In bear-vs.-Wolf confrontation, human suffers only scratches
A backyard encounter this week between a bear and a woman named Wolf ended with no serious injuries to either, according to the human who was involved.
Ariel Wolf, 29, of Brooklyn, who was visiting her mother, Karin, in Mount Tremper, survived with a few deep scratches and welts on her back and arm and a story she’s unlikely to forget.
A large claw swiped Wolf, but did not break her skin, she said, and she had not sought medical treatment as of Friday.
About 10:45 p.m. Tuesday, Wolf was sitting in a chair on her moth-
er’s deck as the aroma of baking potatoes filled the air. Evidently, she said, the black bear was attracted by the smell and walked quietly onto the deck and alongside her.
Wolf said she sensed something behind her and turned, initially thinking she was seeing a “very large dog.”
“We were eye to eye, pretty much . ... If I had put my arm out, I would have been petting it,” Wolf said Friday. “It decided to take a swat at me before it ran. We were both very scared.”
Wolf said she instinctively turned her back toward what she described as a 250-pound yearling and ran to the kitchen door of her mother’s house. She said she screamed and the bear growled as she opened
the door and ran inside.
According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, humans who encounter bears are advised never to approach or corner a bear, because the animal might aggressively defend itself.
The department also says humans should “never run from a bear.” Rather, “stay calm, speak in a loud and calm voice, slowly back away, and leave the area.”
Wolf, who has been visiting her mother in Mount Tremper for the past 10 years, said she’s had other encounters with bears, but never this close up.
“I think most of my senses turned off in that moment,” she said, noting she didn’t even smell the large animal before seeing it.
Wolf said she called the Department of Environmental Conservation after the incident and the agency set up a large bear trap,
baited with marshmallow fluff, on her mother’s property. Although conservation officers want to euthanize the animal, as they often do after bears come into close contact with humans, Wolf said she told the officers she will not positively identify the animal.
She said she’s left them no choice but to stun any bear that gets caught in the trap, then release it elsewhere.
“[But] I don’t think they’re going to catch it,” Wolf said of the bear she encountered. “I think it’s long gone by now.”
Wolf stressed the importance of local residents and visitors knowing “how powerful and unpredictable [bears] are.”
“They’re not your friend,” she cautioned. “Don’t feed them.”
On that point, Wolf and the state agency agree.
“The leading cause of bear complaints in New
York is bears getting into residential garbage and bird feeders,” the department says on its website. “... Not every bear that passes through a developed area is a ‘problem bear.’ However, available human food sources can quickly turn them into one.”