BC – The Outdoors Guy – Jeff Morrison

June 2, 2012

Convicted killer eaten by bear in BC

According to officials in British Columbia, convicted killer Rory Nelson Wager was pulled from the open window of his car and eaten by a black bear. Investigators believe Nelson may have been dead already.

Here’s the story from the Calgary SUN:

CALGARY – The corpse of a man eaten by a B.C. bear was that of a convicted killer, officials have confirmed.

The B.C. Coroners Service identified the man as 53-year-old Rory Nelson Wagner of Kamloops, B.C., whose dismembered and partially consumed remains were found Wednesday on a remote logging road between Merritt and Kamloops.

The National Parole Board confirmed he had fled a halfway house in Kamloops.

He was convicted of second-degree murder and began his sentence on May 31, 1996, according to Correctional Services of Canada. He had recently been granted day parole.

Wagner pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, along with two other men, for the 1993 killing of Langley, B.C., resident Andy Kohlman, after Kohlman had been cleared of sexual assault allegations involving a relative of Wagner’s, according to media reports.

Wagner had been missing since May 23.

“They let people know when they’re expected to return, if they’re going to be late they’re expected to phone and of course he didn’t return,” said Patrick Storey of the NPB Pacific office.

“They were aware that he was missing, however they weren’t aware until recently that he was deceased.”

Hunters spotted his vehicle on a remote logging road and called Mounties, who discovered Wagner’s body hidden beneath some brush.

Officials believe he was already dead when a black bear dragged him out of an open car window to feed on him.

The fact the adult black bear approached the vehicle, then dragged Wagner out to eat is a serious concern for the B.C. environment minister and conservation officers, who are hunting the bruin.

“The concern is once it has lost its fear of humans, then others it comes into contact with would be at risk and this is an area well-used for hiking and fishing and there’s ranching up there as well,” said Minister Terry Lake.

Traps are set and conservation officers are on the hunt.

Acting Insp. Darcy MacPhee, of the Thompson Cariboo Region’s conservation officers, said the bear is likely to return, but might have moved on for now.

While the Coroners Service is confident Wagner was already dead when the bear found him, it’s still unclear what did kill him.

“We should be able to rule a few things out very shortly after the preliminary autopsy … if there was any trauma or any natural disease that caused death,” said Mark Coleman, regional coroner for the interior region.

“If those are ruled out we’d be waiting mainly on toxicology.”

[email protected]

July 8, 2011

Bear attacks on the rise

A thought-provoking comment I received on an old post last night, from a Blog reader in BC, has prompted me to place the bear attack theories up for discussion.

What do you think about bears and bear attacks? Can they be avoided? Are they on the rise? What should be done about it?

Here is Larry Norman’s message regarding the number of bear maulings in the west recently:

Hi Jeff:

I am writing a article and wondering what are your thoughts on recent bear attacks in B.C.?

I have been an avid outdoors person and all my encounters with bears and cubs have always been good outcomes. Common sense often dictated course of action which respected the unpredictable nature of bears and no surprise by each party…but maulings and attacks as presented by recent mainstream media seem to think its a re-occurring or prevalent problem.

Don’t get me wrong Bears will take the path of least resistance when he has a taste for human food or garbage…and I understand such “problem bears” can be viewed as a public safety concern and destroyed as any wildlife threat to humans that come into conflict….I think I want to write an article that for as many bears there are in B.C. the majority are not as conflictual in the maulings or those killed by a blk or grizzly bear….Just thought I would get your thoughts prior to writing and if I can, I will let you preview what I have written should I quote you. thank you.

Sincerely,

Larry Norman

This was my response:

Hello Mr. Norman, thanks for your message.

Yes, there certainly have been a number of recent attacks in the west. The 72-year old Lillooet woman has just been confirmed as being killed by at least one black bear, and another man survived a grizzly attack in BC’s central coast. I also read about another serious black bear attack in Arizona and of course, a 57-year old man was fatally attacked and a woman injured in Yellowstone earlier this week.

Although the number of recent bear maulings might indicate a ‘trend’ or some sort of rise in negative bear encounters, this time of year typically sees an increased number of grizzly and black bear maulings. From spring to late summer is the ‘high season’ for bear attacks, if you look at the statistics, and there are lots of stats out there to pore over.

As you mentioned, however, the majority of bear encounters in BC and across North America for that matter, do not end in an attack. Yes, there are a number of attacks each year some of which could have been avoided, while most in my opinion are simply unavoidable.

The 57-year man killed in Yellowstone this week by a mother grizzly with cubs is -contrary to popular belief, an extremely rare occurrence. Although sow bear attacks do occur, most if any are ever fatal. Mother bears are usually more intent on scaring you away or sending out a message not to mess with her and her young.

Male bears, on the other hand, carry with them a different intent and therefore are more of a danger to humans. Predatory bear attacks are the most common ‘fatal attack’ and occur with both black bears and brown bears(grizzly). Some have suggested that the ‘smaller salmon runs’ may be the root of some western attacks, while we always hear the story of ‘a poor berry crop this year’ as the root of many black bear encounters in the east.

The truth of the matter is that some bears, especially those in more remote areas, do occasionally target humans as their prey and when that happens you had better watch out. All the best camping and food storage techniques in the world will not protect you in bear country with a predatory male bear in the vicinity.

Take myself for example, I have been hunting and fishing in bear country for more than 30 years and though I have seen many bears in the wild, all but one went the other way immediately. I did have one male bear charge me in QC years ago, when there was no apparent reason for it. He was not pressured or cornered and had plenty of room for escape, but he instead chose to charge at me. In all likelihood, it will never happen again. I am statistically a lot more likely to be injured driving to work in the morning.

So, to answer your question about bear attacks on the rise, yes in some regions there tends to be more than others, and some years we see more incidents than other years. The year 2005, for example, was a record-setting year for bear attacks in NA and I can recall writing many articles on the subject at the time; putting forth a host of theories as to why so many people were getting mauled. In some cases bear numbers were on the increase, but really there was no hard and fast rule to explain the high numbers of deaths that year.

Ursus, as we all know, are top-level predators and omnivores with a voracious appetite. As long as we travel and spend time in bear country, there will forever be attacks and unfortunately fatal maulings.

The best we can do, if we wish to continue travelling and spending time in bear country, is to educate ourselves and be prepared for it.

Larry, I wish you luck with your article and invite you to post it here at the Outdoors Guy Blog.

Best regards,

Outdoorsguy

April 13, 2011

Bear versus Cow

This series of photographs (with captions) is one of the most impressive I’ve ever seen!

As the story goes, the photos were taken at a cattle ranch in Kettle Valley, British Columbia, and show what happened when a rogue black bear took on a team of Simmental beef cattle:

Interesting photos from a ranch where every year they have to deal with some pretty weird stuff. This year, a bear had been bothering the herd and I guess enough was enough.

A couple of evenings ago, the farmer went out to check the cows and saw a very strange sight and was able to photograph the event. A black bear approached our cow herd which turned out to be a very big mistake on his part.

The blonde and white Simmental cow we know as I-12 went right for him. She is a very good cow, a very attentive mother and about 12 years old. She’s in her prime and knows that bears are bad news.

She tried her best to mash him into the ground.

There are a couple of photos where the bear is biting I-12’s leg and clawing her face but she is not giving up. Her stiff tail shows how agitated she is. Wayne said all the cows were bawling, the bear was squealing, the calves were running around with their tails in the air.

A younger cow, R-55, an Angus-Cross cow, age 7, is helping her out as best she can. It is an incredible photo to see two cows at once trying to crush the bear.

I looked up the calving records of both cows who are so aggressive in these photos and they are both good, calm cows around us and have given us no troubles whatsoever. I’ll have to add in my notes that they have a very distinct dislike of bears.

We’ll be watching I-12 over the next few days to see if she needs treatment for infection. I don’t know how willingly she’ll come to the corrals for treatment, but she might not have a choice.

Finally, the bear decided to vacate the area. We thought he’d be dead for sure, but there was no sign of him the next day.

We’ll have to keep an eye out for eagles in the trees or flocks of ravens flying up. We’re sure he’s got some broken ribs out of the deal at the very least.

Wayne couldn’t believe his eyes when he witnessed this ruckus. This is another once-in-a-lifetime photography event to add to all the others he managed to document this summer. It is amazing.

I’d like to thank Serge for sharing this incredible story with us…just goes to show what you can accomplish when you work together as a team!

Outdoorsguy