Sep 11 2009
Another Bear Attack in Aspen
Wildlife officers with the Colorado Division of Wildlife are searching for a bear involved in an attack Thursday night in Aspen. A man living in the Meadowood Drive area off Castle Creek on the west side of Aspen was attacked in his home by a bear shortly after 8 p.m.
The victim is undergoing treatment for his injuries, which are not considered life threatening.
Preliminary details indicate that the homeowner’s three dogs began barking loudly in the ground floor of the house. When the homeowner went downstairs to check on the dogs, he was confronted by a large, black bear. The man was struck by the bear but managed to open a window, allowing the bear to leave the house.
Wildlife officers have set a trap for the bear at the site and are patrolling the neighborhood. If captured, the bear will be euthanized for the attack.
The victim of this attack is being treated at an area hospital. Additional details about this incident will not be available until wildlife officers can speak directly with the victim, which is likely to be Friday morning at the earliest. Additional information will be released at that time.
First thing that should be done is to wait for the findings of the investigation: DO NOT KILL THE BEAR UNTIL FAULT IS DETERMINED, the bear probably acted out of fear of being confined thru no fault of his own and reacted the way any wild animal would. Find out how the bear got into the house and determine if the owner is at fault; perhaps the owner should be “euthanized” for attracting the bear into his home. Did the owner leave anything in/around the house to attract the bear and/or leave an entry way for the bear to get into the house?The next thing is if the owner left a downstairs window or door open then the owner is at fault, all the bear wanted was to get out evidentially since he left at the first opportunity he was given. If it is the owner’s fault, why punish the bear? Ship the bear somewere out of state and give the animal a chance with an ear tag to see if this is a one time mistake on the part of both the owner and the bear. The last thing I would like to share is that personaly I feel Aspen needs a lot more bears, pending the outcome of the investigation into this incident.
The man that said the homeowner should be euthanized is obviously a nut. I have lived in the country all of my life and I have never had the problem with bears like I have had in the past 4 years. The Game and Fish need to open the seasons up more and put out more licenses as the bear are getting very much out of hand in our area also. I do not leave things out to attract bear but for 4 years in a row I have had bears in my yard. I have had a problem with only one not being frightened by anything I did if anything he was more aggressive when I yelled or banged on the door he came after me instead of my dog. One homeowner here where I live has had a bear in her house also and it was due to no fault of hers either as he was hunting for food for his hibernation. We are having an explosion of bears since the hunting season has been changed and we need to control them by hunting more. I am tired of worrying whether I walk out my front door at night or early morning heading to work whether I am looking into the eyes of a bear that is going to try to eat me instead of acorns or his natural food. I also want to mention that I live in the middle of the town that has been that way for more than 15 years and I did not have problems with bears until the past 4 years. Stop blaming people and blame the one that needs to take the blame the people that manage the population of them and also if he thinks Aspen needs more bears why doesn’t he go live with them and see if they don’t try to eat him also.
Mam, I am not a nut, but Aspenites have gotten out of control. I fully agree that agressive bears should be killed (euthanized is the polite term for taking the life of an animal God put on this planet) immediately if they are in a populated area. The problem, as this “nut” sees it is that there is too damn much posted private property in the Aspen area so the hunting of the bears is not allowed, so the population outgrows the food supply and they become scavangers in towns. I would suggest to you that you buy a short barrled shotgun, load it with slugs, and help control the bear problem where you live instead of calling people who have spent thier lives in the outdoors and respect all life, but realize that they sometimes have to be controlled thru killing a “nut.” So don’t type, SHOOT!! Help solve the problem, and try to find a place to hunt around Aspen to see the brick wall all hunters face in that area “PRIVATE PROPERTY, NO HUNTING ALLOWED” and see what progress you can make to help instead of holler and name calling about total strangers. If you are not part of the solution, Mam, then you are part of the problem.
I don’t think the solution is to kill a bear everytime he attacks, kills, or gets to close to humans. These bears are being startled because humans are entering their territory, startling them and causing attacks. Building up homes in their territory running them out into other areas by using their forrest. Also, if you live in colorado or any area where there are bears, it is your fault if you are irrisponsible and don’t follow the proper precautions of keeping garbage locked up or food in properly covered containers. They are only animals with a very high sense of smell, they are only following their noses to a meal when you are irresponsible by leaving food out. I dont live in colorado, but i travel there a couple times a year and absolutely love it and love the bears more than anything. If you choose to live in colorado, you know the risks, do your part, and these bears wont be in the predicament that they are in, and being killed, just because they are being a bear.
The problem is CITY PEOPLE moving out here and the nut job ” animal rights” FREEKS who don`t know anything but what some educated idiot told them about wild life. But, on the other hand I have seen more bear in the last few years than in my 42 years in the country.
I came across this while doing some puter cleaning and found I left a couple things unanswerd, my bad. In 1950 you could buy Aspen for 10cents on the dollar and there was no bear problem, and very little private property. And as I was living in Glenwood back then, we seldom saw a bear there. You could fish the entire Frying Pan River simply by asking if any part was even posted back then. I do resent being called an “educated idiot” about wildlife since I was born and raised in Glenwood, as was my granddfather and his father, and grandpa forgot more about wildlife than at age 67 I even know. And Tad, I have forgotten more about wildlife of all kinds than you will ever know. That is caused by two problems: The first is all the private property mostly owned by rich idiots who know not what they do to animal populations by posting their property. The second is that you, ole bud, are as uneducated about Aspen, the Flattops, and the rest of the high country as the people who bought Aspen and allowed I-70 to be built, resulting in trout overpopulation for 14 miles of river. Don’t enter a battle of wits youngun, because you are unarmed.