Porthill, Idaho

From the Bloomington (IL) Pantagraph of October 12, 2006

Babysitter kills bear to protect children

A northern Idaho baby sitter shot and killed a 422-pound black bear that broke into a backyard where three toddlers were playing.

The bear was likely drawn to the yard by the scent of food from a barbecue, said Idaho Department of Fish and Game Conservation Officer Greg Johnson.

"We've not had a single incident in Idaho of a black bear attacking a person," he told the Bonner County Daily Bee newspaper. "If you have a bear, you probably have food out."

The baby sitter did not want her name revealed and could not be reached for comment. She was baby-sitting for her sister, Becky Henslee.

Henslee said her 3-year-old daughter Brooklyn and twin 2-year-old sons Cleo and Charles were playing in the backyard of their home on the Canadian border early last week when Brooklyn alerted their aunt by shouting "Bear! Bear!"

Henslee said her sister looked up and saw the bear running out of the woods toward the backyard. She grabbed the three children from the yard and ran inside the house, shutting the door.

After taking the children into a bedroom, the woman loaded a 7mm hunting rifle and returned to the back door, where the bear had pawed the screen door and broken the door frame.

When the bear looked away from the door, Henslee said her sister opened the door slightly and shot twice, killing the bear instantly.

Henslee said her sister had a valid Idaho bear hunting tag.

Wild berries, the main food source of bears in the region, have been less abundant this season than past, prompting the animals to look for other food sources in residential areas, Johnson said.

In April, a 6-year-old Ohio girl was killed and her mother and younger half brother seriously injured when a black bear attacked the family at a swimming hole in the Cherokee National Forest in southeast Tennessee.