Durango woman found dead after apparent bear attack

[Oak]

Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is a nationally recognized leader in conservation, outdoor recreation and wildlife management. The agency manages 42 state parks, all of Colorado's wildlife, more than 300 state wildlife areas and a host of recreational programs. CPW issues hunting and fishing...

cpw.state.co.us

 

[scrounger69]

Holy crap, that's awful.

 

[marksjeep]

Yikes. That is awful. You've got to think this is going to be a bad year for bear conflicts. Dry dry dry, not going to have a good berry or mast crop.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Have to wonder if/how the dogs were involved. A few years back I was dating a pseudo outdoors chick. She had the usual white Subaru Outback with rack and kayak and, of course, labradoodle dog. We went for a couple of walks in the bush. I had left my dogs at her place in my Jimmy. Her mutt was along and running amok. "Sue, I don't think that's such a good idea." "Oh, he'll come back eventually." Yeah, maybe ... and maybe with a pissed off mama bear on his arse! "Well, that's why I brought you." She also regularly turned the dog loose at home to run through the woods as it pleased. "Sometimes he brings deer parts back with him. Maybe I shouldn't do that but he needs the excersize or he'll drive me nuts." I'm thinking to myself: "That would be a short trip." Eventually the dog didn't come back. I suspect a neighbour took care of the problem. Needless to say, I stopped being her bear bait date after that.

 

[Dsnow9]

Crazy story, definitely feel like the dogs and Cubs add a lot to the mix. Seems strange the dogs were fine though and went back gone. You would think the dogs would take a beating if they were threatening the Cubs or something.

 

[Glockster]

That sucks.

Everyone wants alpha predators (Bears, wolves, lions) until Alpha predators start doing alpha predator shit.

 

[aj427ci]

Went shed hunting today and came across a big pile of fresh bear scat and three cow elk lion kills from this winter. The little 5 point shed a found didn’t make me feel well armed lol. The 357 will be on my hip tomorrow.

 

[one ate E grain]

CPW seems to do a heck of a lot of responses to bears. If they thinned them out close to towns might not be as much of an issue. Lots of people don't call them in because it's a three strikes and they're out kind of thing.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Crazy story, definitely feel like the dogs and Cubs add a lot to the mix. Seems strange the dogs were fine though and went back gone. You would think the dogs would take a beating if they were threatening the Cubs or something.

Not so strange. Sow goes after dogs simply for being in the vicinity of cubs, dogs run to gal, gal screams or runs, bear switches to the gal as the more menacing threat to its cubs, dogs keep running to master #2 back at the ranch for help, which apparently was not far.

 

[mountainlaurel3]

That area is known for having tons of bears, though I've heard about them more in the fall when all the fruit trees are bearing fruit.

Coincidentally, saw my first bears since moving to Durango yesterday, a black mama and two cinnamon cubs hanging in an irrigated field next to a river.

 

[glass eye]

Whenever there's an attack on humans from javelina it's because a dog was involved. Javelina hate dogs and will attack them, and if you happen to be there you're in trouble. Probably the dogs provoked the bears.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

Very sad! Thoughts and prayers to her family....

 

[88man]

sorry to hear and yes prayers for the family. Sometimes chit will jump out and bite you from nowhere > words from my first boss

 

[Fire_9]

Crazy story, definitely feel like the dogs and Cubs add a lot to the mix. Seems strange the dogs were fine though and went back gone. You would think the dogs would take a beating if they were threatening the Cubs or something.

My German wirehair brought a momma bear right to me one time. Thankfully she decided to run the other way when she saw me. I’ve always wondered what the encounter looked like from his point of view....

I have a hunch he was trying to play with this little guy

 

[Elkhunter24]

Very sad. Thoughts and prayers goes out to her family!

 

[hank4elk]

I've always thought black bears were underrated by folks. Danger wise.

Personally I've had 3 run ins with black bears, up close,out in the woods.
2 of those times I had my dogs with me & I'm pretty sure they caused the problem....they were off leash. Illegally.

Had dozens of encounters in my Park Ranger job days around campgrounds & on trails.

 

[Beignet]

I've always thought black bears were underrated by folks. Danger wise.

Personally I've had 3 run ins with black bears, up close,out in the woods.
2 of those times I had my dogs with me & I'm pretty sure they caused the problem....they were off leash. Illegally.

Had dozens of encounters in my Park Ranger job days around campgrounds & on trails.

This woman's death is a bummer for sure, but dogs off leash will certainly bring in some bears when they run back to their owners after being chased. Land managers could probably do a better job of posting this kind of info at trailheads, especially in areas where populations of otherwise unaware people are interacting with the wild more often. For example, Shenandoah NP has posted this type of signage in the past. It has a leash law because of the potential for these interactions (though it seems to be seldomly followed or enforced).

That said, there was a spot in MT's Bitterroots a few years back that had signage up saying something to the effect of "Dogs must remain on leash, mountain lions active in area." I used to see a lot of off leash dogs despite the clearly posted signs.

 

[OntarioHunter]

This woman's death is a bummer for sure, but dogs off leash will certainly bring in some bears when they run back to their owners after being chased. Land managers could probably do a better job of posting this kind of info at trailheads, especially in areas where populations of otherwise unaware people are interacting with the wild more often. For example, Shenandoah NP has posted this type of signage in the past. It has a leash law because of the potential for these interactions (though it seems to be seldomly followed or enforced).

That said, there was a spot in MT's Bitterroots a few years back that had signage up saying something to the effect of "Dogs must remain on leash, mountain lions active in area." I used to see a lot of off leash dogs despite the clearly posted signs.

In Katmai National Park dogs are simply not allowed in any way shape or form. Too many brown bears.

 

[marksjeep]

Bear conflicts due to dogs is certainly an issue. However, this incident far surpasses a "normal" black bear conflict. Two of the three bears actively consumed her body.

 

[Ben Sellers]

The news story seemed to indicate that the dogs were leashed.