Bear Attack Kills 6 Year Old Girl in TN

Dark Knight

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A bear attacked a family at a camp site in the Cherokee National Forest on Thursday, killing a 6-year-old girl and injuring her 2-year-old brother and mother, authorities said.

The attack took place near a pool of water on Chilhowee Mountain, said Dan Hicks, spokesman for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

Witnesses described the bear picking up the boy in its mouth while the mother and other visitors tried to fend it off with sticks and rocks, Hicks said. The mother was injured before the bear was chased away.

The girl ran away during that attack, but was found dead a short time later with the bear nearby. A park ranger fired at least one shot at the bear before it bolted off.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060414/ap_on_re_us/bear_attack&printer=1

 
Oh my gosh, how sad for this family... That little girl must have been so scared!!!
 
Black bears normally don't attack humans. I wonder if the family had unwittingly stumbled across a bear in heat (they get really volatile then) or gotten between a mama and her cubs. Then again, there's always the possibility of rabies.
 
I live very close to this area-they are still hunting for the bear and have traps out to try to catch it. One of the park rangers shot at the bear when they found it over the little girl's body but they aren't sure if it hit the bear.

The bear actually picked the mother up in it's mouth and carried her-they are estimating it weighs between 350-400 lbs. They think maybe it was sick or rabid since it seemed to stalk these people before attacking them-the mother and surviving child have started rabies vaccinations.

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_83767.asp

Shannon
 
Luke suffered a bite wound that punctured his skull, while his mother had eight puncture wounds to the neck and too many claw and tooth injuries to count elsewhere on her body, doctors said.


I cannot even begin to imagine what this must have been like for this family. The terror, the mother, trying to protect her children, seeing your children bitten by a bear....sweet Jesus in heaven..give this family the strength to some how cope with the memories of this horrible tragedy.
 
This is the second fatal attack in the last few years. I think that it is because of declining habitat. There is sooooo much new construction.

Prayers to this family. You know that there hearts are so sad tonight.



JMHO
 
This is a horrific story. It is the thing nightmares are comprised of and dreaded everyday of our lives. This family has to live it over and over.
 
Hard to imagine that this was fairly common ocurrence little more than a 100 years ago.
One of my ancestors had a younger sister who was believed to have been dragged off the front porch by a bear in Kentucky (either that or a panther). She sassed her daddy at the table and he made her go stand out on the front porch as punishment while the rest of the family ate supper. There was a awful scream and everyone ran out, but she was gone and all that was left was her rag doll and some blood.
 
Horrible. God be with this family. There are no words. :(
 
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/8733107/detail.html#

Neighbors of a 6-year-old Ohio girl killed in an attack by a black bear in Tennessee say they are trying to figure out how to help.


Sandy Bundschuh lives next door to the family on a county road in Clyde in northern Ohio. She said her memories of Elora Petrasek are of the little girl dancing barefoot in the yard.

8731600_480X360.jpg
 
BillyGoatGruff said:
Hard to imagine that this was fairly common ocurrence little more than a 100 years ago.
One of my ancestors had a younger sister who was believed to have been dragged off the front porch by a bear in Kentucky (either that or a panther). She sassed her daddy at the table and he made her go stand out on the front porch as punishment while the rest of the family ate supper. There was a awful scream and everyone ran out, but she was gone and all that was left was her rag doll and some blood.
Horrible story, can you imagine ancestors actually listening?
 

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