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Bear drags 16-year-old sleeping backpacker out of hammock, Park closes trails and campsites

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    • Bear drags 16-year-old sleeping backpacker out of hammock, Park closes trails and campsites

      cadescovelovers.blogspot.com/2…16-year-old-sleeping.html


      Bear drags 16-year-old sleeping backpacker out of hammock, Park closes trails and campsites
      Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have closed several trails and backcountry campsites in the Hazel Creek section of the park due to a bear incident occurring at approximately 10:30 p.m. on June 6. A 16-year old male from Ohio was pulled from his hammock by a bear and injured at backcountry campsite 84 which is 4.5 miles from the Fontana Lake shoreline near Hazel Creek in NC. The father was able to drive the bear off from the area.


      Immediately following the incident, the young man and his father hiked to the lakeshore where they were transported across the lake to Cable Cove boat dock by campers at backcountry campsite 86 who had a boat. Graham County Rescue EMS transported them to a landing zone where the injured party was flown by Mountain Area Medical Airlift (MAMA) to Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC at approximately 3:00 a.m. this morning.

      The young man received multiple injuries including lacerations to the head. He remained conscious throughout the incident and is in stable condition at this time.

      Park rangers and wildlife biologists are responding to the backcountry campsite area to investigate the scene and to clear the area of other campers. Hazel Creek Trail, Jenkins Ridge Trail, Bone Valley Trail, Cold Spring Gap Trail and backcountry campsites 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, and 88 are closed until further notice. Derrick Knob shelter along the Appalachian Trail has also been closed to camping until officials can determine whether recent bear activity at the shelter may also be related to the same bear.

      “While incidents with bears are rare, we ask park visitors to take necessary precautions while hiking in bear country and comply with all backcountry closures,” said Superintendent Cassius Cash. “The safety of our visitors is our number one priority.”

      The father and son were on a multi-day backpacking trip in the Smokies. Both campers were sleeping in hammocks approximately 10 feet apart and had all equipment, food, and packs properly stored on aerial food storage cables.

      For more information on what to do if you encounter a bear while hiking, please visit the park website atnps.gov/grsm/naturescience/black-bears.htm. To report a bear incident, please call 865-436-1230.
      its all good
    • Several Smokies trails close after bear attack

      Posted: Sun 2:28 PM, Jun 07, 2015
      [IMG:http://media.graytvinc.com/images/353*198/black+bear.jpeg]
      An American black bear, Photo Credit: Mark Watson / Flickr

      KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- A teen boy is in the hospital after a bear attack in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Saturday.
      Park officials say that the incident happened around 10:30 p.m. Saturday night in the Hazel Creek section of the park. A 16-year-old male from Ohio was pulled from his hammock by a bear at back country campsite 84. Officials say he received several cuts to the head, but is in stable condition.
      The boy and his father were on a multi-day backpacking trip and immediately after the attack they hiked to the lakeshore where they were taken by boat to a landing zone, then air lifted to Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina.
      Hazel Creek Trail, Jenkins Ridge Trail, Bone Valley Trail, Cold Spring Gap Trail and backcountry campsites 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, and 88 are closed until further notice.
      Superintendent Cassius Cash says, "While incidents with bears are rare, we ask park visitors to take necessary precautions while hiking in bear country and comply with all backcountry closures, the safety of our visitors is our number one priority.”
      its all good
    • hikerboy wrote:

      Rasty wrote:

      campsite 84 gets a lot of traffic. Agree with it being time for a hunt. You shoot, I'll butcher and braise.
      its the damn marshmallows
      I was thinking more along the lines of onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, stock, wine, tomatoes and herbs.

      I think bear is probably too tough for roasting with marshmallows
      Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
      Dr. Seuss Cof123
    • Even if the kid was sleeping with something smelly, a bear that's habituated enough to human food that he'll attack a human - even a sleeping one - directly to get it is going to keep attacking people. It's less the kid's fault - even if he did have that Snickers with him - and more the fault of the campers who came before him. The bear, of course, is blameless, but most likely not salvageable.
      I'm not lost. I know where I am. I'm right here.
    • Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings tells you how to cook a bear.

      We were sleeping at Pisgah campground years ago and we made sure we never ate in the tent or even had gum wrappers and a bear still tried to come in and visit us very early in the morning. Dam campground bears. I yelled at him after the sleep daze wore off and was hitting him on the nose. We had the rip sewed up and used that tent for years. The campground bears are the worse.

      Never dealt with a backcountry bear. i have walked up on bears on the FT a few times. Luckily they ran off. The little cubs are cute the way they run up the tree as high as they can, climb out on a skinny branch and think you can't see them while they bawl for their Mommy.

      I was jogging on the FT one time and scared the crap out of a wild hog and he took off the other way.I have been blessed with lots of wildlife sitings, especially in FL. I have been very lucky not to have been hurt.
    • It's interesting to me that whenever one of these rare attacks happens, some people always try to rationalize the bear's motives and attempts to blame the victim (Did he have food smells?). My take on it is that sometimes bears are unpredictable and on very rare occasion they are dangerous.

      (please note I'm posting this as a general thought, it's not directed to at anyone here)
      Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
    • If the numbers are too high for the environment to handle a cull is in order.
      I don't like it but given we find it necessary to cull kangaroos by the thousands I can't criticise sensible population control.
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.
    • OzJacko wrote:

      If the numbers are too high for the environment to handle a cull is in order.
      I don't like it but given we find it necessary to cull kangaroos by the thousands I can't criticise sensible population control.
      Don't remind me, that was the worst episode of Winnie The Pooh ever. ;(
      Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
    • SarcasmTheElf wrote:

      OzJacko wrote:

      If the numbers are too high for the environment to handle a cull is in order.
      I don't like it but given we find it necessary to cull kangaroos by the thousands I can't criticise sensible population control.
      Don't remind me, that was the worst episode of Winnie The Pooh ever. ;(
      Sorry.
      Non comprende.
      By the time we got TV I was way over the age where Winnie the Pooh appealed.
      ;)
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.
    • OzJacko wrote:

      Well I think it had been posted a few too many times anyway.....
      I don't write responses for the purpose of having them deleted. If they want to provide a forum for discussion, they had better accept that relevant subjects are going to be discussed.
      Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
    • OzJacko wrote:

      If the numbers are too high for the environment to handle a cull is in order.
      I don't like it but given we find it necessary to cull kangaroos by the thousands I can't criticise sensible population control.
      Viewed the film 'Australia' with a new girl friend. The character Lady ??? was admiring the kangoroos when a Joey was shot for meat from the truck she was riding in and was quickly appalled .

      I thought the scene amusing but she did not. Of course the two mounted deer heads above the TV didn't help my cause. And of course I didn't reveal the roast in the oven was venison. But she thought the 'beef'' was the best ever.

      The relationship quickly unraveled when deer season opened later in the year.

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • LIhikers wrote:

      OzJacko wrote:

      If the numbers are too high for the environment to handle a cull is in order.
      I don't like it but given we find it necessary to cull kangaroos by the thousands I can't criticise sensible population control.
      Can you eat kangaroo?Does it taste like chicken? After all, everything else does.
      Yes.
      No.
      It's a strong gamey meat. Low fat, high iron, very dark.
      I don't particularly like it.
      Not too bad in a stew.
      Bigger males definitely not recommended.
      Small to medium size does best eating.
      Huge quantities in our pet food industry.
      Human consumption is "gourmet".
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.
    • Dan76 wrote:

      OzJacko wrote:

      If the numbers are too high for the environment to handle a cull is in order.
      I don't like it but given we find it necessary to cull kangaroos by the thousands I can't criticise sensible population control.
      Viewed the film 'Australia' with a new girl friend. The character Lady ??? was admiring the kangoroos when a Joey was shot for meat from the truck she was riding in and was quickly appalled .
      I thought the scene amusing but she did not. Of course the two mounted deer heads above the TV didn't help my cause. And of course I didn't reveal the roast in the oven was venison. But she thought the 'beef'' was the best ever.

      The relationship quickly unraveled when deer season opened later in the year.
      Haven't seen the movie.
      Probably won't.
      Made for the US market.
      Eaten a lot of roo.
      Prefer deer, goat and horse.
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.
    • OzJacko wrote:

      Dan76 wrote:

      OzJacko wrote:

      If the numbers are too high for the environment to handle a cull is in order.
      I don't like it but given we find it necessary to cull kangaroos by the thousands I can't criticise sensible population control.
      Viewed the film 'Australia' with a new girl friend. The character Lady ??? was admiring the kangoroos when a Joey was shot for meat from the truck she was riding in and was quickly appalled .I thought the scene amusing but she did not. Of course the two mounted deer heads above the TV didn't help my cause. And of course I didn't reveal the roast in the oven was venison. But she thought the 'beef'' was the best ever.

      The relationship quickly unraveled when deer season opened later in the year.
      Haven't seen the movie.Probably won't.
      Made for the US market.
      Eaten a lot of roo.
      Prefer deer, goat and horse.
      Never did try horse.
      Some animals are food.
      Other animals are pets.
      I don't mix two.
      Deadhorse
      :D
      Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
    • Dan76 wrote:

      OzJacko wrote:

      If the numbers are too high for the environment to handle a cull is in order.
      I don't like it but given we find it necessary to cull kangaroos by the thousands I can't criticise sensible population control.
      Viewed the film 'Australia' with a new girl friend. The character Lady ??? was admiring the kangoroos when a Joey was shot for meat from the truck she was riding in and was quickly appalled .
      I thought the scene amusing but she did not. Of course the two mounted deer heads above the TV didn't help my cause. And of course I didn't reveal the roast in the oven was venison. But she thought the 'beef'' was the best ever.

      The relationship quickly unraveled when deer season opened later in the year.
      When my daughter was young she would not eat deer, so when she asked what we were having we'd tell her chuck roast or pot roast, she loved it, she's since outgrown it and loves venison.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.