Bear Attack!

A woman was attacked by an aggressive black bear around 5:20 P.M. a few Sundays ago while hiking the Enchanted Forest Trail in Apex Park. That trail runs through Apex Park from Golden, Colorado up to nearby Lookout Mountain, which is where I took the photograph above of the trailhead. The woman said she felt something tugging at her backpack and then a paw or claw touch her thigh and start pulling her backward. At first, she thought it was a person or a mountain lion trying to attack her, but when she turned around, she saw a young adult black bear. She started yelling at it, making herself look larger, and threw rocks at it, but it kept circling and charging her. And she did not have cell phone service in that part of the park. She was joined by another hiker heading downhill, and they headed back up the trail while the bear followed them. Eventually a third person joined them, and after a while the bear went down another trail and began following a different set of hikers. Once they had cellphone service, they called 911 and park rangers were dispatched. Colorado Parks and Wildlife said that the bear was probably "habituated," unafraid of humans, and was no doubt looking for food. It was the first bear attack of the year here in Colorado. The woman involved wished to remain anonymous, according to the Denver7 website, no doubt fearing that if her name appeared in a newspaper article or on a website, the bear might be able to track her down. It reminds me of an old Far Side Cartoon, where a man opens the door and finds an elephant, wearing a hat and trench coat and holding a revolver, standing there. The elephant then says "Remember me, Mr. Jones? Kenya, 1956? If you are going to shoot an elephant, Mr. Jones, you need to make sure you finish the job." And by the way, the woman was unhurt, and plans to bring bear mace and a Garmin (a GPS-enabled product) with an SOS function the next time she goes hiking on that trail.  Talk about brave.