This could be one more reason not to smoke or, at least, consider bringing back a spring bear hunt. The Globe and Mail reports that it took 72 staples to repair the damage to a Northern Ontario resident’s leg on Wednesday night. The article states that,

Ms. Harvey’s Rottweiler woke her up at about 1:45 a.m. wanting to go outside. She took him out to the driveway of her family’s Sudbury area home and decided to have a cigarette.

“Ranger took off to the other side of the truck,” she said. “I walked over to the back of the truck. That’s when [the bear] got me.” Entire Article Here

I predict there will be more and more of these incidences in the days and months to come as an exploding bear population in northern towns and villages causes the bears to become more bolder and brazen in their quest for food.

These aren’t the kind of bears found in kids cartoons and PETA newsletters. They are the real deal and it is those of us in rural settings that have to deal with reality of living with the black beasts.

What can you do if you run into a bear in Muskoka? Go ahead an call the Ontario MNR’s Automated phone line: 1-866-514-BEAR (2327)

I am not sure how the automated line would have helped Ms. Harvey – yet there it is. You could read through Ontario’s Bearwise Website for other lifesaving tips like:

• clean your BBQ grill after every use (because this is SO easy to do)
• put meat scraps in your freezer until garbage day (because filling your freezer with garbage is a good health standard)
• buy an expensive bear proof bin (true they seem to be effective – but a slight chunk of change more than a shotgun slug)
• keep your yard free of things that attract bears (what do we do about infants, poodles and midnight smokers?)

I hope you can sense my sarcasm. I just think that increased opportunities to hunt bears in Northern Ontario will be more effective and cost effective than the measures I listed above.

Yet, it is just my opinion and you are also entitled to yours.