Two men riding ATVs west of Calgary fight off attacking bruin with bear spray
By Michael Platt, Calgary Sun
First posted: Sunday, August 30, 2015 01:15 PM EDT | Updated: Monday, August 31, 2015 12:36 PM EDT
At nearly $40 a can it isn't cheap, but then, neither are funerals.
For two men playing around in the wilderness west of Calgary, that $40 can of bear spray will easily go down as the best purchase either of them ever made, after an enraged mother grizzly attacked what she surely saw as a threat to her cubs.
"The attack stopped after one of the individuals was able to pepper spray the mother bear," said Alberta Fish and Wildlife, in a statement issued Sunday.
That pepper spray probably saved two lives, given the severity of the attack in the Ghost Public Land Zone near Hunter Valley Road, a popular recreation area used by hundreds of Albertans every summer for camping and off-road vehicles.
That's exactly what the two men were doing in the late evening on Saturday, with one riding an ATV and the other a motocross bike, when they rounded a corner on a wilderness trail and found themselves facing the grizzly, who was with her two cubs.
It was an instant retreat the moment they saw the big bear, but before they could escape, the sow charged.
Of course, that's a natural reaction for an animal defending her young, and the noise of the engines would have done little to soothe the grizzly's instinctive rage.
But the men on the machines were prepared, in the best way possible -- at least according to experts, who say bear spray is far more effective than even a gun, when it comes to deterring a bruin.
"They did it right -- they were carrying pepper spray, they were ready with it, and they knew how to use it," said Kim Titchener, a human/ wildlife conflict specialist who runs Bear Safety & More out of Canmore.
"That's exactly what you want in these situations."
The charging sow reached the two riders in a matter of seconds, barrelling into the men and knocking them both to the ground.
The younger man, aged 31, was her main target -- but before she could inflict critical damage, one of the two men managed to blast her with bear repellent.
As soon as the choking pepper cloud was released, the bear ran away.
"They immediately released 'bear spray', and shortly thereafter, the bear retreated, as did the individuals," reads a statement sent by Alberta Health Services.
STARS air ambulance was called to evacuate the younger man to Foothills hospital in Calgary, where he remains in serious but stable condition, while his riding partner, in his early 50s, was treated on scene for minor soft-tissue injuries.
Without the bear spray, it could have been so much worse.
Indeed, properly used bear spray is said to be the most effective bear deterrent available, and a study co-authored by University of Calgary professor Stephen Herrero found that attack victims using spray are much less likely to be injured than those defending themselves with a gun.
The 2012 study, published in the Journal of Wildlife Management, showed a 92% of people using bear spray during an attack escaped injury, compared to only 50% of gun users.
Seeing two men taken away by ambulances, rather than in body bags, was enough to convince camper Cam Steffen.
"We're never going ATVing without bear spray again," said Steffen, who was within earshot when the attack took place.
He and his wife Roxanne were around the campfire with friends when they heard a strange noise -- but being surrounded by noisy grazing cattle, they assumed it was just a cow.
"We even joked, that cow sounds like it's calling for help -- but then it got louder, and we realized that's no cow," said Steffen.
It really was a cry for help as the two victims screamed out for assistance, and before long, campers reached them and called 911.
Now, wildlife officers have closed the area, and they say an update on the attack will be made Monday morning.
For Titchener, this story has a happy ending, so long as the mother bear is left alone.
"I can't imagine they'd go after her. This was a clear example of a bear doing what bears instinctively do," she said.
Two men riding ATVs west of Calgary fight off attacking bruin with bear spray |
By Michael Platt, Calgary Sun
First posted: Sunday, August 30, 2015 01:15 PM EDT | Updated: Monday, August 31, 2015 12:36 PM EDT
At nearly $40 a can it isn't cheap, but then, neither are funerals.
For two men playing around in the wilderness west of Calgary, that $40 can of bear spray will easily go down as the best purchase either of them ever made, after an enraged mother grizzly attacked what she surely saw as a threat to her cubs.
"The attack stopped after one of the individuals was able to pepper spray the mother bear," said Alberta Fish and Wildlife, in a statement issued Sunday.
That pepper spray probably saved two lives, given the severity of the attack in the Ghost Public Land Zone near Hunter Valley Road, a popular recreation area used by hundreds of Albertans every summer for camping and off-road vehicles.
That's exactly what the two men were doing in the late evening on Saturday, with one riding an ATV and the other a motocross bike, when they rounded a corner on a wilderness trail and found themselves facing the grizzly, who was with her two cubs.
It was an instant retreat the moment they saw the big bear, but before they could escape, the sow charged.
Of course, that's a natural reaction for an animal defending her young, and the noise of the engines would have done little to soothe the grizzly's instinctive rage.
But the men on the machines were prepared, in the best way possible -- at least according to experts, who say bear spray is far more effective than even a gun, when it comes to deterring a bruin.
"They did it right -- they were carrying pepper spray, they were ready with it, and they knew how to use it," said Kim Titchener, a human/ wildlife conflict specialist who runs Bear Safety & More out of Canmore.
"That's exactly what you want in these situations."
The charging sow reached the two riders in a matter of seconds, barrelling into the men and knocking them both to the ground.
The younger man, aged 31, was her main target -- but before she could inflict critical damage, one of the two men managed to blast her with bear repellent.
As soon as the choking pepper cloud was released, the bear ran away.
"They immediately released 'bear spray', and shortly thereafter, the bear retreated, as did the individuals," reads a statement sent by Alberta Health Services.
STARS air ambulance was called to evacuate the younger man to Foothills hospital in Calgary, where he remains in serious but stable condition, while his riding partner, in his early 50s, was treated on scene for minor soft-tissue injuries.
Without the bear spray, it could have been so much worse.
Indeed, properly used bear spray is said to be the most effective bear deterrent available, and a study co-authored by University of Calgary professor Stephen Herrero found that attack victims using spray are much less likely to be injured than those defending themselves with a gun.
The 2012 study, published in the Journal of Wildlife Management, showed a 92% of people using bear spray during an attack escaped injury, compared to only 50% of gun users.
Seeing two men taken away by ambulances, rather than in body bags, was enough to convince camper Cam Steffen.
"We're never going ATVing without bear spray again," said Steffen, who was within earshot when the attack took place.
He and his wife Roxanne were around the campfire with friends when they heard a strange noise -- but being surrounded by noisy grazing cattle, they assumed it was just a cow.
"We even joked, that cow sounds like it's calling for help -- but then it got louder, and we realized that's no cow," said Steffen.
It really was a cry for help as the two victims screamed out for assistance, and before long, campers reached them and called 911.
Now, wildlife officers have closed the area, and they say an update on the attack will be made Monday morning.
For Titchener, this story has a happy ending, so long as the mother bear is left alone.
"I can't imagine they'd go after her. This was a clear example of a bear doing what bears instinctively do," she said.
Two men riding ATVs west of Calgary fight off attacking bruin with bear spray |