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We’ve been having a lot of bear sightings around here, and the lab has closed its trails to hikers for safety reasons. A few weeks ago a woman participating in a marathon in the mountains was mauled by a bear. She had surprised a mother bear as she came over a hill. The woman was found by another runner about a half hour later and was airlifted to Albuquerque to have her bites, scratches and fractured eye socket treated.
The bear was killed so it could be tested for rabies, and her cubs were captured and sent to a rehabilitation center. The woman was upset about the bears, but the state law says any bear that bites a human has to be killed and tested for rabies. The woman is trying to get the law changed — she feels the mother was just trying to protect her cubs in her own environment and that in cases like that the bears should be left alone and the humans should have to get rabies shots.
She had thought she would be safe from bears because of all the other people in the marathon, so she hadn’t carried pepper spray. In the future she will always take it, just in case!
I admire her for her compassion for the bears.
I agree with her. It seems rather extreme to kill the bear if giving humans rabies shots would solve the problem. Luckily the only hazards for marathon runners over here would be stray dogs!
I agree.
The problem is the rabies shots are extremely painful. If only they could come up with an easier treatment.
It’s quite sad that nature has to give way to humans, especially when, in this case, a mother bear was protecting her offspring. We had bears in the country my parents homesteaded, in Northern Canada. We always gave them a wide berth, and the only attack I know of occurred when three men went into the woods to hunt for bears. They encountered a grizzly, having stumbled upon a den, and two of them were seriously injured. Their story resonated throughout the settlement, and they were instantly famous! It goes without saying that they lived to tell their tale!
Great story. Thanks!
So do I.
Stories like that are heartwarming, aren’t they?
wow. I feel mixed emotions always.
when WE go into THEIR home…
well.
why do they have to do marathons in the woods?
plus… monk…
I’ve been without a computer for days on end.
and when I finally got it back from the geek squad today
they had destroyed and lost my entire email account.
I don’t know ANYBODY’S email address!
my new one is tammyrdjames@gmail.com
That was sad about both the woman the the bear.
I tried sending two messages to your old account but I haven’t gotten a message from either AOL or gmail (my account there) saying your old address doesn’t work. I don’t understand how someone trying to fix your computer could mess up your gmail account.
I’ll send you a message at your new gmail account so you will have my address. It should be easy enough to get the email addresses of everyone who has commented on your blog, and you can also ask them on your blog to send you an email at your new address.
More later!
gosh a marathon in the woods with a bear population – even with pepper spray – cannot understand the notion of!