Cornell grad survives bear attack

Thanks to a USCHO OT poster for this.

[www.startribune.com]

Since the link will disappear after a week, here is the text to the story.

DNR student researcher survived bear attack by playing dead
Terry Collins
Star Tribune

Published Sep 17, 2002 BEAR17

The attack probably lasted a couple of minutes. And if Miles Becker hadn't played possum, it could have gone on even longer. And been much worse.

Instead, the student researcher for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources was listed in good condition at St. Cloud Hospital on Monday, a day after he was attacked by a black bear in central Minnesota.

"It's amazing," said Dick Tuszynski, manager of the Mille Lacs Wildlife Management Area and the nearby Four Brooks area. "For someone who was unaware a bear was nearby until he was attacked, it's amazing" how well Becker handled the attack, he said.

Tuszynski said Dave Garshelis, a DNR bear biologist, visited Becker at the hospital Monday and found him "in good spirits" despite "feeling fairly sore."

Becker declined to comment Monday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

A recent graduate of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Becker, 24, was on a team of six researchers studying the effects of hunting on the dwindling woodcock population in the Four Brooks area, which is about 10 miles north of Milaca. Becker began his internship last month and was scheduled to complete it in October.

On Sunday, the group had attached radio transmitters to woodcocks to track them. Becker was wearing earphones to listen to the transmitters when he was attacked about 12:45 p.m.

Tuszynski said Becker told Garshelis that he had noticed a lot of hazelnut shrubs around. Black bears eat hazelnuts. But he didn't see the bear until it hit him.

The bear might have been startled and instead of running, it might have chosen to defend its territory, an uncharacteristic response in black bears, Tuszynski said.

"The way Miles described the attack, the bear was being more defensive and acting more violently," he said. "Miles tried pushing it and hitting it away, but once he realized that wasn't working, he played dead and the bear stopped.

"It's amazing he thought that quickly while in a precarious situation and then had the presence of mind to radio in his exact location."

The last bear attack on record in Minnesota occurred in 1987, when a female bear attacked campers in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Garshelis said.

Becker had surgery Sunday. He suffered broken facial bones, lacerations and puncture wounds to his head, bites on his legs and a broken fibula in the attack. Hospital officials wouldn't comment on when he will be released.

Wildlife officials set a trap for the bear baited with bacon and cinnamon rolls, but it was empty Monday. Tuszynski said he believes the animal has left the area and is unlikely to return. He said the five to 10 bears wandering in that area aren't much tempted by the bait because there are plenty of hazelnuts and other wild foods available.

The area remains open to archery deer hunters, Tuszynski said. So far, the hunters with whom he has spoken have not seen any bears.

-- Terry Collins is at tcollins@startribune.com

Hopefully, we will similarly outfox the University of Maine Black Bears in Estero this December, preferably by a different method.