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  1. #1
    Senior Member OneClick's Avatar
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    Bear attacks girl in hammock

    Bear attacks sleeping 16-year-old girl at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

    That whole general area scares me a bit. They've have too many delicious Snickers, donuts and pies. Getting very curious and bold.

    "There were two bears near the campsite after the attack. The family identified one bear as being the one that attacked the girl."

    "That's him! The big black one with sharp claws...aims to shoot...no, the other big black one with sharp claws!"

  2. #2

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    I'm afraid that instances like this are the result of more people without the proper knowledge being in the wilderness (certainly more from the pandemic). While the article mentioned that this family had stored their food properly, it is the deluge of others who don't that brings the bears to the sites to start with. I have had many bear encounters while backpacking and 90% took off and ran from me at first sight, but the others were in popular areas where food was readily available.

    Sad for the bears and flat out pisses me off. I feel bad for the girl and the people that do things right.

    Rant over.

  3. #3
    TallPaul's Avatar
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    Bear attacks girl in hammock

    I would have bet it would have been the Cosby Knob shelter before reading the article. That campsite has habitual bear problems. Course people used to feed the bears through a chicken wire fence while they were inside the shelter.
    I really feel for the family and the girl. I can’t imagine going through that as a parent.

    Another article indicated the bear they killed did have human blood on it so it’s likely the right bear.

    https://www.charlotteobserver.com/ne...T9IL3fydvXZ4fY




    Last edited by TallPaul; 06-18-2021 at 16:19.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Twistytee's Avatar
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    The Wall Street Journal ran an article earlier in the week about some of the National Parks having to close their gates due to overcrowding during/post pandemic. They weren’t necessarily citing wildlife confrontations but pointed out that overcrowding led to poor behavior including camping in restricted areas, spilling off designated trails, starting forest fires, and leaving “piles of human waste”. This clearly wasn’t a case of non-compliance by the family but it does help explain the aggressive bear behavior. Makes me think twice about using certain camp sites and avoiding areas frequented by bears.

  5. #5
    Phantom Grappler's Avatar
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    Could be unfortunate circumstance, rather than her or her family not following best safe practices.
    Bears and people, especially children are not a good mix, something bad might happen.
    But if they had several medium sized dogs unleashed, the bears would have gone elsewhere.

  6. #6
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Phantom Grappler View Post
    Could be unfortunate circumstance, rather than her or her family not following best safe practices.
    Bears and people, especially children are not a good mix, something bad might happen.
    But if they had several medium sized dogs unleashed, the bears would have gone elsewhere.
    Maybe, if that is allowed in the camp grounds, then a good idea. As long as the dogs themselves don't threaten people. That actually would be a good idea for the park service. How about trained dogs (belonging to the park service), trusted with family pets and people, which roam the campgrounds?

    These guys were asleep in a tent:
    https://www.alaskapublic.org/2021/06...-kenai-refuge/

  7. #7
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    I feel for the girl and her family.
    That area has a population of Bears who are not afraid of people. They see people giving them food.
    Hikers and campers should use Bear Bags and NEVER FEED THE BEARS.
    I like Bears, but I also respect them, they can be predators.

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    So sorry for the girl, that's a bad encounter .

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    Dogs are more likely to draw bears right into the camp. I try to avoid campsites within about 3 miles of a parking lot. Cooler campers and steak cookers become less frequent.

  10. #10
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    Seems like these folks were doing everything right, but paid the price for those that came before them.

    Last time I hiked the Quinalt on the Olympic Peninsula I saw 8 bears in one afternoon. I suppose I could have counted some twice, but there are a lot of bears around in remote areas. They all had zero interest in me, but with so many people hiking they have lots of opportunities to learn about our amazing high calorie, great tasting food.

    The part I don’t get is the attack. I could see a bear chasing campers away and stealing their food, but a direct attack seems like it would take them a long time to work up to. Wildlife is unpredictable I guess. Once had a squirrel chase after me to the point that I was concerned it had rabies!

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