A Squamish resident is recovering from minor injuries after being swatted by a bear in Valleycliffe. Melissa DeWolf, who runs the Queen Bee Boudoir in Downtown Squamish, was attacked by the bear around 8:30pm on Tuesday, July 4. The attack happened in front of her neighbour’s house.
DeWolf said she was chasing the bear out of her yard and making a lot of noise while trying to do so. She said she gave the bear lots of space while trying to shoo it away and it did run behind the bushes in her neighbours yard.
But then it turned and charged at her.
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“It stood up and swatted me in the face and chest. Instead of flight or freeze, my fight instinct came in and I stood as tall as I could and shoved the bear as hard as I could,” she says. DeWolf says she is lucky that she has very minimal injuries, which include scratches on the face, neck and chest, though she realised it could have been a lot worse.
“I have chased many bears out of our property and up a few houses away, and they’ve always just run away immediately. This incident was very different,” she says. “After speaking with conservation, if you do choose to chase it out of your property, it’s recommended to just stop there.”
Last year in November, the Squamish Estuary trail network was closed for at least two weeks following two surprise bear attacks involving sow with a yearling. Recently, the District of Squamish issued an alert, asking residents to be extra vigilant to protect a sow and her cubs in Garibaldi Highlands.
The public is urged to report any wildlife sightings or encounters to the Conservation Officer Service Hotline at 1.877.952.7277.
jeff mckenzie says
And now another bear will be targeted for extinction by the CO Service because citizens just won’t leave the bears alone to go their way . It’s a shame.
Chris says
We watched it happen and she was nowhere near the bear ever… Bear had long left her driveway before she started to chase and scream at it up the street (60-70 meters up it) before her husband chased after her to stop her ridiculousness. It did take a swipe when it was a fair distance away from her but rightly deserved considering she was provoking it.
Most definitely not an attack this article needs to be fixed before the community are sucked into this lie