“We have been and will continue to work with this community and others to reduce human-bear conflicts.” That’s the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s response to a bear attack that left Naple’s resident Andrew Meunier with 41 stitches in his face. As foxnews.com reports . . .
Andrew Meunier was standing outside of his Naples apartment complex Wednesday night when a bear suddenly appeared and lunged at him, slashing his face and torso . . .
Meunier suffered several cuts across his head and chest before he managed to escape the bear’s grip. He called 911 and was rushed to a local hospital, where he received 41 stitches.
“I don’t think it’s very deep, but it’s an 8 inch cut,” Meunier said, describing the gash across his cheek to FOX4.
Though Meunier anticipates a slow and painful recovery, the man says he’s grateful the outcome wasn’t worse.
“I’m just happy to be alive,” Meunier said. “It could’ve been a totally different story.”
As mentioned above, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission isn’t overly concerned about the attack.
“This is the first documented injury from a bear in South Florida since we started keeping records in the 1970s,” FWC public information officer Brian Norris reminded Fox News.
The first, but more to come? Anyway, it should have been a defensive gun use.
OK, yes. Quite what your average concealed carry handgun could do to stop a full grown black bear is anyone’s guess. Not much is the most likely answer. Even so, it’s a whole lot better than nothing. Meanwhile . . .
http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2016/08/16/fishing-guide-kills-grizzly-bear-9mm-handgun-charges-female-client/
There are examples of bears being taken out by 9mm;
Is it ideal? Obviously not; But when push comes to shove, it beats a sharp stick.
PFF TOPIC,. I was recently incarcerated, they took my cell phone and went through my contacts,emails, photos, and web pages visited. Be forewarned
Smart phones ain’t so smart?
Why was you busted?
The largest bear ever taken for many years was by a young girl when going out for water, she took her grandfathers single shot .22 cal rifle. A couple of years ago the record was broken but not with a …..22 cal and not by a little girl.
It sounds to me as if you are referring to a famous story of an Indian woman in Canada who was out hunting small game with a .22 when she and her partner stumbled on a grizzly. The grizzly smelled the woman and her companion, and started stalking them. The two quickly hid themselves. When the grizzly passed their hiding place she shot it behind its ear at near point blank range. The bear went down, and although she was pretty sure it was dead, she gave it a few more rounds to be sure. I read her story which included a picture of her as a very old woman with a gigantic bear skin mounted on the wall behind her.
You mean the story that was published on this very site? It was indeed a good story.
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2017/06/dean-weingarten/bella-twin-little-woman-little-gun-big-bear-cold-front/
*should have been a defense KA-BAR use.
Helluva’ scar…who expects a bear attack standing outside their apartment in Naples,FL?!? Seriously? Gang’s mebbe…
Awesome scars.
No kidding, right? “I got mauled by a bear” should be his go-to pickup line from now on… hell, I’d buy him a drink too.
Yeah, but who’s gonna believe it?
The version of this story I heard yesterday was the guy let his dog outside for the dog do his dog business after the dog was whining by the door to go out.
As soon as the dog got outside, the dog noticed the bear, yelped in fright, and hauled-ass back *inside* leaving the guy alone in the doorway to face the bear. The bear then swiped at the guy.
When I read that, my first thought was “Man’s best friend, my ass. That dude needs to get a better, non-chicken-shit dog…”
Geoff PR says:
…when I read that, my first thought was “Man’s best friend, my ass. That dude needs to get a better, non-chicken-shit dog…”
No wonder he got beat up by the bear – he has a “bait dog”. Yappy-ass, turd-making, carpet-pissing, ankle-biting, bait dog – you know, they’re only good for running a hook thru their mouth and tossing ‘em overboard, as you troll for shark…
I’m surprised that PETA hasn’t blamed the man by saying that this was revenge for Goldilocks breaking and entering in the 3 bears domain and eating their porridge….he should have fed him and pet him on the head.
“….he should have fed him and pet him on the head.”
The bear *did* ‘pet him on the head’…
*snicker*
It wasn’t a bear attack!
When a bird loves a bird he can twitter
When a puppy falls in love he can yap
Every pigeon likes to coo when he says I love you
But a bear likes to say it with a slap
Indeed. That’s a serious mind fuck, along with the obvious sudden physical danger.
Florida bears are tiny compared to northern black bears. I’ve seen dozens of them all over Ocala National Forest and I would say the average is 300-350lb. They look more like a big black dog and I have mistaken them hauling ass away from me as one of my dogs going after something. 9mm, 38sp or 357 would take any I have seen no problem. Anytime I have come across them and they see me they run like hell in the other direction. Even had a momma with two cubs run as soon as she saw me and the cubs went up a big pine tree like a squirrel. Those suckers can climb!
That average is still twice my size.
Ruger SP101 in .357 magnum FTW.
“I would say the average [Florida black bear] is 300-350lb.”
JD,
Those are healthy and STRONG black bears and may very well be larger than the average black bear in any northern state.
If such a bear is suddenly on you, you will want to incapacitate that bear IMMEDIATELY. It should be obvious that almost all everyday carry handguns are way less than optimal for that task.
the average black bear in Michigan or Ontario is 150 lbs. but they are probably bigger down south where they get more and better food.
How do we know it was a bear, not his ex-girlfriend?
Looked more like your ex boyfriend 😜
I will add this to my college paper on teaching gun rights and responsibility to school children.
I’ve seen plenty of black bear in the Wekiva Springs area of Central Florida. They’ve ranged between 150-300lbs and they’re pretty skittish even with cubs. They usually haul ass and climb up a pine tree if they see ya.
That being said the bear roam into city limits to plumber trash cans are a different bread and can be aggressive. They get in trash and go for a swim in pools. They’re not at scared of people. It’s become a frequent problem.
To stop the problem The state opened up a bear season in Central Florida recently via a lottery and hunters bagged about 300 bear deeper in the woods. After the season all the problem bear remained in burbs like nothing happened. Apparently they need to open up a season within city limits. I carry a 9mm and have a 45-70 guide gun ready to go if they decide to take a swim in my pool….
“They get in trash and go for a swim in pools.”
That woudn’t be so bad, if it wasn’t for the habit they seem to share with the ‘gators, of crapping in the pool. And I have heard it’s particularity *vile* to clean up…
Right. A bunch of people in a highly populated area shooting off their guns at perceived threats of bears. Put your trash in bear-proof containers. This was an isolated incident which is why the FFWC wasn’t that concerned. The bears are not out to get you. I have lived in the forest with them for over a decade. Have had close encounters and distant as well. Close, I just waited for it to leave. The outside cats who were with me weren’t threatened, so I wasn’t (and there was no fast escape from where I was-enclosed on three sides). Distance encounters were solved by tossing a small child’s squishy ball with a rattle in it, hitting the bear. It ran away. I have more problems with dogs running loose than bears.
There are Bears in Chicago in the 220 to 350 lb range and many of them are on steroids….lol.
We have lots of bears here. Development continues to put these homes in what were thick woods. This sort of thing is inevitable. More and more people every day. It’s becoming Ft. Lauderdale West .
well….there you go….PETA has no one to blame but themselves…..maybe they’re the ones who were pushing this developer to be closer to nature with their homes…..then again…..maybe why that’s why they’re so silent…..they secretly want hunters to come in and take care of the problem just like hogs throughout the country….hypocrites….
He looks like a Bond villain with that scar.
And now he has one heck of a story to tell his grandchildren later on in life. And he’ll have the scars to prove it.
The story was picked up here in Wisconsin and the main issue was that it was assumed that he provoked Da Bear because he was wearing a Green Bay Packer T-Shirt.
I loled
And to think the bear huggers convinced the state to spend $$$ on bear proof trashcans instead allowing them to be hunted this year.
brutal
Black bear lives matter.
9 mm > 0 mm
Just saying.
We had a bear season a couple years ago but the state mismanaged it so badly and the bambi people complained so loudly that they shut it down early and we haven’t had another one. So much for science based game management.
in Florida and the rest of the south the bears are relatively small types of black bears.
the most dangerous predators have two legs.