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Sportsman Outdoors

Black bear attacks a human!

Jack Danchak
Posted 12/2/22

Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department game wardens and biologists have released additional details on a bear attack on a woman in southern Vermont.

Sarah Dietl age 43 reported that she was …

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Sportsman Outdoors

Black bear attacks a human!

Posted

Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department game wardens and biologists have released additional details on a bear attack on a woman in southern Vermont.

Sarah Dietl age 43 reported that she was attacked by a bear in the yard of her home on November 2nd after letting her dog go into the yard that evening. She went on to say that the dog treed a bear cub in the yard immediately upon leaving the house. The cub’s mother charged her, knocked her to the ground, and began to maul her.

Sarah’s partner intervened and was able to separate Sarah from the bear and bring her inside the house. When they attempted to open the door for their dog, the bear charged the door, but they were able to prevent it from entering.

Police and Rescue and Vermont game wardens arrived at the house and Sarah was transported to Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. She was treated for non-life-threatening injuries to her head, hand and side.

Game wardens searched the neighborhood for the bear, its cubs, and the couple’s dog without success. The dog was later found uninjured.

Game warden Kyle Lsherwood said, “Before letting pets out at night, I would urge people to light their yards and make plenty of noise to allow wildlife in the area time to move on. Along with securing food that could attract wildlife into a developed area, steps like this are important for the safety of people and wildlife.”

Game wardens and biologists learned that a bird feeder had been present outside of Sarah’s home until late October, that a bear proof dumpster on the property was damaged and not being used properly, and that a female bear with cubs had been seen in the area throughout the summer and fall. They also found multiple pumpkins outside of the house that showed signs of having been fed on by bears.

Wildlife biologist and Black Bear Project leader Jaclyn Comeau said, “Bear attacks on humans are rare, but it is absolutely critical that people take every step to secure food sources that might attract bears into close quarters with people. Increasingly bold and high-risk behavior from bears is due to people’s failure to take the proactive steps needed for safely coexisting alongside a healthy black bear population.”

This is the second northeast bear/human conflict resulting in a person being injured in a month. In October a 250 lb black bear mauled a 10-year-old boy playing in his grandparents’ backyard in Connecticut. The bear tried to drag the boy away and the bear was later euthanized.

Hunter Shoots Dog Mistaken for Wolf!

Montana authorities were investigating the shooting of a 6-month-old dog by a woman hunter who skinned the animal and posted pictures of herself with the pelt, thinking she had killed a wolf.

The animal was among more than a dozen dogs that local residents reported abandoned last week on National Forest land. The hunter who shot one of the dogs posted images of herself smiling in several newspapers with the animal’s head and hide, which were taken by the sheriff’s office and turned over to state wildlife biologists who determined the remains belong to a domestic dog about six months old.

Officials were investigating if the woman was properly licensed to hunt wolves. The sheriff’s office is investigating both the shooting of the dog and the abandonment of the other dogs.

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