By now you've probably heard about the grizzly attack in Grand Teton National Park. Fifty-four-year-old Dennis VanDenbos was out for an early morning hike yesterday on the Wagon Road below the corrals at Jackson Lake Lodge and surprised a sow and her three cubs.
The bears were feeding on an elk carcass and evidently perceived Mr. VanDenbos as a threat to their food. The man, from Lander, Wyoming, was out around 6 a.m. when he encountered the bears. He says he was watching an elk off to his right when he noticed the bears just about 10 feet from him on the left.
While Mr. VanDenbos yelled at the bears as they started to approach them, one of the grizzlies didn't stop. He then jumped off the trail and laid down in a submissive posture. The bear inflicted some puncture wounds and lacerations on his backside before it was frightened off by the shouting of a wrangler who heard the commotion.
After initial medical treatment on the scene, Mr. VanDenbos was taken to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson, where he obtained additional treatment.
Park officials have no plans to take adverse action against the grizzlies, as they were behaving normally in protecting the elk carcass.
This is the second grizzly attack in Wyoming in recent weeks. In late May a Montana photographer was attacked in Yellowstone.
Grizzly Attacks Man in Grand Teton
By Kurt Repanshek - June 14th, 2007
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Comments
Mustang Sally (aka acid tongue momma) my tribe always considers and recognizes the bear as a sacred animal regardless who was here first...what difference does it make to you...you seem so anti nature! Why!!
Sally - how do you know the bear wasn't there first?
Oh, wait, you don't. Excuse the rhetorical question.
My wife and I had a VERY close encounter with a grizzly "cub" (had to have been at least 400 pounds) this summer while camping in the open in Coulter Bay campground. Fortunately, the bear was curious and only "sniffed" us as it was moving through the area at dawn on August 30, 2007. I awoke to a "clicking" sound on our plastic ground cloth. I slowly lifted my head, then startled to see the bear starting at us not 12 inches away! Its front feet were standing on the ground cloth. Talk about an adrenaline rush! The bear was not aggressive in the the least and I'm sure it was just checking to see who the fools were sleeping amidst the lodge poles and overcast sky. It's an experience we'll never forget and, yes, we did report "visit" to park officials...
its called bear pepper spray, bear mace, whatever you want to call it. you put yourself in more danger with a gun then you do pepper spray.