“I’m still here, and the bear is dead. That makes me the winner.”
That’s what Bud Jones told his son after an encounter with a bear outside his Belcarra property yesterday afternoon – one that conservation officers say the public shouldn’t try and emulate.
“Obviously, the end result was maybe not what they anticipated. We advise all members of the public to let us respond to the bear, make a phone call,” said Todd Hunter, a sergeant with the Conservation Officer Service.
But when Jones and his neighbour Brian Ashford saw a bear going after the pile of garbage Ashford was about to drop off at the dump, they chose a different route – and grabbed two nearby brooms.
“I was waving a broom at him, hollering at him, calling him bad names…so he decided to take me on,” said Jones.
He tripped and fell, and the bear attacked, slashing at Jones’ arm before wandering off.
“It wasn’t that big of a deal to me, because I grew up on the coast in a logging camp, and we were forever having to chase bears away,” said Jones.
“Some of the time, they’ll charge me, and I’ll charge them, and they’ll usually chicken out.”
Jones then called the RCMP, and while they and conservation officers were on scene to set up a trap, the bear returned.
“When a bear like that is successful, they’ll never stop coming. That bear obviously isn’t scared of people. He probably thought ‘I’ve seen guys like you before.'”
Officers shot the bear and then chased it into the woods, where it was destroyed.
“It’s very hard for them right now, there’s not a lot of salmon in the streams. If you leave it out, they will come,” said Ashford, who cautioned the public not to repeat Jones’ tactics.
“These encounters are very rare, their natural tendency is they’re shy of humans. They’re not going to get into conflict. However, a bear’s natural instinct is that if they’re cornered…they’re going to react unfavourably.”
Jones says the bear’s death, while tragic, was necessary.
“As unfortunate as it is to shoot a bear…that had to be done. He had lost his fear of man, he was ready to take on anybody.
And while he doesn’t regret his actions, he says yesterday’s battle might be his last.
“I’m probably going to have to quit rasslin’ bears, I’m 75 now.”
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