"One of the anglers shot and killed the bear, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks said in a Sept. 1 news release."
Idaho Department of Fish and Game received a report Tuesday of an aggressive bull moose that charged a camper at a Harrison Lake backcountry campsite north of Sandpoint, according to an agency news release.
The moose tore apart the campsite and charged at the camper and his dog. The camper hid behind a tree, but the moose did not stop charging. The camper discharged a firearm at the moose in self-defense from close range, according to the release. Fish and Game responded to the incident and located the deceased moose.
The Forest Service has closed the Harrison Lake trailhead to hikers to prevent possible conflicts between hikers and any bears that may feed on the carcass. The trailhead will be closed for a week.
It’s unclear whether the dog was leashed or not but it was in the man’s camp, IDFG spokeswoman Kara Campbell said. A .45 caliber handgun was used, Campbell said.
A Colville man who found himself surrounded by wolves on Oct. 7 in the forest near Rocky Creek Road, just east of town, shot and killed a young male in the pack to escape.
“The man called us as soon as he managed to get back to a place where he had cell service, and the incident was investigated by the county's wildlife conflict specialist, Jeff Flood, and the state Department of Fish and Game,” said Stevens County Sheriff Brad Manke. “Investigators went to the scene and found the dead wolf. From the evidence, they confirmed the man's story and determined that he acted completely within the law because he was threatened.”
Manke said the identity of the man is being kept confidential to avoid making him a potential target for retaliation from wolf advocates. The incident occurred about 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 7, he said. According to Manke, the man had gone into the woods to check on his trail cameras. After walking through tall grass, he encountered multiple wolves in front of him. Manke said the man then began to slowly retreat, but looked behind to find other wolves flanking him.
According to Idaho Fish and Game, Marvin Jennings of Boise and his uncle from Lynwood, WA were hunting near Clear Creek Sunday evening when they encountered a Black Bear.
The pair was hunting over a bait area when the uncle shot and wounded the bear. When Jennings approached, the bear knocked him down and bit him multiple times on the left arm and leg. Jennings then shot and killed the bear with a handgun.
Jennings is in serious condition at St. Alphonsus according to hospital spokesperson.
Friend shoots hunter during bear attack
A hunter attacked by a grizzly bear in southern Montana also had the misfortune of being shot in the arm by a companion trying to stop the attack.
The incident last Saturday resulted in the bear being killed, the attacked hunter surviving and no charges against the companion for shooting his friend.
Park County Sheriff Allan Lutes says his office looked into the shooting of the hunter and found no negligence, with the other hunter trying to save his friend and killing the bear.
"It doesn't point to anything but an accident," Lutes said.
However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks are still investigating and have not released details, including the hunters' names.
Lutes says the hunters thought they were tracking a black bear near Cooke City.
They entered a grove of very dense, second-generation pine six to eight feet in height when their quarry, which actually was a grizzly, jumped one of the hunters.
"He was yelling at his partner to shoot the bear," Lutes said.
The first shot struck the hunter in the arm. Subsequent shots hit and killed the grizzly, which Lutes said was estimated to be 20-25 years old.
"It was a big boar," Lutes said.
Lutes advised hunters to use extreme caution while prowling the hills and forest for game.
"These hunters need to be very careful, especially in thick areas," he said.
Grizzlies are foraging, trying to add body weight before entering winter dens.
"They're not in good humor right now," Lutes said.
Horse owner shoots pit bulls to save animal
The owner of a miniature horse says he was forced to shoot and kill three pit bulls that were mauling his animal.
Thursday, the horse's owner told the Pend Oreille County Sheriff's Office the three dogs had come onto this property, off Juanita Lane and started attacking his horse.
The man fired several warning shots to try and scare the dogs and when the warning shots did not work, the man turned his aim to the dogs, shooting all three.
Two of the dogs died on the scene and the third ran off only to die later at a veterinarian's office.
While trying to get in touch with Justin Howell, the dogs' owner, a deputy discovered marijuana growing on Howell's property.
Howell told deputies he had Medicinal Marijuana Certificate and was growing marijuana for his own personal use, however an investigation found he had more than allowed for medicinal use under state law.
Howell was arrested for Manufacturing Marijuana and cited for dog at large.
The miniature horse suffered severe injuries and is being treated by a veterinarian.
Dog bites man, man shoots dog
Matthew Reppucci was walking into his Linton Avenue yard when his neighbor's pit bull named Diesel jumped on him a few times and then bit him in the forearm.
So Reppucci pulled out his Colt .380 and shot the dog.
"The dog ran off," said patrol commander Capt. Randy Haggar. "It looks like the dog is going to live."
Haggar said Reppucci was licensed to possess the weapon.
He said that Reppucci agreed to turn over his pistol and a rifle and his gun license during the course of the investigation.
"That is standard procedure," Haggar said.
The owner of the dog, David Guzman, of 9 Linton Ave. second floor, rushed Diesel to Salem Animal Hospital where he was treated for a single gunshot wound to the right side of his chest.
At the scene, Josh Guzman, 33, brother of Diesel's owner called the incident with the dog a "fluke. He's a puppy. He's not even 2 years old."
"I was on the Internet and my cousin was making breakfast. I heard a shot but I didn't think anything of it. The next thing I knew the dog was coming upstairs bleeding," Josh Guzman said.
He said his sister and her children live on the first floor and they have had dogs for about 2 1/2 years.
"We've got kids," Josh Guzman said. "We don't put nobody in danger."
He said their dogs were well-trained and cared for, and that such an incident would not happen again.
"I am surprised it happened now," Josh Guzman said.
Haggar said Reppucci likely would not face any charges in connection with the incident.
"I don't believe at this time there will be any charges," Haggar said. "But we are going to review the case in its entirety before we make a final decision."
Reppucci did not respond to a knock on his door after the incident.
Bear shot at after it tries to break into Lee County home
A bear was shot at by a Buckingham man Sunday night after the critter tried to get inside his house three times, state wildlife authorities said.
The bear tried first to go in a back door and left. It then tried the garage, left the area and came back again at the front door, said Gary Morse, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman. Each time, the family called 911 during the events that took place between 9 and 9:30 p.m.
Fish and Wildlife Lt. Michael Frantz filed a report stating that the man, who lives in the 6100 block of Higgins Boulevard, fired three rounds at the bear, which fled into the woods.
No trace of the bear has been found. Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies and wildlife officials could not find a blood trail and do not believe the bear was shot. The man does not face criminal charges for firing at the bear, Morse said.
The bear, estimated to be about 6 feet and weighing roughly 200 pounds, may be the same bear seen trying to get into a Fort Myers Shores house and Dumpster diving in the area. And it could be the same bear that was spotted eating pet food near a farm in North Fort Myers recently.
“The problem is going to get worse unless the community at-large secures garbage,” Morse said.
Some ways to reduce human-bear encounters is to use bungee cords to secure trash can lids, or keep garbage cans inside a shed or fenced-in area. Wildlife officials say pet food should never be kept outside and that bird feeders need to be placed in an area where bears cannot reach. Bear-resistant containers also are available.
If anyone sees a bear Dumpster diving, getting into trash or showing aggressive behavior, call the wildlife alert hotline at 800-404-FWCC
Plainfield resident shoots dog, stops attack on animal control officer
Plainfield Animal Control Officer Terry Foss was attacked by a "pit bull-type dog" late Tuesday night, according to Plainfield Police.
Foss was responding to a complaint at 270 Green Hollow Road, where, according to residents, the dog was preventing them from exiting their home.
On her arrival, the dog jumped at Foss, knocking her to the ground. Resident Ron Roberts fired "2 or 3 shots" from a .22 rifle at the dog, which police say yelped and ran away.
Foss was transported to The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich for treatment of possible head injuries, She was transferred to Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven.
A hospital spokeswoman said Foss' family has requested no information on Foss's condition be released Wednesday morning.
The dog has not been found.
Police Chief Robert Hoffman said Roberts will not face charges from shooting at the dog. He said the department thanked Roberts for his action.
"It sounds like it could have been a lot worse had he not been there," Hoffman said.
Anyone with information about the owner or the dog is urged to call Plainfield Police at 564-0804.
Alaska man's quick shot kills charging bear
A Soldotna fishing guide's "total luck shot" saved him from a 900-pound, charging bear.
The Anchorage Daily News reported that Greg Brush, a fishing guide, was walking with his three dogs near his home on Aug. 2 when a brown bear charged him without warning from behind.
A snap of a twig prompted Brush to glance over his shoulder. Then, he saw the bear running at him.
Brush said he was able to shoot his gun once or twice as he back pedaled. One shot was enough to kill the bear. He said it was luck shot.
Brush said the bear looked starved and probably saw an opportunity for food.
Police say a man who shot and killed a pit bull in Vancouver had a permit to carry a gun and acted in self defense.
The 73-year-old man was threatened Saturday by two vicious dogs as he was walking near his home. Before he could get to safety, the man determined he had to shoot one of the dogs to keep from being injured.
The Vancouver Columbian reports the second dog was captured by the Clark County Animal Control. It's conducting an investigation to identify the owner and determine how the dogs got loose.
Homeowner kills 3-year-old black bearG
Westley, the wandering black bear, whose journeys brought him too close to homes in Wellington and Weston earlier this year, has died in southeast Georgia, wildlife officials said. He was 3.
Westley, estimated to weigh 200 pounds, was killed by a homeowner Saturday with a shotgun after he damaged property and wandered in a residential neighborhood in western Wayne County, said Melissa Cummings, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
"It'd been trying to get into homes, pounding on garages and attempting to get through doors," Cummings said. "The bear had become too accustomed to people."
According to the Florida Times-Union, a homeowner named Ken Boyette saw Westley in his neighborhood Saturday, uncomfortably close to where children were riding bicycles and playing football. He shot Westley, killing him instantly.
"I didn't have a choice. He had no fear of humans," Boyette told the Times-Union. "I was afraid it was going to hurt one of the kids or someone else."
The wandering bear first made headlines in April when a Weston family spotted him foraging near the backyard in their gated community. No live bear had been seen in Broward County in three decades.
Westley popped up around Weston a few more times, surprising morning joggers and prompting a school lockdown when students saw him prowling near Manatee Bay Elementary School.
A Sun Sentinel contest to name the bear received nearly 400 entries. Readers eventually chose Westley in a SunSentinel.com poll.
State wildlife officials caught Westley in May and relocated him to Picayune Strand State Forest in Collier County, where most black bears in Florida are found.
But Westley wouldn't stay put for long. He made his way to Wellington in June, where he was again captured and this time sent upstate to Osceola National Forest.
Last month, he showed up at Fernandina Beach and Amelia Island, in the Jacksonville area, where he bothered no one, said Florida Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro.
From there he crossed the St. Marys River and visited the town of St. Marys in southeastern Georgia.
Westley had an ear tag, SO11, letting officials know it was the same animal that had wandered through South Florida, Ferraro said.
Though Georgia authorities noticed the tag when they captured him in St. Marys early last week, they didn't know the animal had crossed state lines.
Georgia has a "three strikes" policy when it comes to bears roaming around cities: they can be captured and released two times, but they're killed if they're caught a third time, Cummings said. Authorities say they would have put down Westley had they known his Florida history.
Narrowly missing that scrape with death, Westley wasn't so lucky the next time he wandered into a town a few days later.
After he was killed, Georgia wildlife officials disposed of his body in a landfill, Cummings said.
"Some bears wander around looking for suitable territory," Cummings said. "A few others are moving bears: they never establish their territory and keep moving, never finding the home they're looking for. This bear could've been that kind."
Homeowner Shoots, Kills Bear After it Climbs Through Window
A Grants Pass man woke up in the middle of the night, and came face to face with an intruder. That intruder was a bear, and the man jumped into action.
Everett Skinner was awakened by his daughter in the middle of the night. Skinner grabbed his shot gun.
"I shot him once with the gun and that didn't bother him" skinner explained. "I put a third shot into his mid section and he was still growling and roaring" said Skinner. It took three more shots to finally put the bear down.
The bear eventually collapsed dead. Ironically, Skinner explained the bear did with his head next to a picnic basket. Skinner says it was all over in about a minute. He says the bear had run out when the two saw each other, and is sorry that he had to kill the bear, but says it had to be done.
BOULDER, Colo. — It took three rounds from a shotgun, five bullets from a handgun and two shots from a rifle to kill the 120-pound black bear that broke into a Boulder County home early Monday morning.
The bear break-in was the fifth time in a week hungry bears have gotten into Boulder County residences, all while the residents were home. That has wildlife officials urging area residents to take precautions and bear proof their homes.
Brenda Fischer's barking dog woke her at about 2 a.m. Monday morning. When she went upstairs to investigate, she found a bear in the kitchen of her home on Poorman Road, between Sunshine and Fourmile canyons.
Fischer quickly returned downstairs to wake her two children and her husband.
"As soon as I knew there was a bear inside the house, I went to gather up both our weapon and our ammunition, because they are in two different places, and went to place myself with the weapon between the family and the bear," said Paul Fischer, Brenda's husband.
"As soon as I moved to try and make a place for him to get out, he charged me," Fischer continued. "That's when I shot him and he kept charging me. I shot him a second time, and he kept charging me. I shot him a third time and he was finally disoriented enough for me to get away."
The first two rounds from the 12-gauge shotgun were birdshot and the third was rubber bullets, according to a report by the sheriff's office. The Fischers escaped through a bedroom window, leaving the wounded bear inside the house.
When officers arrived on the scene at about 2:30 a.m., they found a bloody bear trying to claw his way through a screen door.
Sheriff's Sgt. Lance Enholm, after determining that the bear was severely injured and would need to be put down, fired his .45-caliber handgun five more times at the animal.
Neighbor shoots loose pit bull
Police say an Ada County man shot and killed an attacking pit bull.
Josh Hobson says he was responding to pleas of help from a jogger on Saturday night. Armed with his shotgun, he says he shot one of two dogs as it turned on him.
Neighbors say the jogger, with his own dog, were running down the sidewalk when the two pit bulls ran out an open door and across the street, snarling and barking. The jogger took refuge in a pickup truck.
Ada County officers say Hobson did nothing wrong. Deputy Nicole Hudson says the dogs were in Hobson's yard and threatening another person or animal, so the shooting was justified.
Neighborhood watch president shoots, kills dog; its owner disputes the need
Tensions are high on a Saginaw street where the neighborhood watch president shot and killed his neighbor's dog.
Jose Barajas, Southwest Saginaw Neighborhood Association president, told police he shot Onyx, a 50-plus-pound pit bull and shar-pei mix, with a 40-caliber Glock after the dog broke its chain and charged him at 1223 Maple on June 18.
Barajas said he was working outside the house next door when he heard a resident crying for help. Diana M. Fick, 52, said she was mowing her backyard about 7:30 p.m. when neighbor Samantha A. Griffus' dog lunged at her. Fick said Onyx perched atop the tailgate shell and jumped off toward her, breaking his chain. She said she screamed for the owner and used the lawnmower as a buffer to keep the dog at bay.
Griffus didn't hear her, but Barajas did. When the dog turned on him, he said he shot it two times.
Barajas "didn't have an option," Fick said "He popped him."
Griffus, 19, said the dog was on a 10-foot chain attached to a tailgate shell on the lawn. She said Barajas had no right to shoot her dog because it hadn't left her property.
Splatters of the dog's blood are still on the tailgate shell, Griffus said. She said she thinks Onyx was chained when Barajas shot him and broke the chain afterward. A few weeks ago, Barajas had threatened to "shoot the dog if it pooped in his yard again," Griffus said.
Barajas has a permit to carry a concealed weapon and often patrols his neighborhood as part of its watch group.
Saginaw police investigated and cleared Barajas.
"If I wouldn't have been there, that neighbor would have likely gone to the hospital," he said.
Griffus went onto her porch overlooking the area where Onyx was chained after hearing the gunshots and her dog "yarp." Onyx had run off; Barajas was standing in her yard, his cell phone to his ear, with his gun visible in its holster, she said.
Barajas is "the greatest guy you ever want to meet," Fick said. "It's not like he just goes around the neighborhood shooting dogs."
Wounded in the face and abdomen, Onyx ran toward the front of the home, approached the front door -- where blood stains remain on the concrete steps of the porch -- and ran across the street. Griffus found him in a neighbor's kennel with the chain still clipped to his collar, Griffus said.
She took it to Great Lakes Pet Emergencies in Carrollton Township but returned with the dog because she couldn't afford the $1,275 bill to treat it or $289 to euthanize it. Onyx died at 11:30 p.m.
Man shoots and kills large rabid possum
A caller told police he had shot a large rabid possum in his front yard and was concerned that the possum might attack his dog. He was advised on discharging a firearm in city limits.
Man Shoots Pit Bull Attacking Teen
A man shot a pit bull in the leg Thursday evening to stop the dog from attacking a teenager.
Police said the dog tore part of the 15-year-old boy's ear and bit his arm and leg, 10TV's Kevin Landers reported.
According to police, the attack was the culmination of an argument among neighbors on Diane Place on the south side. The argument escalated into a fight involving the boy and others on the street.
A witness told detectives they heard the owner of the dog say "sic 'em" before releasing the animal to attack the boy.
"During the fight, the male released the dog and it bit one of the people they were fighting," Sgt. Thomas Nance told 10TV News. "Another man approached and shot the dog as it was attacking the 15-year-old."
The boy was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital. His condition was not known Thursday night.
Police were still investigating the cause of the argument.
The dog was taken into custody by animal control officers.
Bear shot to death after breaking into home
A man shot a bear to death after it broke into his home in Colorado Springs.
The bear broke in through the back door of a home on Columbia court around 8 p.m. Friday night.
Colorado Springs police say the homeowner loaded his gun, after a roommate yelled that the bear had broken in. The bear roared at the homeowner several times, and went to a part of the house where it couldn't get out.
The man shot the bear 4 times, and it died. Division of Wildlife investigated, and say the homeowner was justified in the shooting.
