NOT THE SHARPEST KNIVES IN THE DRAWER: Man Bearing Arms Charged For Shooting Charging Bear
Ohioan John Tanksley shot a 165-pound black bear charging at him in his own front yard after his Rottweiler’s unsuccessful efforts in chasing it off, and has been charged by the OH Department of Natural Resources with a misdemeanor offense for killing an endangered animal. If convicted he faces as much as a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
While many outdoors adventure Web sites offer similar tactics on surviving a bear attack – i.e., keep your backpack on, curl up in the fetal position on the ground and play dead even as the animal is repeatedly biting and clawing your flesh – a Website for Arctic adventurers advises: “The best protection from bears is to carry a firearm, where permitted in bear country. But, still avoid a confrontation, because bears rarely go down with a single shot and can cover some distance while wounded.”
Neither The Columbus Dispatch article, nor The Associated Press summary of it describes what a bear attack is like. Here's one that does from the Chicago Tribune:
When Alaska endurance cyclist Peter Basinger rode past the mountain bike dumped in the bushes along a Far North Bicentennial Park trail early Sunday morning, the thought of a horrific bear attack never even crossed his mind. …
Then he came upon … 15-year-old Petra Davis. Basinger has known her almost forever. He coached her on skiing when she was in Anchorage Junior Nordic.
Now, he did not even recognize her. She had a face unidentifiable in a mask of blood. …
Basinger said he made his first contact with dispatchers at 1:37 a.m., and by 2:18 paramedics had Davis' bleeding controlled, her body lashed to a backboard, and were carrying her across a bridge toward the waiting ambulance. …
Basinger went to see Davis at Providence Alaska Medical Center on Monday.
"Luckily, she's going to be OK," he said. "She's a pretty tough kid."
But she does face a difficult road ahead. She had to have three surgeries, including emergency surgery to repair a carotid artery that almost caused her to bleed to death. Her recovery is likely to be long and slow.
Her parents, Mark and Darcy Davis, sent an e-mail to friends and members of the local bike community on Monday describing the injuries and thanking people for their support. …
Their daughter, they wrote, suffered lacerations and punctures to her neck, right shoulder, torso, buttocks and right thigh.
A man whose very life is endangered should have the right to protect himself, and The Stiletto wonders what judge or jury would convict Tanksley after seeing videos of what an enraged bear looks like, and photos of the fatal and life-threatening injuries it can inflict.
Addendum: Here's another article describing a bear attack.
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