Black Bear Attacks Woman in Eastern Washington

When you think of Eastern Washington, you don't usually think you would hear of a bear attack! Most of Eastern Washington is desert- like and the wooded areas don't seem dense with bears ready to attack.

Are there many bears in Eastern Washington?

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The west side of the state has many more bears. It's not unusual to see bears roaming the neighborhood or rummaging in someone's garbage can.

But on occasion a bear gets startled unexpectedly and attacks. This is exactly what happened in the Eastern Washington town west of Colville WA. It was on private property near Mink Creek Road in Ferry County.  A woman and her dogs were hiking when she was charged by a black bear.

The bear apparently was aggravated by the woman dogs and chased the dogs back toward the woman and then charged at the woman. She sustained some superficial injuries but was not seriously hurt.

What to do if you encounter a Bear.

WDFW Officers, with assistance from the Stevens/Ferry Counties Wildlife Specialist and houndsmen, located and lethally removed an approximately 120-pound black bear near the scene. At the time of removal, the team believed the black bear was the female bear involved in the incident - it was determined after removal it was a male bear.

After the initial removal, the team made additional efforts to locate the female black bear. according to a WDFW report issued on Monday, those efforts were unsuccessful, and the operations are suspended at the landowner’s request. Officers donated the black bear meat to the U.S. Air Force.

I'm thankful the woman wasn't seriously hurt, but admittedly I feel sad that the bear had to lose its life. Carrying Bear Spray is an effective way to deter bears from coming too close. I think it is also effective for humans.

How do you feel when things like this happen? Let me know, hit me up on the key mobile app at 98.3 the Key.