laredo318
08-08-2011, 02:18 PM
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/08/08/bc-bear-attack.html?ref=rss
B.C. man survives mother bear's clawing
Mother bear killed, cubs stranded in tree
CBC News (http://www.cbc.ca/news/credit.html)
Posted: Aug 8, 2011 12:33 PM PT
Last Updated: Aug 8, 2011 2:08 PM PT
Supporting Story Content
A B.C. man says he's lucky to be alive after walking away from a bear attack Monday morning with just a few minor injuries.
Ken Hogue was walking his dog just before 6 a.m. PT near his home in Anmore, near Port Moody, when he spotted a mother bear and her cubs.
"As I come over the crest of the hill, the mother bear turned around and saw myself and my dog so she made a beeline straight for us, so I dove down a small embankment just off the road there but she was on us like in a matter of seconds," Hogue said.
http://maps.google.com/maps/api/staticmap?center=49.294680,-123.013916&zoom=9&markers=size:mid|color:red|49.314534,-122.856317&path=color:0x0000FF80|weight:5|49.31445,-122.86869&maptype=terrain&size=220x220&sensor=false (http://maps.google.com/?q=anmore bc)Anmore, B.C. "It sort of nudged my dog ... and then it came right at me ... the mother bear was right on top of me and she clawed me on my right arm and just sort of stood over me, almost face to face. And so I was just waiting for her to sort of finish the job."
Hogue laid on the ground for several excruciating minutes, waiting for the bear to continue her attack.
"Basically, I just waiting for her jaws to come down and sort of finish the job ... Basically, that's what was going through my mind: Is this how I'm going to end my life? Being killed by a bear?"
'Very fortunate'
When nothing happened, Hogue slowly looked up and saw the mother bear slowly walking away, glancing back at him every few seconds.
Hogue grabbed his dog and started moving slowly back up the embankment, when the dog escaped his arms — once again drawing the attention of the mother bear.
"Fortunately, my next door neighbour came by in his car and so I waved at him. I said, 'Help. I've been attacked by a bear,'" Hogue said.
The car was enough to scare the bear away, and Hogue's neighbour called 911.
He was taken to the hospital with just a few scratches on his arm and a deep gash on his head, where he struck a rock while scrambling to get away from the bear.
"I'm just glad that it didn't go any further or was any worse than what it is," Hogue said. "I believe I was very, very fortunate that no more damage was done."
The mother bear was shot and killed by conservation officers, but her three cubs were left stranded in a tree in a trailer park, near the entrance to Buntzen Lake.
"So what you have is a clutch of conservation officers and RCMP kind of circling the tree trying to get these three cubs out," said CBC reporter Jason Proctor, who was at the scene.
"One of them just fired a tranquillizer gun at one of the cubs in an effort to try to get it out of the tree, so we're just basically waiting to see."
Proctor described it as a "very tense situation."
B.C. man survives mother bear's clawing
Mother bear killed, cubs stranded in tree
CBC News (http://www.cbc.ca/news/credit.html)
Posted: Aug 8, 2011 12:33 PM PT
Last Updated: Aug 8, 2011 2:08 PM PT
Supporting Story Content
A B.C. man says he's lucky to be alive after walking away from a bear attack Monday morning with just a few minor injuries.
Ken Hogue was walking his dog just before 6 a.m. PT near his home in Anmore, near Port Moody, when he spotted a mother bear and her cubs.
"As I come over the crest of the hill, the mother bear turned around and saw myself and my dog so she made a beeline straight for us, so I dove down a small embankment just off the road there but she was on us like in a matter of seconds," Hogue said.
http://maps.google.com/maps/api/staticmap?center=49.294680,-123.013916&zoom=9&markers=size:mid|color:red|49.314534,-122.856317&path=color:0x0000FF80|weight:5|49.31445,-122.86869&maptype=terrain&size=220x220&sensor=false (http://maps.google.com/?q=anmore bc)Anmore, B.C. "It sort of nudged my dog ... and then it came right at me ... the mother bear was right on top of me and she clawed me on my right arm and just sort of stood over me, almost face to face. And so I was just waiting for her to sort of finish the job."
Hogue laid on the ground for several excruciating minutes, waiting for the bear to continue her attack.
"Basically, I just waiting for her jaws to come down and sort of finish the job ... Basically, that's what was going through my mind: Is this how I'm going to end my life? Being killed by a bear?"
'Very fortunate'
When nothing happened, Hogue slowly looked up and saw the mother bear slowly walking away, glancing back at him every few seconds.
Hogue grabbed his dog and started moving slowly back up the embankment, when the dog escaped his arms — once again drawing the attention of the mother bear.
"Fortunately, my next door neighbour came by in his car and so I waved at him. I said, 'Help. I've been attacked by a bear,'" Hogue said.
The car was enough to scare the bear away, and Hogue's neighbour called 911.
He was taken to the hospital with just a few scratches on his arm and a deep gash on his head, where he struck a rock while scrambling to get away from the bear.
"I'm just glad that it didn't go any further or was any worse than what it is," Hogue said. "I believe I was very, very fortunate that no more damage was done."
The mother bear was shot and killed by conservation officers, but her three cubs were left stranded in a tree in a trailer park, near the entrance to Buntzen Lake.
"So what you have is a clutch of conservation officers and RCMP kind of circling the tree trying to get these three cubs out," said CBC reporter Jason Proctor, who was at the scene.
"One of them just fired a tranquillizer gun at one of the cubs in an effort to try to get it out of the tree, so we're just basically waiting to see."
Proctor described it as a "very tense situation."