Pregnant woman, running from bear, hit by car

[Principessa]

Pregnant woman running from bear hit by car

Ashley Swendsen, 26 years old and nearly six months pregnant, was chased into traffic by a bear as she went for a walk during her lunch hour in Colorado Springs Thursday. A car brushed her to the ground and the driver slowed as Swendsen screamed that she was being chased by a bear. But the driver, an older woman, sped off and the three cars behind it passed by as well, said Swendsen, reached by cell phone at the hospital. Her physical injuries are believed to be minor, but the nervousness was still evident in her voice as she waited to see a doctor at about 4 p.m.

As the bear first appeared about 2 feet away from her on a hiking trail between the Vincent Drive Bridge and Interstate 25, she said "I thought ... 'what am I going to do?'" She walked quickly for a few seconds before her fear overcame her and she began to run. The 4-foot-tall brown bear galloped behind her for about 20 seconds until she reached the roadway at 1005 Garlock Way. "I started screaming for help, but nobody could hear me," she said. Wildlife officers soon located and killed the female bear. No cubs were found nearby.

See! This is exactly why every American needs to be armed. If she had, had a gun on her she could have shot the damned bear and she never would have been hit by a car. :irked:

 

[B_Hickboy]

D'oh!

D'OH!!!

 

[StrictlyAvg]

Lunchtime walk checklist:- Wallet, keys, cellphone, GUN.

Knew I was doing something wrong...

No questions about the people that didn't stop to assist post the car incident I notice. Hitting her and driving off was about the most wrong thing here - don't you have a charge of "leaving the scene of an accident" in US law?

 

[ManlyBanisters]

Most people confronting a bear with a handgun would just piss it off and get even more mauled. So what you're actually asking for is that everyone be trained in side arms combat and carry heavy calibre side arms. Really? You really think that's a good idea do you?

 

[Principessa]

Lunchtime walk checklist:- Wallet, keys, cellphone, GUN. Knew I was doing something wrong...

No questions about the people that didn't stop to assist post the car incident I notice. Hitting her and driving off was about the most wrong thing here - don't you have a charge of "leaving the scene of an accident" in US law?

Of course we do! Contrary to what the rest of the world thinks we aren't barbarians. The police are currently looking for the woman that initially hit her.

Colorado Springs police are still looking for the hit-and-run driver, a woman likely to be in her 70s driving a black four-door Mitsubishi sedan.

 

[ManlyBanisters]

Of course we do! Contrary to what the rest of the world thinks we aren't all barbarians.

Fixed that for ya :wink:

 

[Principessa]

Most people confronting a bear with a handgun would just piss it off and get even more mauled. So what you're actually asking for is that everyone be trained in side arms combat and carry heavy calibre side arms. Really? You really think that's a good idea do you?

Yes, yes I do. Especially if you live in an area where wild animals are likely to be about. As close as the bear was to her if she had been properly trained a kill shot would have been easy.

 

[ManlyBanisters]

Yes, yes I do. Especially if you live in an area where wild animals are likely to be about. As close as the bear was to her if she had been properly trained a kill shot would have been easy.

So you think it is a good idea for everyone to walk around with high calibre side arms - I thought you just said you weren't barbarians... and yet you want to live in the Wild West. Nucking Futs!

In the VAST, VAST majority of case you will never, never need a side arm, much less a high calibre one, unless you want to kill another human being - that is what they were designed for, that is what they are best at. Perhaps some form of bear repellent measures in areas where people go walking would be a safer, saner idea, no?

 

[StrictlyAvg]

I don't think a weapon capable of killing a bear is really something you'd want to drag out on a lunchtime walk break from the office! Some form of repellent, yes, but not a large rifle.

 

[crossy]

I believe kids 14 and up, as part of the school curriculum, should be trained in a good bear killing sidearm like the 45.70. Its too bad what happened to the pregnant lady

 

[MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK]

Pregnant woman running from bear hit by car




See! This is exactly why every American needs to be armed. If she had, had a gun on her she could have shot the damned bear and she never would have been hit by a car. :irked:

OK, I have to interject with some logic here; In the 1st place, that brown bear probably sensed the women's fear and was just as scared of her, and two, what in fuck makes anyone think the logical course of action is to run?! Thses beasts can attain great land speed and overtake you in a heartbeat.

Now as to the killing of the bear, where's the rationale in that? So a bear chased her. The way i see it, that bear reacted out of fear and instinct, and displayed no hostility. You're on their grounds, People. They will react if you're face-to-face with them. Running to them says din-din time.

Arm yourself with a gun...PFFFT!!!:rant: learn more about animals before you think Yogi wants you for a snack and then wanna get yourself a miniature hand cannon. Odds are she was chasing the broad out of the woods because she was territorial.

'Nuff said.

 

[polesmoker]

Precisely. Why is it the animal's fault? She was in its habitat. Check out this clip at the 3:35 mark. Ian Edwards - Shark Attack Time Baby HULKHATETIMETRAVEL

 

[MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK]

precisely! That bear was just acting on instinct.

 

[B_Hickboy]

I don't know anyone I consider sane enough to own a handgun, including myself. In fact, I'd say the desire to have one for "protection" is a pretty sure sign that somebody needs to do some couch time. As has already been stated in this thread by another poster, handguns are made for the purpose of killing people. They are not sporting weapons, and the larger caliber models, which are the only ones that might be effective against a bear, require special training for those who handle them. I wouldn't take on a bear with anything smaller than a 10mm or .40 caliber, and would prefer a .44 mag with a long barrel. But it would be sheer insanity to take on a bear with a handgun. The potential for lethality would be low for a good many reasons. First, there's the fact that in order to injure, kill, or even discourage a bear, even large, high-load rounds must be fired at point-blank range. Who has the presence of mind to wait until the animal is a meter away to pull the trigger? Hold that notion and consider this point: Being able to fire tight groups into a bear-shaped target on a firing range and being able to knock down an advancing, aggressive animal in the heat of battle are two entirely different things. One wild shot could miss and kill another human being. Who wants to take chances like that? Although I don't own a handgun I'm a really good pistol shot, and I will readily admit that under stressed conditions I would probably miss. I'd rather do what experts recommend:

• Stay out of bear country whenever possible.
• Be aware of your surroundings. Don't get between the animals and their food sources or their young. If you find yourself in that situation, move away as quickly as you can, without running, until you know you're out of the way. Running may trigger a prey response and the bear may instinctively give chase, and as Chuck has noted, the can and will catch you, and by the time they do they'll be in no mood to sing Happy Birthday to you.
• Make a lot of noise so the bears can hear you coming.
• Be careful about how you smell. Keep your food sealed up or expect to lose it. Menstruating women should not go in bear country. The smell of human hormones pisses some bears off.

Every time I've gone in bear country I've done so knowing I was taking a calculated risk. I'm also resigned to the fact that if all my safety measures fail, I could die.

But I'm very fond of me, and if I can do anything to extend my stay here and still get out to enjoy nature, I plan to.

 

[Incocknito]

Why did the bear need to be shot? It doesn't sound like it was confrontational. If it wanted to it could have easily chased her down.

It sounds like it was just curious to me and that the woman's anxiousness heightened the bear's own anxiousness and curiosity.

Stupid bitch needs to stay away from wild animals. They're too trigger happy in America.

If anyone needed shooting in this story, its the woman. And the drivers who didn't stop.

 

[StrictlyAvg]

[/SIZE][/B]

Of course we do! Contrary to what the rest of the world thinks we aren't barbarians. The police are currently looking for the woman that initially hit her.

Thought y'all might have such rules. Just making the point that you chose to emphasise that carrying a hefty handgun on her lunchbreak walk might have aided her situation (a sketchy argument at best) rather than castigating the fellow humans who would knock over a 6 month pregnant woman being chased by a bear and then drive off!!

 

[SeanSocal]

Amen, Guns for everyone. Had she been properly trained with a firearm, her confidence in her abilities to defend herself and her unborn child would have resulted in a free bear skin rug instead of getting pegged with a car.

 

[Mr Ed in Mass]

Are you sure that she wasn't being chased by a bare?

 

[Principessa]

Are you sure that she wasn't being chased by a bare?

If he was after me I'd run too. :biggrin1: :lmao: