West Linn man rescues woman from bear in Yellowstone Park (a few days after a man was killed)

[Omaha Steve]

Source: KGWNews

by Tim Gordon,

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK-- A West Linn man visiting Yellowstone National Park with his family helped rescue a hiker who was being threatened by a grizzly bear.

Dave Beecham, 37, helped the woman escape from the approaching bear Friday at a remote lake in the park. The rescue happened just a few days after a man hiking with his wife in the park was killed by a grizzly bear.

Beecham was in a kayak with his young son and his father-in-law. Beecham saw hiker Erin Prophet coming down toward the lake with the large grizzly following her. They alerted Prophet, who waded into the water. But the bear kept coming.

Beecham weighed the risks and paddled toward the woman, and the bear.

Read more: http://www.kgw.com/news/local/West-Linn-man-makes-Yellowstone-grizzly-rescue-125281738.html

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More: Grizzly kills hiker at Yellowstone Park: http://www.kgw.com/home/Man-killed-by-grizzly-at-Yellowstone-National-Park-125107764.html


Video of the life saving event: http://www.kgw.com/news/local/West-Linn-man-makes-Yellowstone-grizzly-rescue-125281738.html

[HankyDubs]

1. mother nature is pissed

look the fuck out

[frylock]

2. the bear didn't seem too agressive or all that interested really..

cool video, but "threatening" and "life saving event" seem a bit sensational in this case. of course, you can never be too safe in the wilderness.

[kestrel91316]

3. Where grizzlies are concerned, you can't be too careful.

They have an unpredictably aggressive side a mile wide. Actually, it's fairly predictable.

A black bear, OTOH, would flee in terror if you faced it off and made loud noises and waved arms to look big.

[Maine_Nurse]

10. Actually, if a black bear follows you...

you are in extreme danger, perhaps more so than a grizz. Grizzly's usually only attack humans out of fear/surprise or to protect cubs or a carcass. Although not common, predatory black bears actually want to eat you and will hunt you persistently. They are also nearly impossible to frighten away.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. Yep. I've read that from bear experts. It's counter intuitive.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

16. Not the first time someone ginned up the bear fear:

[marasinghe]

18. ah! i so miss Gary Larson. (n/t)

[Vinca]

4. I heard one report that the woman had an apple or something in her backpack

and the grizzly was most likely drawn by the smell of food rather than anything else. After seeing the video of her "rescue," the bear looked a little interested, but not threatening. He could have gone after her, but he didn't. It's the forest . . . bears were there first.

[WatsonT]

20. She should have dropped the apple

bear likely would have gone to munch on it and left her alone.

People don't seem to realize that if you smell like food to predators they may think you're food.

[pitchforksandtorches]

5. Looks like they barely made it. nt

[harvey007]

6. Support the right to arm bears

[Ian David]

7. They're godless killing machines, and they want our honey. n/t

[trud]

8. maybe we can send the bears after the people

Repugs and Dimocrats, who cut funding for endangered species and the EPA in the last "budget deal."

How about it? Real Democrats and bears, time to band together.

[plumbob]

9. Plenty of time to take the video, though.

The fact that the bear never appears in the same frame as the hiker is an indication that perhaps it wasn't really a hair-breadth escape.

Note: when in nature, you may see and have contact with natural things. For those who simply can't handle it, I recommend any number of theme parks with artificial, very safe animals.

[EFerrari]

11. Give me a bear minding its own business over the strollers at Disneyland any day.

lol

[14thColony]

12. According to the article it's a black bear, not a grizzly

Why does the first line of the article in the OP say "grizzly bear" but the first line of the actual article at the link just says "bear"? The ranger on-scene identified it as a black bear.

[Little Star]

13. I never knew...

there were brown/cinnamon colored black bears. I'm just happy to learn something new!

[NickB79]

14. Global warming is killing the pine nut trees bears depend on for food

http://www.mensjournal.com/the-ghost-park

"Now 80 percent of the Rockies’ whitebark pine groves stand dead or dying in ghost-gray swaths, and the bears who ate their fruit and kept out of harm’s way have bumbled down the hills in search of food."

[TEXASYANKEE]

15. The bear didn't look "threatening."

It looked like it was minding its own business. But then again, why not be overly cautious? So it's probably a good thing that the people were there and could float her away to safety. What was she doing hiking alone?? Especially after the fatal mauling a few days ago, she should have known better than to hike by herself. And with food in her backpack. Sheesh.

[boppers]

19. City folks freaked out by bears. News at 11.

*sigh*

Sadly, this belongs on Colbert report.