Welcome back to Scary Bear Attacks.
Today's episode takes place in the mountains of south western Montana near Yellowstone
National park at a location called Bighorn Pass.
This area is remote and wild and perfect home for bears, and bear researchers.
Barry Gilbert was a scientist.
He was a field researcher who devoted his education and career to help the scientific
community understand how brown bears are affected by human traffic through their remote areas.
Barry was a faculty member at Utah State University and loved what he did.
Near Yellowstone Park Barry and a research assistant learned a very valuable lesson but
not what he was hoping to learn.
The altitude was draining but exhilarating as the research team crested the Bighorn Pass
in rugged southwest Montana.
It took nearly 6 day of hard hiking with their heavy backpacks through the still very wild
and remote country they so enjoyed.
After canoeing around a portion of Yellowstone Lake and nearly swamping themselves in the
process, the duo was ready to accomplish their mission.
The research team knew the risks and took significant precautions to avoid any problems
with bears.
They would camp off of trails a good distance as well as create physical barriers from branches
and deadfall to alert them to any curious animals, bear or otherwise.
On the most notable day of their planned research, they came across a sow grizzly and her three
healthy cubs.
This is what they suffered for and would be a great opportunity to do some research, gather
data and hope to learn how to best help the bear population.
They watched as the cubs were threatened by a male bear, called a boar, and were impressed
with the power and commitment of the mother bear to protect her cubs.
She backed him down and her and the cubs were on their way safely after the tense standoff.
The next morning Barry discussed circling around the bears and observing them from a
viewpoint called Crowfoot Ridge.
It would put the researchers much closer to the bears and allow them to gather more data.
After a short hike the scientists reached their observation point, but Barry had to
urinate and walked a short distance into the bush to relieve himself.
As Barry crested the top of the pass, the mother bear and her cubs crested it from the
other side, in exactly the same place.
Witnessing the prior day's tense standoff with the boar and the ultra protective nature
of mother bears, Barry knew this could be very bad.
By the time Barry could process the situation, the sow let out a loud “woof” and blurred
through the surrounding under growth that separated the pair.
A mousy smear of motion and the next thing Barry knew, he was on the ground.
The sow was quick and efficient in her assault of the perceived threat.
Barry felt the bear lock into his head and could hear and feel the tissue of his scalp
being torn away, but felt no immediate pain.
The sow then savagely clamped down on Barry's cheekbones and crushed them, then pulled his
cheekbone completely apart from his face.
All Barry could think of was “this is how you die”.
***sub and like interlude***
As
his lifeblood poured onto the ground his body fell limp.
The perceived threat now neutralized, the bear let up on her attack.
The graduate student accompanying Barry yelled and chased the bear from his research partner.
A team of smoke jumpers were training nearby and fortunately the helicopter pilot training
with them was an experienced combat pilot who completed two tours in Vietnam.
Adding to Barry’s fortune, battlefield trauma surgeons were also at the same training session.
If these trauma specialists had not been nearby, Barry would have certainly succumbed to his
injuries very quickly.
The surgery immediately after his attack saved his life and took 11 hours to complete.
The hospital actually ran out of sutures due to his medical procedure.
After the surgery, the surgeon showed Barry before pictures of his face and scalp.
Barry asked the surgeon if he had ever seen this kind of damage before and he said, “Yes,
but not on one person.”
Barry’s face was eventually rebuilt but was left blind in one eye and with a disfigured
facial structure.
Barry was not bitter or angry with the bear.
She was merely defending her cubs from a possible threat.
She was being a good mother and he simply happened to be at the worst possible place
at that time.If you would like to read his first hand depiction of his attack and a lot
more information, it is compiled in his memoir called “One of Us: A Biologist's Walk Among
Bears”.