Was an 85-year-old woman a victim of Disneyitis? She was born only two years after the release of the first Mickey Mouse cartoon. Much like Timothy Treadwell, she appears to be a victim of severe anthropomorphism (attributing human-like traits to animals). In this case, she was feeding several black bears. One of them eventually broke into her house and killed her . From missoulian.com . . .

KALISPELL – The elderly woman attacked by a black bear inside her home west of Kalispell over the weekend has died from injuries she sustained in the incident.

The Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks personel stated the problem well:

“This is a very unfortunate situation,” FWP Warden Capt. Lee Anderson said. “These bears were extremely habituated and food-conditioned, and they posed a danger to the people who live in the area.

“The last thing we wanted to do is to kill these bears. But we had no choice because of the danger they pose to local residents.”

Anderson and other FWP officials made the comments before Paschke’s death was announced. The woman had not been identified prior to Thursday.

Anderson said FWP does not know how many bears were food-conditioned at the woman’s residence.

Feeding of bears is against the law in Montana. It’s bad for bears, because it makes them dependent, unable to forage for themselves. When they become dependent on taking food from people, they lose all respect (read: fear) for people and become more dangerous.

Given the self-created danger of the situation, almost any gun could have been used to stop this attack, but next to having a gun when needed, the most important thing is having the willingness to use it. Bears are always armed and potentially dangerous. Using those weapons is part of their nature.

 

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included. Gun Watch

ED:  A federal court has just formalized an agreement between conservationists and Montana state officials designating seven “grizzly bear security zones” encompassing 22,007 acres within Stillwater and Coal Creek state forests. It stipulates that

  • Motorized activities will be prohibited during spring, summer, and fall periods when grizzlies are actively using the landscape;
  • No permanent road construction will be allowed; and
  • Any temporary roads must be reclaimed to prevent use by vehicles, including off-road vehicles.

Just thought you’d like to know.

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53 COMMENTS

  1. “Feeding of bears is against the law in Montana. It’s bad for bears, because it makes them dependent, unable to forage for themselves. When they become dependent on taking food from people, they lose all respect (read: fear) for people and become more dangerous.”

    Same should apply to welfare – because when people become dependent on it, they have no incentive – or skills – to fend for themselves. Then they become dangerous (especially when threatened with cessation or reduction of that welfare).

    • She should have had a “NO BEARS ALLOWED” sign.
      It works so great for firearms?.
      I think they need to do background checks / studies on all wild life
      If any show signs of being aggressive they should be — Forgive me, I got carried away a little bit—–

      • OK, so they found this guys left arm as the only part of him that was recognizably human and his watch was still ticking. So was it a Timex? Ya know, “Takes an eating and keeps on ticking.”

    • I think it would be quicker with a grizzly. Black bears generally are smaller and less aggressive. Obviously they are still a top predator but a big mad grizz is like a sweating piece of dynamite. Top predator in North America for a reason.

      • I know a guy that brought back pictures from Alaska with close up shots of Grizzly Bears catching fish in a river. People pay to fly up to where they hang out, get as close as possible and take videos. Asked him if it was dangerous or if he felt they might attack him. He said no, they just keep fishing. I thought, yeah, until one doesn’t. Don’t think it is smart to get that close to a Grizzly. Even with a big gun, I would not trust the beasts to die quick enough to not do a LOT of harm before they expired.

      • It has been a while since I saw Grizzly Man but I think Treadwell got killed over about six minutes. His camera recorded audio of the whole thing. It, of course, was not included in the film.

        • Yes, the director of the film said the audio was horrific.

          The thing with grizzlies is they’re so powerful that they don’t have to kill medium size prey before eating it. They just hold the prey down and start chewing down.

    • OK, so they found this Tredwell guys left arm as the only part of him that was recognizably human that the grizz didn’t eat and his watch was still ticking. So was it a Timex? Ya know, “Takes an eating and keeps on ticking.”

  3. Ah jeez. Poor woman. One look at a bear by a sane person, and you KNOW these beasts can be devastating. That they are big, strong, powerful beasts who can open up a can of human lunch on a self-misinformed human being.

    Can they enter your home through an unlocked door? Are you kidding me? I’m trying to contemplate the human mindset that thinks CLOSED DOOR = IMMUNITY FROM BEAR. God, how stupid can people BE?

    God almighty, these humans are SO unprepared to look after themselves! BEAR = DANGER. Large predator with an appetite for human meat!!!

    Prepared to take on a bear who’s intent on eating you? Go back to Anaheim!!!

  4. Bear encounters are not all that uncommon around here, and seem to becoming more frequent each year. The bruins occasionally turn up in our county seat of Deer Lodge (as have cougar), and in smaller surrounding communities such as Avon and Elliston. Recently, one killed some sheep in the latter community and was dispatched by a local resident as a result. Some people remain blase’ about it, others (myself included), never leave home without adequate protection. I suppose it is the same way with self-defense. There are those who think it can never happen to them, until it does.

    • Maybe 4 hours NW of you in MT and I agree. Live inside the city limits of the county seat, which means that bears are rare here, but we have had them. But, esp at night, outside the (few) towns here, it is good to go armed, JIC. Currently carry a handgun with Buffalo Bore ammo and a shotgun in the truck. Probably need a rifle instead. But so far haven’t seen Grizzlies closer than maybe 30 miles away. Maybe.

  5. Shit after 80 something years you mitecas well go out being eaten by a bear. Its the last thing your ever going to do it should be awesome

    • I have a feeling that dying by getting ripped apart by a bear might be a pretty horrific way to go. But, that’s just me. I suppose there are a few masochists who might enjoy it……;-(

      • How silly. It is a natural, organic way to go. No where near as horrific as a criminal being shot by a self-defender. How HORRIBLE!

        This woman’s obvious error was failing to call the game wardens.

  7. Sorry to hear about the old girl, a shame. But the very mention of that name ‘Timothy Treadwell’ is still enough to make me laugh out loud. If you haven’t seen it, the Werner Herzog documentary ‘Grizzly Man’ is worth the time, it is a genuine howler. Certainly I do not wish gruesome dismemberment and horrible death upon anybody, but if it had to happen, Treadwell didn’t just ask for it, volunteer for it he blame well demanded it. In the sage words of Bugs Bunny, ‘What a maroon’, a metrosexual numb skull who was unable to differentiate between what had not happened yet and what could happen at any moment. They are NOT cuddly creatures in search of new friends and precious names. Check out the movie, it is almost as funny as the Marx brothers.

    • Sure, pick on the dead imbecile;-) Actually I thought he was a tragic fellow from the first moment you see him in the movie. Not right in the head, that one. I got very little pleasure in the relentless progress to the inevitable horrific ending.

    • Reminds me of a video on Youtube where a guy has a “pet” cougar sitting on his couch with him. He truly believes it is his pet and will not harm him. How totally stupid some people are. Must be nature’s way of getting rid of the idiots among us. Too bad they often have children before they are gone. Hard to feel sorry for someone like this. And she got her “pet” bears killed as well as herself by training them in the wrong way.

      • The difference between that cougar and the bears is that the cougar was probably raised by the owner and has been exposed to humans since it was born. All it knows beyond instinct is how to be a giant house cat. You can see this difference even in house cats when you look at feral ones versus properly raised ones.

        The bears on the other hand were already adults when they were desensitized to humans.

        • I’m not sure you can tame a cougar by raising it from a kitten. It definitely doesn’t work with wolves. Dogs are genetically programmed to be obedient. Yet, even among them, some are more stubborn than others. Compared to dogs, mature wolves are off the stubbornness scale. Unless you can face a “tame” wolf down, you will lose an argument. Stay the hell away from any wild animal you aren’t prepared to fight off.

        • I remember seeing a documentary in which they discussed the progressive taming of wild wolves over generations. It was quite interesting, an experiment in Russia had a few wolf pups from one litter, and raised half of them with humans and half of them with as little human exposure as possible. They did that for a few generations of dogs, and not only did their temperament become more dissimilar, their physical appearance did as well.

          What I’m getting at is that cougars MIGHT very well be completely tamable, but I think you’d have better luck with about a 3rd or 4th generation tamed animal than just finding one on a nature walk and bringing it home with you! Good luck finding one though!

        • @Krispy:
          I’m not sure you can tame a cougar by raising it from a kitten. It definitely doesn’t work with wolves. Dogs are genetically programmed to be obedient. Yet, even among them, some are more stubborn than others.

          Absolutely – modern DNA analysis and genetic science have, in just the last dozen years, solved this mystery.. Dogs ARE wolves that have been genetically selected over 20,000 years. Note the domestic cat has only existed about 8,000 years – shortly after humans started farming – which is probably a big part of why cats are less compliant.

          @Chrispy:
          I remember seeing a documentary in which they discussed the progressive taming of wild wolves over generations. It was quite interesting, an experiment in Russia had a few wolf pups…

          The Russian Scientist who rocked the field of domestication was Dmitri Konstantinovich Belyaev. He used silver foxes with controlled breeding selection for tameness and minimal aggression. After 40 years and 40,000 foxes bread, he effectively produced foxes as tame and friendly as dogs.

          Sidebar about pre-history human development and dogs:
          There’s strong evidence that the domestication of dogs was a major aid in modern humans (homo sapians) driving neanderthals to extinction. The dog, as an alarm, would have given modern humans, with their superior hand-eye coordination and missile weapons, the ability to engage more often at range. In close combat, the neanderthals were probably much more deadly.

          And there’s a somewhat wild theory that dog domestication was the result of a genetic fluke – the “whites” of the human eye. This allowed dog ancestors to realize a human was looking at them and therefore aided in domestication. I don’t know how the human development boffins will “prove” that…

  9. The “agreement” finalized by a federal court reminds me of the lawfare I have seen elsewhere. An activist group sues a sympathetic government agency in a sympathetic court.

    The two groups agree to rape a third group, usually the public at large; the court sanctifies the rape; and it becomes “settled law” that even the state legislature cannot touch.

    This way, things that would never be voted for become the law of the land.

    • We see that all the time with the radical enviros and alphabet agencies like BLM, EPA, and others of their ilk.

    • Yes. Send them to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC to obtain their Skittles and purple drank.

  11. I keep trying to tell my liberal pals that cooperating with a bear isn’t the best option; many victims have been killed even after handing over their hunny jars and pic-a-nic baskets.

    • Sounds like if they’d have had a gun they’d, at least one of them, could have used the gun.

      Darwinism at its finest.

  13. Maybe he was just looking for pic-a-nic baskets…I have a friend who feeds skunks and ‘possums. That won’t kill you but damn…

  14. In this case, unfortunately, she seems to have got what she asked for. Actually kinda feel for the bears here (felt bad for the ones killed after that Treadwell D-bag incident too)

  16. Motorized activities will be prohibited during spring, summer, and fall periods when grizzlies are actively using the landscape;
    No permanent road construction will be allowed; and
    Any temporary roads must be reclaimed to prevent use by vehicles, including off-road vehicles.
    So the humans are out of cars, and this makes it easier for the bears to get to their food source?

  17. Another Bear story. I get it. Be aware and cautious around Bears but Dean published a story about another animal vs human encounter which was more important. A wolf attack in Central Wisconsin 50 miles or so from Madison. People focus on bears but bears mostly stay away from humans. So will coyotes. However, wolves are far more likely to come after humans and they come in multiples.

    Wolves are becoming a serious problem in the upper Midwest where environmentals have introduced wolves to control the deer population. When the deer population goes down the wolves don’t move on or die, they go after farm animals and eventually people.

  18. It’s kind of ironic that an article that starts out by criticizing someone for being anthropomorphic goes on to describe bears as being able to have respect for humans and develop dependence. I think a better description is feeding wild animals can cause them to associate humans with feeding behaviors. Sometimes this leads to humans becoming food.

  19. “The last thing we wanted to do is to kill these bears. But we had no choice because of the danger they pose to local residents.”
    Yeah, like Montana is soooo populated that they couldn’t be released a few hundred miles away in the back country. Way to go Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks.

    • Regrettably, that approach is far from successful. A few hundred miles is not a deterrent, and they often return to the habitat they are familiar with, or where they consider the food source superior. They also must compete with other apex predators such as the growing population of wolves in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. This, when combined with the abundance of game and cattle in our valley, attracts them here. In this regard, it’s not unlike people migrating from a depressed area (Detroit) to one of growth and opportunity (Texas). The decision to ‘destroy’ a rogue bear is left to the government. If the animal kills a human on federal land, the federal authorities make the call. Last year a grizzly did kill a hiker at Yellowstone. The attack was unprovoked and the hiker had gone several hundred yards away from the bear to avoid her, yet she attacked anyway, probably because she had cubs nearby. The feds decided not to destroy her. While Ii find their decision questionable, if you contrast that scenario with a bear who enters someone’s home and kills them, the solution is a no-brainer.

    • Sure the back country is not populated… until it is. Then these bears that associate food with people find a camp site and some campers.

      Oh and the damage done to natural foraging skills certainly wont efdect their ability to find food. Which wont lead to the being more hungry and more aggressive when they do find a people = food camp site.

    • The “Bear Arms” is what did her in – She should have called 9-1-1 and waited for the Police!

      We all know guns kill innocent people and only “BAD” people use them except for law enforcement, military, plus the Secret Service that protect politicians! We also have armed guards for hire that protect people from “BAD” people and protect the Rich and Famous!

      Just think if you were Rich and Famous or a politician you could hire some one to carry your gun!
      If you are poor or unknown then you don’t need a gun!
      “If you are far enough to the left then you don’t have to worry about seeing any other view”
      Life is simple on the left – You never have to worry about doing anything for yourself you just pick up your phone and call someone else to do it. The saying “Just Do It” came from the left telling some one else to do it.

  23. Didn’t she feed the bear one last time?
    I have every intention to open carry everywhere.
    Arming all non criminals is a great idea so they can protect themselves.
    No double standards put the DC politicians on Obamacare and SS.Thanks for your support and vote. Pass the word. mrpresident2016.com

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