Ex-Marine Kills 300-Pound Bear With Log

Ex-Marine Kills 300-Pound Bear With Log. The Incident Is the Latest in a String of Bear Attacks. ABC News

This was in Georgia . . . another 300 pound black bear. This story as written is a little bit contradictory because the article says the bear turned on his son, but at the bottom of the story, the ex-Marine was quoted “This one got a little too aggressive for me,” he said. “If the bear had gotten near my kids, I would have just jumped on it. Knowing me, that’s what I would have done, anything to make sure my kids were safe.”

Update: Man who killed bear with log is fined for improper food storage.  By Bo Emerson. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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  1. Bruce Avatar
    Bruce

    This idiot was treated like a hero in the Atlanta news. He was also on an AM morning drive radio show and the DJ’s were saying how brave he was. They were really exploiting the situation and putting fear about black bears into the listeners.

  2. Ralph Maughan Avatar

    I suspected something because the article said the the bear “turned on his son,” but later it said “If the bear had gotten near my kids. . . ,’ which contradicts the first statement

    It could be he threw a log at the bear and killed it, and the details about his sons was made up later.

  3. Monte Avatar
    Monte

    This guy killed the bear in self defense. If the bear was in an occupied campsite, it was obviously a threat. Calling the man an idiot is uncalled for.

  4. Bruce Avatar
    Bruce

    Monte–I stand behind what I said. He was fined $75.00 for improper storage of food. Please read today’s article
    http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2007/06/25/0625lvbearfolo.html

  5. elkhunter Avatar
    elkhunter

    How big was the log? Did he really kill it just by throwing a log at it? I dont know if I believe that. But ya if your camping in bear country kinda common sense not to leave garbage around.

  6. Bruce Boxall Avatar
    Bruce Boxall

    elkhunter–he is hioding it in the photo in the article I posted. It was a fluke perfect hit in the head-must have thrown very hard.

  7. Eric Avatar
    Eric

    Here’s something about polar bears. There’s a bill (not yet passed) to ban American hunters from bringing back trophy polar bears from Canada. http://video.hsus.org/?fr_story=f63eca4192e629dabd23eb2bc88703b581b3e7cf&rf=bm

  8. elkhunter Avatar
    elkhunter

    ya must of been a fluke, i figured it would of just made him mad, its too bad that happened, you leave trahs and garbage around, of course the bear is gonna investigate, we backpacked into CO last year for 5 days, saw bear sign alot, but we keep a very clean camp and have never had any problems, I just dont want to come back to a camp torn to shreds, kinda ruin the trip I think.

  9. Eric Avatar
    Eric

    Good point elkhunter. If it had been me I doubt I’d have had to try to kill the bear. I would let it take the cooler but knowing what supposedly happened I wouldn’t have it out that late in the first place.

  10. Monte Avatar
    Monte

    Okay, you’ve got to take care of food in bear country. That was dumb.

  11. elkhunter Avatar
    elkhunter

    Did you hear about the golfer in FL that got atttacked while he was trying to get his golf ball out of a pond. 10 foot alligator, he escaped with minor injuries.

  12. Joe Avatar

    This is so horrible….I knew this was all going to follow….this is so horrible………. People are responsible for the mishaps that wildlife causes. It is not the animals fault, it is us. Bears will be continually killed now and it is really horrible.

  13. vicki Avatar
    vicki

    For lack of a better place to ask….has anyone gotten any news about a large concentration of extremely large brown bears in Russia killing mine workers for food? I heard they had to close the mine because ebars numbering in the thirties were killing people trying to get in to work.

  14. Ralph Maughan Avatar

    Vicki,

    Here is the story on CNN. Bear pack kills 2 Russian miners.

    I think the bears have lost their fishing grounds and are attracted to the garbage at the mine. From what I’ve read how the poachers and multinational logging companies have turned the Kamchatka bears from peaceful salmon, grass and berry eaters into mine camp bears, I can hardly weep. However, the wrong people probably got eaten.

    Of course, what are to to think of a story that says the bears are in a pack?

  15. Peter Kiermeir Avatar
    Peter Kiermeir

    It is of course not clear from the CNN article if a journalist just calls a number of 30 bears a pack or if these animals actually developed pack structure and behaviour (which I doubt).
    Just yesterday there was a report on Andean Bears on (german) TV. These bears, known to be almost exclusively herbivore, developed some appetite for cows in certain areas of South America. It turned out that severe habitat loss and a change from lama to cattle for livestock (easy prey) caused that change in behaviour.

  16. vicki Avatar
    vicki

    Thanks Ralph.
    Pack? Well that is certainly a question of education. Perhaps they did work as a group, and even a very large group. However, I, like Peter, rather doubt they began hunting as a group and rearing young in a true pack setting.
    This is another example of “what goes around comes around.” Indeed, this is a man made conflict, too bad the wrong men were killed. Maybe bears should be “conditioned” to eat poachers..just kidding…

  17. vicki Avatar
    vicki

    The Colorado news channels are reporting that a mountain lion went into a house and snatched a family pet while people watched.
    These type of occurances are increasing in frequency. Like the above mentioned sitaution, these animals are a product of human ignorance and non-concern. All too aften we see how people have no regard or concern for nature until how they have effected nature begins to have a direct impact on them.
    Sadly, few people paid attention to their encroachment into lion habitat until the lions saw pets replacing the deer that human displaced from the food chain.
    I was recently asked what I expected the outcome of increasing wolf numbers to do to the predators they would be displacing? I wish I had thought to ask the people more specifically why they asked. The people expressed that you can’t turn back the hands of time, and that there was already a “balance” in the environment where wolves were reintroduced.
    I think the afore mentioned attacks by animals are testimony that balance is seriously lacking, and people have little real understanding of how they have effected nature.
    As far as how wolves effect other predators, well I don’t know for certain. However, I have read that in YNP the coyotes began reproducing in lower numbers. I also see that bears were not displaced, but thrive as a result of wolf killed carrion. Maybe I will defer to the many people who study this and post here. Any help?
    But we really have to begin to see these attacks as a wake up call, and not a call to kill the very animals we have forced into this behavior.

  18. Linda Hunter Avatar

    It seems that all over the world there is a basic lack of understanding of the simple fact that animals cannot go to the store to get food. When you take away their food source they will try and survive any way they can. To get a sense of Russian animal politics, just read some of Charlie Russell .. Grizzly Seasons is one of his books and if you get a chance to see his new movie Edge of Eden about he Kamchatna peninsula it is not only beautiful but very informative about bears. As for bear gangs, they do exist but not as a “pack” and not as huge animals . . I have observed teenage (3-4 year old) bears who are not fully grown hanging out together and doing a form of cooperative hunting and mischief making. Perhaps if they were starving, adult bears would form these groups at times as well. The news item seemed to have a tone of exaggeration.

  19. vicki Avatar
    vicki

    Linda, well said. Thanks for the info.

Author

Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.

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