Attacked by a Wild Animal

Since I was a teenager a half a century ago, I took every opportunity that came my way to traipse around in the Montana Backcountry. A lot of those adventures were spent alone. Over the years, I have been bluff charged by bears, chased by coyotes, pursued by wolf packs, stalked by mountain lions, charged by bison, deer, elk, moose, goats and big horn sheep. Up until last week, encounters fortunately never escalated to physical contact resulting in injury to myself or the animal.

Maybe I was getting complacent. This time I was physically attacked and injured. The charge from behind me happened so fast with such violence that I did not realize what was happening until I was bitten and knocked to the ground. Despite having both pepper spray and a gun there was no warning affording a chance to deploy any defense. When the animal left me to check on their two spectating youngsters, it gave me a chance to extricate myself from the melee. Round two I was not going to stick around for.

Bitten and Bloodied by a Wild Animal

Wild animals will attack a human for various reasons. Defending territory, offspring or food are the most common. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just surprising them or even seeing you as prey is possible.

So stay vigilant. Be prepared and let people know when and where you are going and when you are due back. There are lots of resources on how to avoid wild animal attacks and what to do if you are attacked. Get educated. Training for a trail race necessitates spending time in territory that exposes one to wild animals that can do you harm.

My injuries are minor and healing up. The deep puncture wounds on the back of my upper leg will leave some scars. The tendon that had a strip of sinew peeled off it will toughen back up. All the scratches from defending myself will disappear. Even my heightened mental trepidation that it all could happen again will fade as time marches on. Humbled.