Hikers hunker down during bear charges

LIVINGSTON, Mont. – Three recent Park High School graduates spent nearly two hours face down on the ground Wednesday, protecting themselves from a bear that repeatedly charged them during a hike in the Paradise Valley.

The teens – Caitlin Adamo, Madaleine Weber and Melissa Davaz – were not injured in the attack, which bear experts call significant and unusual. They were descending the Suce Creek Trail on Wednesday afternoon when Weber said she heard a crashing noise to the right of her.

“I looked up the hill and saw a bear running diagonally down the hill,” she said.

Weber pointed out the bear, and the girls began taking pictures of it when the animal stopped, turned and charged toward them.

Adamo told her friends to get in the fetal position and cover the backs of their necks with their hands, remembering a bear attack precaution she had learned in elementary school.

The teens dropped to the ground within inches of each other. They said they could hear the bear sniffing around them, groaning, moaning and panting. Each time they moved or made a noise, the bear made another charge.

After several charges, over a period of about five minutes, the bear sniffed around and left.

“At that point we thought it was gone,” Weber said.

But the bear soon returned, this time coming closer and actually jumping over the girls, who had returned to their fetal positions. As time passed, bugs began crawling over their bodies, and Adamo and Weber lost circulation in their legs.

The bear returned at least one more time before leaving for good.

After a few minutes, the teens started whispering to each other.

“We knew we had to get out of there,” Weber said. “Even if the bear attacked. We were ready to take the charge.”

They quickly hiked the rest of the way down the trail and called state Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials and the U.S. Forest Service after reaching their cars.

Bear experts believe the bear the teens encountered was a grizzly, based on their descriptions and the animal’s behavior.

“We have had confirmed grizzly sightings in the area in the past, particularly this time of year,” said Rachel Feigley, a wildlife biologist for the Livingston Ranger District.

Grizzly expert Doug Peacock called the girls’ experience significant and unusual.

“They’ve already added a chapter to the history of human-bear contact,” he said. “I don’t know of anything exactly like this.”

Adamo said she’s proud of herself and her friends.

“We were all there for each other,” she said.