When a human being goes up against a giant bear, weighing 400 pounds, he is not expected to survive. But David Chernosky managed to do that when he found himself in just such a situation in Aspen, Colorado. He suffered serious injuries on his face, neck, and even head but lives to fight another day.
On Friday last week, Chernosky was at his friend's house in Aspen. At 1:30 AM in the morning, he was roused by noises emanating from the kitchen. The sight that greeted him would have stunned anyone. A big black bear was rummaging through the stuff.
Then, in the words of the 54-year old, the beast "was looking me in the face when I came around the corner in the hall. He was eyeball to eyeball."
Then the assault began. "I literally thought I might be dead. It felt like a brick hit me in the head. A bear came in here and he hit me with his paw so I'm bleeding," the unfortunate man informed the recipients of the 911 call, according to a news channel.
Luckily, the animal wasn't in a murderous mood and after inflicting injuries, it left the house. But with him now a threat to the safety of the ordinary citizens, the officials of Colorado Park and Wildlife department decided to euthanize him. They did find a bear, most likely the same one, and ended his life. To confirm that it was the same bear, they are conducting DNA tests.
"We never like to have to put an animal down, but the protection of the public is paramount once a bear begins entering homes and responding aggressively toward people," Matt Yamashita, the area manager of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife stated.
Chernosky had to undergo surgery but is out of danger. He would still regard himself as lucky. When animals as big as the bear of North America come into conflict with humans, the encounters usually turn fatal for the latter. Aspen is an area where bear sightings and intrusions into public places is common. This is proved by the fact that 948 reports of bear sightings were made to the authorities over the phone last year.
What makes this time of the year even more dangerous is the fact that, as winter approaches, the bears have to eat extra to gain extra coating for their winter hibernation. They are attracted to the smell of food. This also explains the bear being in the kitchen.
