Zucchini Thwarts Black Bear Attack

An unidentified woman in Frenchtown, Montana did some quick-thinking and defended herself and her dogs from an attack by a black bear. The news report at Helena's KXLH channel 9 says that the woman let her three dogs out of the house a little after midnight. When they began barking wildly, she looked out and saw a black bear batting her collie around in her back yard.

She yelled at the bear, trying to scare it away, and it turned and charged at her. The bear ripped her pants leg with a swipe of its paw, scratching her leg. Not to be deterred, she grabbed a large zucchini from her kitchen counter and threw it at the bear, bashing it near the head. The flying zucchini, along with the barking dogs and yelling commotion, frightened the bear away.

The woman suffered minor scratches on her leg. Her collie had to be treated by a nearby veterinarian and is recovering nicely.

Bears are known for autumn food raids as they eat to gain weight before hibernating. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Department game wardens collected items from the scene of the attack for lab tests, and they set a trap in the vicinity to try to capture the marauding bear. If a bear is caught, its DNA will be compared with DNA traces from the items to make sure the bear in custody is the culprit. Any captured bear will be evaluated before subsequent actions are taken.

Although the woman's home did not have attractants such as garbage, pet food or livestock feed, there were fruit trees and berries nearby that may have drawn the bear to her back yard. Autumn is the time of year for increased bear activity. If you live in an area shared by bears, keep food, food scraps and pet and animal food cleaned up and store it out of reach of bears. Even a compost pile may be an attractant; you should bury any fresh scraps of food deep in the pile to hide the scent.

Source:
Channel 9, KXLH
http://www.kxlh.com/news/new-details-in-frenchtown-bear-versus-zucchini-incident/