Black bear crashes through window, bites, and attacks couple before being shot and killed by husband
TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
A black bear uncharacteristically attacked a Medford couple inside their home late Friday night, and the story has made national headlines.
According to the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO), a telephone report of a bear attack at a residence just west of the city of Medford on Castle Rd. in the Township of Medford was received at 11:11 p.m. on Friday, May 20, 2022.
Deputies and EMS responded and found the homeowners, a 42-year-old man and his 38-year-old wife, had both suffered numerous bites and injuries as a result of the attack.
The victims reported they had noticed the bear eating from their bird feeder in the backyard, not too far from the house but not extremely close either, opened a window and yelled for the bear to go away, and then “the bear immediately turned and charged at the house, breaking through the window and into the house and immediately attacked,” a press release from TCSO said.
“Both the husband and wife were attacked and fought with the bear” … “at one point stabbing it with a kitchen knife as it attacked,” the report said. Eventually the husband got to his handgun and shot the bear, killing it inside the family home.
The couple were transported to Aspirus Medford Hospital for treatment and later released.
The couple’s four children, ages 7 to 14, were in their bedrooms and asleep during the attack and were unharmed.
The family has asked to remain anonymous at this time.
The couple had been removing the bird feeder each evening but had not yet retrieved the bird feeder to bring it indoors Friday night before the attack occurred, the TCSO said.
“The bear was an adult female and appeared to have one cub that was seen running off as the bear had charged the house,” the TCSO release added. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) responded and took possession of the bear for testing.
Black bears and humans – territory lines are becoming blurred
According to the Wisconsin DNR website, there are more than 24,000 black bears in Wisconsin, with black bears being common or abundant in approximately the north/northwestern two-thirds of the state, and the black bear range is expanding southward.
While bears are normally solitary and stick to the forests, their search for food can lead them into human territory where they may ransack trash, gardens, and bird feeders and are also attracted to compost piles and grills. One of the DNR recommended remedies for dealing with black bears in human territory is to remove those food sources if possible. And, when encountering a bear, stay calm; talk to the bear to make it aware you are there; make loud noises such as yelling and banging pots and pans, which are likely to scare the bear off it doesn’t leave after it is aware of your presence; wave your arms and/or clothing items to appear larger than you are; and slowly back away. Keep children or pets close to you, and closely behind you if at all possible. Do NOT run, always leave the bear an escape route, and DO NOT turn your back on the bear. NEVER offer food to a bear. Never approach a bear.
And NEVER get between a sow [female bear] and her cubs. A bear with a cub or cubs can become very protective of her young.
Black bear attacks
Black bear attacks are rare, but they do happen. Experts say, if attacked by a black bear, DO NOT PLAY DEAD. While playing dead is recommended if being attacked by a brown/grizzly bear, according to the National Park Service (NPS), black bears are a different breed. With black bears, if you are attacked, fighting back may be the only thing that saves your life. “If escape is not possible, try to fight back using any object available. Concentrate your kicks and blows on the bear’s face and muzzle,” the NPS website states.
An average female black bear can weigh around 200 pounds, while an average male black bear can weigh about 500 pounds. Black bears can have up to 4-inch claws and have a biting force strong enough to crack a bowling ball.
Wiseaboutbears.com reports that the “750,000 black bears of North America kill less than one person per year on the average,” and “most attacks by black bears are defensive reactions to a person who is very close” but that was not exactly the case for this Medford couple. With a cub nearby, the bear may have felt startled or threatened, but charging through a window is not typical Wisconsin black bear behavior.
Most bears try to avoid humans, and most black bear attacks occur in the wild and outdoors when a black bear feels threatened or is protecting her young, but black bears can also become agitated or aggressive if startled.
While bear attacks in tents or black bear stalking humans is very rare, that kind of attack “can be serious because it often means the bear is looking for food and sees you as prey,” the NPS website also stated.
Black bears attacking humans in their homes or cabins is even more rare than attacks in tents. However, there were at least two instances where black bears entered into homes and attacked humans in 2021: one in Meyers, Calif., [Lake Tahoe area] in June 2021 when a vacationer encountered a black bear in the home he was renting there and was attacked, but was ultimately able to shoot the bear [who was bleeding but fled the home and was later located and euthanized by authorities]. The man survived. The other was also in Lake Tahoe, Calif., in Oct. 2021, where a retired doctor was mauled in her vacation home/cabin. Ultimately, she was able to throw a quilt over the bear, which temporarily disoriented the animal and scared it off. She was badly injured but also survived.
During 2021 and early 2022, a single 500-pound black bear was alleged to have forcibly broken into more than 28 homes over a period of months in the Tahoe Keys area of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., but did not maul humans during his rampage for food. It was later determined there were more than three different black bears making those break-ins.
According to the Wisconsin DNR, four people were injured as a result of separate bear attacks in Wisconsin between 2013 and 2018. A hunter was also bitten in the foot by a bear while hunting in his tree stand in Trempealeau County in Oct. 2021.
According to a 2018 article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, there have been no fatal black bear attacks on humans in Wisconsin recorded in more than 100 years. The article cited the United States Department of Agriculture as the source of that information. Another online source cited the DNR as saying there are no known records of black bear attacks killing humans in Wisconsin. Nonetheless, the danger is real.