Hunters beware

Turnabout is fair play. Read an article in the paper about a hunter who was deep into wilderness territory hunting big horns, waking up about 2 AM and screaming because a black bear was chewing on his head. One of his buddies at a 45 caliber pistol and shot the bear which then ran out of the tent and climbed a tree. I wondered if that was a rare occurrence so I called Fish and Game spokesperson Greg Losinski: "Black bears are curious animals and occasionally they do get close to humans. We had a case earlier this summer of a firefighter who was hunting and a black bear bit his sleeping bag. It is not always an aggressive thing but when you are the person who is being bitten you can probably interpret it a little differently. Bears are very inquisitive and if they have lost a fear of humans or they are attracted to something they can come very close to check it out. Black bears have all the power they need to kill a human being. In fact in the United States the number of deaths resulting from black bears is equivalent to the number of deaths resulting from grizzlies.