Kamloops woman urging bear safe practices after narrow escape with black bear

“At that point, I had assumed it was a mother bear and just want us out of the vicinity,” She explains, “So we were just staying calm and backing up, and talking to the bear. Trying to give it space.”

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However, Gribble says the bear continued to follow, and did not make any noise, or appear to be bothered.

“After about ten minutes of it slowly following us down the trail, that’s when I took video clips because it was bizarre to me, and I didn’t know what was happening,” She says, “I did escalate my voice quite a bit, started getting louder and waving my arms.”

After about 15 minutes, the bear turned away and went back into the trees.

“I thought the encounter was over,” She says, “About 25 minutes later, we were coming through this field, and to my left, I hear a few branches break, and I look, and there’s this bloody bear again.”

Image Credit: Ashley Gribble

The bear was now moving quickly towards them, so Gribble says she discharged the canister of bear spray she had brought with her.

While yelling and backing up away from the bear, Gribble tripped backwards on a rock and fell to the ground.

At this point, the bear made a lunge towards her, but her other dog, a pitbull named Bane, leapt in front of the bear.

“The bear grabbed him. Bane is 80 lbs, so it was really shocking to me that the bear just picked him up like a stick and ran with him,” She explains, “So I’m screaming at this point, and the dogs were all barking.”

Gribble, overcome with a rush of adrenaline, grabbed a nearby log she was able to pick up and ran towards the pair, clubbing the bear repeatedly in the face with the piece of wood.

“I hit him between 10 and 12 times in the face before he finally dropped Bane, and Bane was able to flee back to the other dogs for safety” She says, “Then it was just the bear and I, and that was when I realized I’d probably made a big mistake.”

With the other dogs behind her, Gribble says she frantically got into a wide stance and started to scream while banging the log around the scare the bear.

It apparently worked, as the bear eventually retreated into the trees once more.

“We got back to the van, and then I took him to the vet immediately, dealt with his injuries, and phoned [the] Conservation [Service] later,” Gribble says, relieved. “It’s just all very raw and scary because I had 5 dogs with me, and that’s not an experience you expect to have when you have dogs with you.”

During the attack, Gribble says Bane received 26 punctures from the bear’s biting and clawing, which resulted in 3 drains and internal bruising. He is still on the mend and should make a full recovery.

Gribble says she knows that if he had not leapt in front of her, she would likely be dead.

Image Credit: Ashley Gribble

After the attack, Gribble says conservation told her the encounter likely involved a predatory male bear, not a protective mother bear. Conservation officers were able to go back out to find the bear, and humanely euthanized it.

That decision, according to Gribble, was made in order to keep public safety intact for the Isobel Lake area, which see frequent hikes and school trips.

“I mean I’m really sad that the bear had to lose its life because that’s never anything that I would want to happen,” She says, “But at the same time I would have just been so sick if another person had gotten attacked or God forbid, one of those school kids.”

Now, Gribble says she wants others to be aware of how important it is to be prepared, and educated on what to do if you encounter an aggressive wild animal.

In particular, she wants to spread the word on the lesson conservation officers gave her about using bear spray. (WildSafe BC’s Bear Spray guide and tutorial video can be found here.)

“So for me, the reason why the bear spray wasn’t as effective was because I had mistakenly grabbed an already opened can. When you have bear spray you should always use a fresh, unopened can. Because when you use bear spray you depressurize the canister, so the spray does not come out as full force as it should,” She explains, “You need to be within 5 feet of the bear when you discharge, and I had hit discharge when the bear was still relatively far away, and I also didn’t hold it down as long as I should have.”

After this ordeal, Gribble says she hopes people learn to carry bear spray whenever they’re out on trails.

“I want people to educate themselves on black bear behaviour so they can know the difference between a predatory advance and a defensive advance,” She says, “If you react aggressively towards a defensive attack, that bear could attack you, and if you act aggressively towards a predatory attack, the bear could go away.”

While this situation did have a positive ending, Gribble notes that conservation did inform her they do not recommend going after a pet if it is grabbed or attacked by a bear. (For more information on bear conflicts and other wildlife safety measures, go to the conservation service website, accessed here.)

Meantime, Gribble says her protective companion, Bane, will continue to heal, and is in good spirits.

“I’m very grateful that we were all able to walk out of there in one piece.”

by Dylana Milobar

Kamloops woman urging bear safe practices after narrow escape with black bear

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