BEAR ATTACK WA STATE

[rasbo]

Bear attacks man at Lake Wenatchee home
 
Bear attacks man at Lake Wenatchee home

by KING 5 News

KING5.com

Posted on September 18, 2010 at 10:39 AM


WENATCHEE, Wash. -- The Chelan County Sheriff's Department says a man was mauled by a black bear Friday night in his driveway at his Lake Wenatchee home.

The incident happened around 8:30 p.m. at a home along North Shore Drive. The man’s wife heard him scream he was being attacked by a bear and called 9-1-1, said Sgt. Chris Forman.

The man was taken to Central Washington hospital and airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He reportedly had bite marks on his face, head and neck, and puncture wounds all over his body. His condition is unknown.

Fish and Wildlife Department agents used a dog to track down the bear. Agents later shot and killed

[dontgetcrabs]

   WOW

[sako223]

That shortage of berries is causing bear problems in many states. A miserable way to get an expensive flight to Seattle.

[DOUBLELUNG]

This is a terrible event that was caused by irresponsible people - and I don't know the particulars.  I am always amazed by the abundance of thoughtless, careless idiots who move to the countryside and can't be bothered to secure birdfeeders, pet and livestock feed, and garbage so that bears don't learn to associate homes, vehicles and camps with food rewards.  Even worse, are the ones who insist on feeding bears, deer and other big game animals so they can see them - or inflate their egos with their friends.  I AM NOT SAYING THIS RESIDENT WAS ONE OF THEM.  I DONT KNOW.  However, I would bet many dollars to few donuts that this hungry bear was acclimated to humans, and lost its natural fear, by food rewards it was allowed by other careless people around Lake Wenatchee.  Very sad.

[PolarBear]

Wow that is odd, I just woke up from a nap and dreamed about being attacked in my home and yard by a black bear and now I read this.  Weird.

[Bean Counter]

PolarBear, look outside your window 

[Coasthunterjay]

PolarBear, look outside your window 

Now thats funny right there!

One more reason we need to allow baiting for bears...

Whats does that make for bear attacks this year in wa....? something like 4 or 5? When are people gonna realize that we need to take out more....Not kill all...but more! Needs to be easier...! Man i hope the guys is OK...!

[Special T]

I always did like skirt steak!

[PolarBear]

PolarBear, look outside your window 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rasbo]

I hear it was a bellevue councilman that got bit

[Hunterman]

Bellvue?? Maybe the bear needed some fiber in his diet  Nothing wrong with a little granola

Hunterman(Tony)

[Deep Forks]

He was a councilman from Bellevue.  Report said he will survive but needed extensive reconstructive surgery.  The bear was a non-lactating older sow that appeared skinny and poor health.  A neighbors garbage had been tipped and strewn about.
Hell lets keep that molasses, bird seed, grease, food scraps, and anything else to attract, but better not bait and only the WDFW can run with hounds.  Someday the portion of the general public that voted to close baiting and hounds might wake up, but i doubt it, morons can sleep through anything.  

[mulehunter]

I hope he will go to Olympia, state capital, show off his scars and explain that hound hunting isnt such a bad idea.   

Mulehunter   

[Wenatcheejay]

I know it is cold but it does not
move me much. Our Society will not allow proper game management. Question is how many people will it take?

[bobcat]

Another article:

Bellevue councilman at Harborview after bear attack near Lake Wenatchee

BY DEE RIGGS; THE WENATCHEE WORLD, WASH.

Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2010/09/18/1374174/bellevue-councilman-mauled-by.html#ixzz0zxEjEGqR

• Published September 18, 2010

LAKE WENATCHEE - A Bellevue man who was walking his dogs near his vacation home at Lake Wenatchee was mauled by a black bear Friday night.

State Fish and Wildlife agents killed the bear about three hours after the attack.

John Chelminiak, 58, and a Bellevue city councilman, was at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on Saturday morning. His condition was not immediately available.

Chelminiak was first treated at Central Washington Hospital, then was airlifted to Harborview, said Sgt. Chris Foreman with the Chelan County Sheriff's Office. He suffered puncture wounds to his face and head.

State Fish and Wildlife agent Doug Ward said Chelminiak's injuries are not life-threatening but he was transferred to Harborview where doctors specialize in reconstructive surgery.

At 8:33 p.m., Chelminiak's wife, Lynn Semler, called 911 to report that her husband had been attacked by a bear at the bottom of their driveway in the 17000 block of Lakeshore Drive at Lake Wenatchee, Foreman said.

Ward said Semler heard the commotion and her husband calling for help.

Dispatchers said Semler was hysterical, Foreman said. She told them her husband was calling out that he was dying and could not get back into the house.

"There is a big gap in our knowledge of what happened because we have not had a chance to talk to the victim or his wife," Ward said. "We don't know if one of the dogs got loose and went after the bear, or if the bear went after the dogs. We just don't know: 'Why now? why this bear?'"

The dogs are in good shape, Ward said, other than being "a little traumatized."

Wildlife agents used an agency tracking dog to search for the bear after the attack and found it about 11:15 p.m. The bear was shot to death about 400 yards from where the attack took place, Ward said. Killing a bear, he said, is protocol for any suspected of attacking humans.

"The bear was old, estimated to be about 10 years old, and not in very good condition," Ward said. "It was really thin."

The bear was a nonlactating female, so agents know it did not have cubs, he said.

Ward said a necropsy will be conducted on the bear to further determine its condition. DNA samples will also be tested to confirm that it was the same bear that attacked Chelminiak.

Just down the road from where the attack took place, outside another residence, was a garbage can that had been knocked over and garbage was strewn around, Ward said.

"You can't leave your garbage out with bears around," Ward said.

"This has been our theme song. You have to remove attractants, whether it's birdseed, garbage or fruit that falls on the ground, or compost piles. These bears will find it and they're just like us, they're all about finding an immediate source of calories."