3 feet of snow and your unlucky enough to find a grizzly den
2 forestry workers recovering after
bear attack
Last Updated: Monday, January 22, 2007 | 10:48 AM MT
CBC News
Moira McLaughlin and Daylon Johnson, both British Columbians in their 20s and working for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, were collecting data on the mountain pine beetle in a remote area south of Grande Prairie, Alta.
“We were going down a steep slope and the bear came up behind Daylon and knocked him on top of me. He bit the back of Daylon’s leg and bit my hand when I went to cover my face,” McLaughlin told CBC News on Monday.
“I was very scared and I guess I was just surprised because he came out of nowhere and attacked [Johnson] from behind.”
Johnson said he started hitting the bear and it took off on its own.
“We were just kind of quiet and sat there and let it get a ways a way. Then we got up and went the opposite way it went.”
The surveyors radioed for help and were picked up by helicopter. They required surgery for their injuries.
The Prince George Citizen reported Monday that the pair was from Prince George, B.C.
Annette Bidniak, a spokesperson for the department, told CBC News the workers accidentally walked over the bear’s snow-covered den.
“There’s 3½ feet [just over a metre] of snow in that area, the den was built into the side of a hill and there was a fallen tree on top of it. So anyone walking over it would not have known they were walking over a bear’s den.”
Wildlife officials have closed off the area, but say no action will be taken against the bear because it was simply defending its den.
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I work for a forestry company that is leaving for alaska in may to do about four months worth of surveying. This story kind of worries me but i quickly stop and wonder why these to guys were not following the rules. We have been recieving training on bear behavior and situations and everyone knows that you don’t travel in groups of two, you always wear bells and you better be packing the heat! I admit that i have not personally had any meetings with yogi yet, but i think they were not trained or not poorly trianed! Well, wish me luck while i am up there and hope the same does not happen to me! It will be a blast and i am still going bear stories stored in between the ears!!!
Thanks,
~Garrett~ A.K.A. “outdoor-Addict”
I work for a forestry company that is leaving for Alaska in May to do about four months worth of surveying. This story kind of worries me but I quickly stop and wonder why these two guys were not following the rules. We have been recieving training on bear behavior and situations and everyone knows that you don’t travel in groups of two, you always wear bells and you better be packing the heat! I admit that i have not personally had any meetings with yogi yet, but i think they were not trained or very poorly trianed! Well, wish me luck while i am up there and I hope the same does not happen to me! It will be a blast and i am still going,with these bear stories stored in between the ears!!!
Thanks,
~Garrett~ A.K.A. “outdoor-Addict”
I think tht they were like me and thought there was not any bear danger in mid winter. I understand the precautions at any other time. Would you have been thinking of a bear at this time of year?