It was 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, 9 August, 2015, in Kimberly, British Columbia when Niki and Mark Traverse’ pet dog, a 9 1/2 year old Jack Russel Terrior named Sid, started barking frantically. Niki went to investigate, and came within five feet of a grizzly bear. From ctvnews.ca:

“It was 10 feet from our son’s bedroom door,” she said.

“I ran back into our bedroom to grab my husband and say,‘There’s a bear in the house, there’s a bear in the house!’”

Mark Traverse, who is a hunter, quickly grabbed his gun, loaded it, and approached the feasting grizzly.

“It took a step to me and I shot it. It took another step and I shot it again,” Mark said.

The bear soon died on the kitchen floor.

The couple now credits their pet for alerting them in time.

“This is the dog that saved us,” Mark said as he scratched the little dog’s chest.

Mark was able to access the rifle from a locked locker in the bedroom. It was unloaded, as is required by Canadian law. Fortunately he had time to load the rifle before the bear investigated the bedroom.

The story might have been different if he had to retrieve the rifle from a locked safe in another part of the house. I have not been able to determine the make or caliber of the rifle.

Canadian bear attack stories are often ignored by American media.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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46 COMMENTS

  2. He’s lucky the bear didn’t take the rifle from him and use it. After all, we’re constantly told that’s what will happen if we foolishly attempt to defend ourselves with firearms…

    • Yep. You jump through all the hoops to get the proper paperwork to hunt one. Then you spend season after season enduring physical hardship to get one.

      Dude bags one on the way to the fridge to get a midnite snack. Life ain’t fair.

      On a related note. How would touching off your .375 in a hallway work? Sound wise.

  4. The “crown” (prosecutor) will probably prosecute him for violating the bear’s “civil-rights”, or for using too much force”.

    • The man obviously lured the bear into his house with a sign that said “Free Honey”. Won’t someone think of the 500 lb killing machines?

  6. Unless the perspective is off that’s a pretty small griz. A freshly turned-out juvenile looking for a handout maybe?

    Also if it was “feasting”, what did it eat? Raspberries by the look of it…

  12. All I’ve got to say is ” godamn the mess on the floor that fuckin bear made” Son a bitch don’t shoot no skunks under the porch either

  14. I took a look at the CBC’s coverage of this story, and started SMH when I read through the comments. A few lowlights:

    Preacher – “Interesting that they’re thankful for the dog waking them up. If they didn’t have the dog they wouldn’t have woken up. The bear would have eaten its fill and left.”

    Mike69 -“The bear wanted food. When the bear had finished eating the dog and cat food, the bear would probably have left the house – by climbing out the window. The trigger finger of the home owner moved faster than his brain. He should have stayed in his room for a few minutes more while the bear eat the food.”

    Jason Bit – “I would never kill a bear. Or any other animal. There is no honor in killing an animal. He did not have to shoot it, he just needed to fire and the bear would of have run away. Poor animal. Very very sad.”

    I’d like to think in the 3 years since the incident, these folks have gotten a little bit less clueless, buuuut I’m gonna guess they haven’t.

  15. Those retard Canadians are probably from Kalifornya. As a lifelong Kali resident, I recognize that stupid way of thinking. I was happy exporting food, I’m really sorry we’re now exporting dumbassitude… Putzo Pelosi strikes again… And that ain’t no 15 year old bear.

  16. Anyone shooting that .700 Nitro Express better have an open account with their Chiropractor. That looked painful.

    • Reminds me of reports from the survivors of Isandlwana (there were a few): “Sure it hurt when the assegai went in through me guts, but it were a relief after the kickin’ me shoulder took from the Martini Henry”. (.450 breeech loader).

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