, Montana. The highway in that area runs along the southern boundary of Glacier National Park.

The bear had been lactating, but no cubs were found. She was 10 to 12 years old and weighed about 300 pounds.

No one has reported hitting the bear.

BOY SLAPS BEAR

Officials from New Mexico's Department of Game and Fish have set a trap for a bear that bit a 13-year-old boy camping at Sugarite Canyon State Park near Raton on Sunday.

The boy heard something brush against his tent about 2:20 a.m. and slapped the side, thinking a relative was playing a trick. He apparently slapped the bear, which bit his hand and ran away, parks officials said.

The teen wasn't seriously hurt. He was camping at the Soda Pocket Campground.

The boy told authorities he had no food in his tent, but officials didn't say whether he was wearing the same clothes he'd worn while eating earlier.

Acorns and berries that bears eat are not yet at their peak, and drier weather has caused bears to search harder for food, officials said.

Bears and campsites don't mix

You've probably heard the awful news about the 11-year-old boy who was dragged from his tent and killed by a black bear over the weekend in Utah.

It's a bit drier there than here right now, but the Division of Wildlife warns we all should take precautions when visiting bear country.

And we're in bear country. (DOW photo of a bear with Tom Beck.)

"Bears are built to eat and their sense of smell is incredible," said the DOW's Mark Caddy. "They can smell food from miles away and they'll travel to find it."

Follow these tips from the DOW to preserve yourself and the bears:
++ Keep a clean site and clean up thoroughly after every meal
++ After grilling meat allow the fire to continue until the scraps and grease are burned completely off the grill.
++ When you are not eating or preparing a meal, store food inside locked vehicles, in a bear-proof container away from your camp site, or hang your food high between two trees.
++ Do not eat in your tent or keep food in your tent.
++ Store scraps and garbage in a secure container or vehicle.

If you see a bear in a campground, call the local DOW office as soon as possible.

If you come in close contact with a bear:
++ Talk to it firmly and make yourself look as large as possible.
++ Back away slowly, don't run.

The other day, I saw a bear...

Up in the woods? No, on my porch.

So says a Jeff. Co. woman who was swatted by a bear outside her house early this morning.

Beware! As we've said before, bears are out and about - and they're hungry. They won't like anything standing between them and food.

The DOW says a bear swatted the 38-year-old Conifer woman at 12:30 a.m. outside her home. Responding to her barking dog on the porch, she encountered a bear, one of three in the area. The victim’s 10-year-old daughter saw the swat and said the bear was small, 50-60 lbs.

A DOW officer followed tracks leading away from the home and encountered three bears. One bear charged the officer and was shot and killed.

The DOW set a trap for the other 2 bears. The woman was taken to a hospital, treated and released.

To learn more about black bears play the DOW's Black Bear Challenge.

To minimize such encounters the DOW recommends:

++ Keep garbage out of reach and smell of bears. Use bear-proof trash bins. Be sure garbage cans are emptied regularly. Periodically clean garbage cans. Store trash cans in a bear-proof enclosure.

++ Do not store pet food nor feed your pets outside.

++ Clean your BBQ grill of grease and store inside.

++ Hang bird seed, suet and hummingbird feeders on a wire between trees instead of on your deck or porch. Bring all bird feeders in at night.

++ Do not put fruit, melon rinds and other tasty items in mulch or compost piles.

IF YOU SEE A BEAR:

++ Stay calm.

++ If you see a bear and it has not seen you, calmly leave the area. As you move away, make noise to let the bear discover your presence. Stop. Back away slowly while facing the bear.

++ Avoid direct eye contact, as bears may perceive this as a threat.

++ Give the bear plenty of room to escape.

++ Do not run - you cannot outrun a bear. Do not make any sudden movements.

++ If on a trail, step off the trail on the downhill side and slowly move away.

++ Speak softly. This may reassure the bear that you mean it no harm.

++ Try not to show fear.

If a black bear attacks you:

++ Use rocks, sticks, binoculars, a backpack and even their bare hands to defend yourself.

++ Aim for the nose or eyes if possible.

(Photo by Michael Seraphin, courtesy of the DOW)

But do bears love us?

Not so much...

Idaho fish and game officials are searching for a grizzly that attacked a 33-year-old near the Idaho-Wyoming border. Teton County Sheriff Kim Cook said the man was walking Tuesday near his home in Tetonia, looking for his barking dog, when the bear attacked. The man is in stable condition in a hospital.

Fish and game officials laid a series of traps and are working with local police to capture the bear.

We love bears - even when they're not cuddly

More than 500,000 people have commented on a proposal to list polar bears as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. America’s polar bears, found exclusively in Alaska, merit additional protection due to global warming.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne in December proposed listing polar bears as threatened, defined in law as likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. The more drastic listing under the law is “endangered” — in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

The University of Colorado’s National Snow and Ice Data Center reported last week that Arctic sea ice this winter just missed setting the record for fewest square miles covered since monitoring by satellite began in 1979. In recent years, winter sea ice has fallen by at least 600,000 square miles, double the size of Texas.