Bearly safe
“Speedy John” was jogging after work about 5:00 through the woods around the Long Barn area of Northern California. As he came down the well-worn trail he saw a bear cub at the side of the trail. He tried to get gingerly around it because he knew there would be a Mama bear close and he did not want a confrontation. It was too late, as he tried to run as far to the other side of the tail as he could, the mama bear spotted him and charged. “John” ran even faster, he thought at one point he had out run the bear and ducked behind a tree to catch his breath. Mama bear was not out of breath and reached around to snag him. She got some claws on him, but he took off again down the trail. The bear was pretty fast and swiped at his legs and even tore up his one shoe. Fortunately “John” saw a house emerging along the trail and he ran up their driveway with the bear hot on his bleeding heels.
Heather Silfies’ heard the commotion and looked out her window to see the chase and John trying to keep their big SUV between him and the bear. As Heather watched, John clamored on top of the vehicle and the bear could not climb the smooth, flat sided car, but growled around waiting for John to come down. “It was just one of these things that you see in movies,” she said. “I see this young man running down the road and a bear literally chasing and biting at him. His shirt is flapping in the wind. It was just shredded, and he didn’t have one of his shoes on all the way. So, he’s literally running with the shoe not on,” Silfies said. Heather called the 911 to scare the bear away. “The young man is standing on the roof of our Escalade. The bear is standing at the Escalade, and she’s trying to climb up,” Silfies said. “So, she has her foot on the running board, and she’s literally jumping up at him, wanting to get on the roof, just wanting to attack him.” The family went out with noise makers and scared the bear away, while other neighbors videoed the scene.
John slid down off the car roof and the ambulance arrived shortly. “He had a really nasty wound to the leg, and he had gashes on his chest and on his back. The poor guy is in shock, of course,” Silfies said. The Sheriff’s Office says the bear was gone when deputies arrived. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is taking over the investigation. John returned to the neighborhood Tuesday to thank the families that saved him. “We feel blessed we were there to be able to help this kid in need because it was one of these situations where it could have been life or death,” Heather said. The video below captures another bear encounter.
Knowing what you do about bear attacks: “Ya gotta wonder what some of these folks are thinking,” when they do this stuff. I mean, that is a massive killing machine you are walking right up to. The guy in this picture just doesn’t get it, as he stopped his car to approach a roadside grizzly bear that is feeding. The man walks up with his hand stuck out like it is a dog or something and he’s going to pet it. He quickly finds out it’s not a dog, as the bear begins to charge. The man turns and runs, another stupid move by this guy. The bear chases him right up onto the roof of his own car. Lucky for him the bear decided to stop there. Don’t poke the bear, they can be very grumpy.
Bearly Funny
What do you call a Frenchman who has been attacked by a bear?
Claude.
What do you call a bear with no teeth?
A gummy bear.
Why did the bear with alopecia go to his GP?
To get a re-furral.
How do bears catch fish?
They use their bear hands!
August 15th Birthdays
1912 – Julia Child, 1994 – Danielle Morrow, 1990 – Jennifer Lawrence, 1969 – Debra Messing
1972 – Ben Afleck, 1769 – Napoleon Bonaparte, 1971 – Anthony Anderson, 1980 – Carlos Pena Vega