From the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office
20 hrs ago
Bear Attacks Man in Pine
From rattlesnakes to elk to bears, Jefferson County has a variety of wildlife depending on where you live and where you visit. Please remember to keep your distance when you see them to help keep wildlife wild.
That being said, sometimes that distance is unavoidable when you find them in your house.
That was the case last night at approximately 8:30 p.m. when a momma bear and her cub entered a home in Pine and began eating a loaf of bread. When the homeowners heard noises, they went to investigate and confronted the bears.
That’s when the female bear attacked the 71-year-old husband. He punched the bear while his wife struck it with a baseball bat until both bears ran out the screen door through which they had entered.
The man suffered several scratches and cuts, but was not seriously injured. His wife was uninjured. Colorado Parks and Wildlife was notified and responded with dogs to search for the bears.
This time of year, bears are filling their bellies with food to prepare for the coming winter so you’re more likely to see them out foraging. Please be safe and check out these good tips from CPW for living with bears in your neighborhood:
Bear injures a man after a surprise encounter in his kitchen
PINE, Colo. - A bear injured a 71-year-old man inside his home Monday evening after entering through a screen door and swiping the man multiple times with its claws when the two had a surprise encounter in his kitchen.
The man was downstairs watching TV with his wife when he heard noises coming from upstairs. After going up the stairs and turning a corner into his kitchen, he was face-to-face with a bear. The man and the sow then engaged in what was described as a boxing match, as the man tried to fend off this sow bear that attacked after the surprise run-in. The wife rushed upstairs and hit the bear multiple times with a baseball bat, causing the bear to run away outside of the home. A cub was inside the home with the sow, and ran away with its mother after the encounter.
The man received a number of lacerations to his face, chest and both arms. He was treated at the scene, but was not taken to a hospital.
The attacked occurred around 8:45 p.m.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers searched the area until approximately midnight. The search resumed at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday when a dog team from the USDA Wildlife Services arrived to aid in the effort to find the attacking bear. It was the same dog team that assisted last week with a mountain lion attack in Bailey, Colo.
By 5:50 a.m. Tuesday, the dog team had located a bear in the immediate area and over the course of the next hour, the dogs, CPW wildlife officers and the officials from the USDA Wildlife Services tracked that bear. The bear was euthanized shortly before 7 a.m., roughly 900 yards from the home where the attack occurred. The cub has not been located.
DNA samples will be sent to the University of Wyoming Forensics Lab for analysis to confirm if this is the bear from the attack. CPW policy states that when a bear attacks a human resulting in injury, that bear must be euthanized.
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