WEST GLACIER – A hiker from Wisconsin was “grabbed and shaken” by a grizzly bear in Glacier National Park early Tuesday evening, park officials reported Wednesday.
The 65-year-old man was hiking alone, off-trail, near Mount Henkel in the Many Glacier Valley when he surprised a sow grizzly and her two sub-adult cubs at approximately 5 p.m., Glacier spokeswoman Katelyn Liming said.
The hiker successfully deployed his bear spray, causing the grizzly to release him and leave.
Liming said the man received puncture wounds to his lower leg and injuries to a hand during the attack.
He hiked back to his vehicle at Many Glacier and drove himself to the emergency room at the Northern Rockies Medical Center in Cut Bank, approximately 55 miles away.
He was treated and released, and called Glacier Park dispatch to report the incident.
Park rangers termed the grizzly’s behavior as “defensive in nature and consistent with a surprise encounter with a hiker,” according to Liming.
The incident remains under investigation.
Liming used the news to remind hikers to avoid obvious feeding areas such as berry patches, cow parsnip thickets, or fields of glacier lilies, and to encourage them to hike in groups, make noise while hiking, and have bear spray accessible and know how to use it.
“At this time of year, bears are entering a phase called hyperphagia,” Liming noted. “It is a period of concentrated feeding to prepare for hibernation. There has been a shortage of berries in many areas of the park this year, leading to the potential for increased bear activity in visitor use areas.”
Park regulations require that all edibles, food containers and cookware be stored in a hard-sided vehicle or food locker when not in use, day or night, and all trash must be placed in bear-resistant containers. Visitors are also reminded not to burn waste in fire rings or leave litter around a campsite.
(13) comments
I know Jim and consider him a friend, he has more time in Montana than many that have been born here, he has been one of the people to summit every single peak Glacier, knows the back country better than most rangers who have worked in the park their whole life and is often consulted by the NPS about issues that arise in the park. Don't think just because he lives in the Midwest, he is not a very knowledgeable person when it comes to the park and being around wildlife. He did what needed to be done and deployed his bear spray, which resulted in him being about to get the heck out of there and didn't result in "Management" actions against a bear and her cubs. You people don't have a clue as to what you are talking about.
Dear Grizzlies: In the future clueless Midwesterners should be stirred not shaken.
Or, better yet, don't hike alone off trail in Glacier at twilight! Its like ringing the dinner bell.
Ridiculous to say this bear was pedatory. A sow protecting cubs isn't pedatory. It is simply a mother protecting there young. The mother bear and cubs should still be a live and well in Yellowstone. Man should enter bear country at there own risk.
Predatory bear attacks do happen. Remember Timmy Treadwell and his girl friend.?
Now that's a good example of natural selection.
MMMMM tourist....they taste just like chicken
The bear saw the Cheesehead & thought, "Hey, that looks good to eat." : )
Glad he is OK.
This situation is similar to what occurred this summer in Yellowstone. The difference is that this man deployed his bear spray, and he is alive as is the grizzly sow and cubs. The gentleman who was killed in Yellowstone was hiking alone without bear spray. Sadly he is dead, the sow is dead, and her two cubs are in zoo. It is reminder to all of us to carry bear spray.
Or a 50 cal
If you're dragging a 50cal around in Glacier National Park, which is a world-renowned research site, and you come upon a creature in rustling in the underbrush to study some rare organism, and your adrenaline level goes off like a methane flare, what happens next?
I believe researchers are generally smarter than that, using bells. colors, noise etc, but some do come from far away and are surprisingly unexposed to the very real danger of wild lands. There was never a good reason to allow guns into Yellowstone or Glacier. It's a shame. It adds an unnecessary level of fear and
misjudgement.
@ Bill West (below) - yes there was a good reason to allow guns in the parks - try the Second Amendment - we don't have to give up our rights to simply because we're in a national park.
There is nothing even close to similar in these two encounters, Jim, the man attacked in Glacier who used his bear spray, knows what he is doing, the man killed and consumed in Yellowstone, didn't have a clue as to what he was doing and he paid the ultimate price as did the bears.
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