[Philmont] Black Bear Attack

Just prior to us starting trek 30 in 2001, a scout had been attacked in his
tent while he slept. I believe he had been at Ute Meadows. The "after story"
said the boy had gotten sick and thrown up in his tent, but had cleaned up
the mess with the help of other scouts without telling any of their
advisors. As gross as it sounds, this is still food as far as a wild animal
is concerned. The smell, although diminished to a human nose, was still
strong enough to attract the bear which tore the nylon material with ease,
bit down on his head and started dragging him out of his sleeping bag/tent.
The terrified response from his tent mate saved his life. He remembered the
bears nose is hyper sensitive and your best chance of escape is to whack the
bear on the nose, which he did. Their combined screams for help brought
others who then chased the bear away and got the scout medical attention.
When we saw him it was about four or five days after the attack. With head
stitched and bandaged, all he wanted to do was to go back on the trail to
join his crew!
 
On our more recent trek, #21, this past summer, we were also awakened in the
middle of the night while we slept at Ute Meadows. The crew in the site next
to us was vigorously banging pops and such in an effort to chase away a bear
which had torn the fabric on a tent, but had not yet entered. The "after
story" for this one was that a scout had purchased several candy bars at the
Baldy Town store, but hadn't eaten them all yet. He apparently intended to,
but forgot they were in the side pocket of his hiking pants, or at least one
wrapper and one candy bar were in there. Yep, you guessed it, the bear
smelled the candy residue on the wrapper and was coming to check it out.
Fortunately no one was hurt in this encounter. But poor bear practices by
this and other previous crews led to this bears demise at it had two strikes
against it previously. As a result, Philmont Wildlife Rangers forced to
hunt, trap and euthanize this bear to prevent more serious encounters from
happening in the future.
 
You go to Philmont to have a great experience. You want to remember the
scenery, the challenges, the new friendships you make, and the program you
enjoyed; not the potential medical evacuation or worse. Diligently practice
the bear procedures they teach and all will peacefully co-exist.
 
Y.I.S.,
Mark

  _____

From: Philmont@troop47.com [mailto:Philmont@troop47.com] On Behalf Of John
LeBlanc
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 3:55 PM
To: Philmont List Member
Subject: [Philmont] Black Bear Attack

Philmont bear awareness is not overblown.
 
An 11 year old boy was dragged from his family's tent and killed in Utah.
 
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/07/09/bear.attack.ap/
 
John LeBlanc

  _____

Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story.
Play Sims <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=48224/*http://sims.yahoo.com/>
Stories at Yahoo! Games.

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As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
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Received on Tue Jun 19 17:15:49 2007