Grizzly attack survivor recounts the "most violent experience of his life" 🐻

The weekend might not be here yet, but your favorite dispatch from the great outdoors is. 

So grab your coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and let's get caught up on the outdoor news and views from the past few days. 

Here's what caught our eye this week...

• Lucky to be alive - Wyoming bear attack victim tells his story 🐻

• Catalina is canceled - After a long fight, the mixer is off 🚁

• Self-defense - Tahoe community outraged after bear killed inside a home 🔫

• Wolverado - Colorado is officially bringing back the wolverine  🎉

A CLOSE CALL
GRIZZLY ATTACK SURVIVOR RECOUNTS THE “MOST VIOLENT EXPERIENCE OF HIS LIFE”

After a surprise encounter earlier this month with a female grizzly and her cubs, the Massachusetts man is telling his side of the story. 

In what marked Wyoming’s first bear attack of the 2024 season, 35-year-old Shayne Patrick Burke is no stranger to sticky situations. With multiple deployments to Iraq and a brain tumor under his belt, he was once again tested while on his honeymoon with his wife in Grand Teton National Park.

The pair were separated when Burke went off on his own in an attempt to locate a great gray owl in what he considered to be a “hot spot” for the feathered raptors. As he ventured further off tack, he decided it was time to head back to the rendezvous point and meet up again with his new bride.

It wasn’t long before he felt as though he was in a precarious position.

“I had a really uncomfortable feeling,” he wrote. “I was breaking branches, singing and talking to myself aloud. These are some things that can help prevent a ‘surprise encounter’ with a brown bear.” 

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🚁 Catalina canceled - Welp, it’s official. Catalina Island’s invasive mule deer have officially dodged a (number of) bullet(s) after the L.A. County Supervisor made it clear that they would not be shooting the island's deer. The announcement comes on the heels of months of unrest after the Catalina Island Conservancy planned to hunt the animals from helicopters in an effort to remove the invasive deer. 

While the Conservancy still believes that their proposal was the best way to manage the island’s deer, they have said they respect those who oppose it. But without a plan in place, they believe the situation will inevitably get worse before it gets better. With the herd dying off from lack of food and water, carcasses have already begun to line the streets of the picturesque island. But in a society that rewards outrage over reason, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that anyone would want them to be killed humanely and salvaged for their meat.

🔫 Self-defense outrage - The Memorial Day weekend ended with a bang for one young Lake Tahoe bear who had entered a home without permission. The wandering bear had entered the home through a closed door in the backyard. The surprised homeowner quickly encountered the young bear and attempted to scare it away. Rather than retreat, the young emboldened bruin started huffing and advanced on the homeowner's dog. The homeowner reportedly then retreated to his bedroom and returned with a rifle in his hands and shot the bear twice while inside his home.

The bear reportedly ran outside where the homeowner put a third shot into the animal, killing it. A full investigation was performed by California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife who soon concluded that the man was acting in self-defense of himself and his dog. While the story seems awfully cut and dry, a local non-profit organization and a number of local animal rights activists are infuriated by the incident and are disputing the report stating that the bear was shot outside of the home, not inside.

“Other reports we’ve seen have come from neighbors, which is all well and good, but neighbors aren’t sworn to uphold the law in California,” CDFW spokesperson Peter Tira said. “I mean, who knows what the motivations are for these neighbors, right? We certainly appreciate and understand people being upset about the death of a bear, but we have wildlife officers who are sworn to uphold the law in the state of California, and their professional, full-scale investigation determined that there was no crime in this particular case.”

🎉 Wolverines are so back - At least in Colorado. Governor Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 24-171 into law earlier this month which authorizes Colorado Parks and Wildlife to begin the prep work required to reintroduce wolverines to the Centennial State.

The animals, which were extirpated from the Colorado landscape in the early 1900s, are at risk across the country. With what many believe to be the largest block of wolverine-ready habitat in the lower 48, Colorado is primed to take on what biologists hope to be close to 200 animals over the coming years. Officials are, however, cautioning the public that the reintroduction will take time. Having been listed as a threatened species under the ESA last year, “CPW will not reintroduce the species in the state until the effective date of a final rule designating the wolverine in Colorado as a nonessential experimental population,” the department said.

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🎪 Walking the tightrope: Watch as a California bear effortlessly walks across a thin railing.

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Why so many Orca attacks lately? How THICC? When it comes to steak, thickness matters. How to work out like James Bond. In case you’ve always wondered why chefs cross their arms in photos, here’s why.

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At dusk.
📸@isaacspicz