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Calif. woman attacked by bear, drives self to help

tarzan1888

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CALIENTE, Calif. (AP) - A woman walking her two dogs in a rural area of Southern California was attacked and severely injured by a bear, but managed to escape and drive herself to a nearby fire station.
The woman suffered severe lacerations to her face and head in Tuesday's attack and was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, said county fire spokesman Sean Collins. Her condition was not known.
"For her to be attacked in that manner and drive to a fire station, she must have been running on pure adrenaline," Collins said.
The woman, whose name was not immediately released, was taking her dogs on a morning walk when the bear attacked near the tiny community of Caliente, east of Bakersfield and about five miles away from an area that burned in a recent wildfire, Collins said.
Her dogs also escaped the attack, but one suffered minor injuries, he said.
Wildlife trackers and game wardens searched the remote area to capture the bear but had not found it by Tuesday night, said Harry Morse, spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game.
He said the thousands of wildfires burning across the state have displaced wildlife, but was not sure whether that contributed to the attack. Dogs sometimes provoke bear attacks by inadvertently getting between a mother bear and her cubs, Morse said.
Fish and Game officials said they will interview the woman to better understand the circumstances of the attack.



http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D923O1500&show_article=1



We don't know a lot about what happened, but this story does suggest several things;

1. Dogs aren't that much protection.

2. Never give up.

3. Always go armed.



Tarzan
 

deepdiver

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tarzan1888 wrote:
We don't know a lot about what happened, but this story does suggest several things;

1. Dogs aren't that much protection.

2. Never give up.

3. Always go armed.
I saw this all over the cable news this morning.

Tarzan, I'll happily give you #2, 3 with total agreement.

As to #1, I wouldn't be too quick to state that as an absolute. I did not hear yet what kind of dogs she had. For all we know she had 2 pampered Yorkies. I'd bet that a pair of faithful 200 pound Mastiffs could have slowed down that bear or even changed it's mind. Or a couple of high energy Jack Russells jumping and biting on it from seemingly every direction at once might have caused it to go find easier prey.

Just depends on the dogs. If I were walking my dogs and a bear attacked, my rottie-lab mix would grab it's throat and hang on until death, the lab would annoy the heck out of it running circles around it and barking incessently and might man up and actually attack, and my fiancee's golden retriever would run for the nearest road, hail passing car, and get a ride to town to have his hair and nails done (she made him into a metro-sexual but I'm turning him more manly every day much to her chagrine). :p
 

tattedupboy

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A revolver chambered in.454 Alaskan would really have come in handy there. I'm just glad to hear that she survived and hope that she takes the necessary steps to ensure that something like this never happens, and that includes avoiding places where bears are known to be.
 

imperialism2024

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tattedupboy wrote:
A revolver chambered in.454 Alaskan would really have come in handy there. I'm just glad to hear that she survived and hope that she takes the necessary steps to ensure that something like this never happens, and that includes avoiding places where bears are known to be.
Better be careful, or else you might face an animal cruelty charge for using excessive force. You know, using that big evil cartridge that the frontier people use...

I'd advise carrying a 9mm with 30-round magazine and stick to the tried-and-true 20 to the COM, 10 to the head.

:uhoh:
 

tarzan1888

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deepdiver wrote:
tarzan1888 wrote:
We don't know a lot about what happened, but this story does suggest several things;

1.  Dogs aren't that much protection.

2.  Never give up.

3.  Always go armed.
I saw this all over the cable news this morning.

Tarzan, I'll happily give you #2, 3 with total agreement. 

As to #1, I wouldn't be too quick to state that as an absolute.  I did not hear yet what kind of dogs she had.  For all we know she had 2 pampered Yorkies.   I'd bet that a pair of faithful 200 pound Mastiffs could have slowed down that bear or even changed it's mind.  Or a couple of high energy Jack Russells jumping and biting on it from seemingly every direction at once might have caused it to go find easier prey. 

Just depends on the dogs.   If I were walking my dogs and a bear attacked, my rottie-lab mix would grab it's throat and hang on until death, the lab would annoy the heck out of it running circles around it and barking incessently and might man up and actually attack, and my fiancee's golden retriever would run for the nearest road, hail passing car, and get a ride to town to have his hair and nails done (she made him into a metro-sexual but I'm turning him more manly every day much to her chagrine).  :p

You know later after I posted the piece...I thought the same thing.

As I thought about it I realized that, I as a big dog owner, just took it for granted that her dogs were large.

If, in fact, the dogs were small, it would make more sence.

They also use dogs to hunt bear... so I question my number 1 too. We really need to know what kinds of dogs she had.

Tarzan
 

deepdiver

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I still haven't heard what kind of dogs she had, but I caught the tail end of an interview with one of the I guess Rangers who said although they still don't have the entire story of the attack from the woman, it is possible that the dogs harassing/attacking the bear may have been what allowed the woman to get away and survive.
 

Decoligny

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deepdiver wrote:
I still haven't heard what kind of dogs she had, but I caught the tail end of an interview with one of the I guess Rangers who said although they still don't have the entire story of the attack from the woman, it is possible that the dogs harassing/attacking the bear may have been what allowed the woman to get away and survive.

I saw the story on the news and briefly saw one of the dogs. It looked a little like a pitbull (color wise) but with slightly flappier jowls. It was a decent sized animal. If the other was similar sized, I wouldn't mess with either of them. And from what I heard, the dogs definitely attacked to protect her from the bear.

This happened in Caliente, Ca. I frequently ride my motorcycle on the Bodfish-Caliente road. However, the only "wildlife" I have come across while riding are the free range cattle that like to sun themselves on the road.
 

deepdiver

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Aha! Finally found some news stories mentioning the dogs' breed. She was hiking with an English Mastiff and an Irish Wolfhound. The mastiff was slightly injured, the wolfhound was not. Two of the very largest breeds of dogs, although we don't know where on the size scale for each breed her dogs fall.

As to whether either or both dogs attacked the bear is still speculative and not consistent across reports I'm finding, but I would trust the local reports confirming the dog's defensive actions Decoligny has heard over reports I'm finding on line.
 

tarzan1888

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deepdiver wrote:
Aha! Finally found some news stories mentioning the dogs' breed. She was hiking with an English Mastiff and an Irish Wolfhound. The mastiff was slightly injured, the wolfhound was not. Two of the very largest breeds of dogs, although we don't know where on the size scale for each breed her dogs fall.

As to whether either or both dogs attacked the bear is still speculative and not consistent across reports I'm finding, but I would trust the local reports confirming the dog's defensive actions Decoligny has heard over reports I'm finding on line.

WoW.......big dogs.



If I get you right you are saying that the presence of the dogs did not stop the attack, but they may have attacked the bear and helped to save her life.



Tarzan
 
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