When Bears Attack!

Not every bear is as cute and cuddly as Paddington or Winnie the Pooh. When you're in the wilds of Michigan and want to feed the birds, sometimes bears show up to eat the bird food, eat the birds, eat your pets or perhaps eat you. Of course Michigan women are not that bothered by such occurrences, apparently...

CRAWFORD COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) -- Face to face with a bear: it is not something many of us need to experience to understand just how terrifying that situation can be. However a Grayling woman who saved her dog from a bear on Saturday, April 18, 2020, said this wasn’t the first time she crossed paths with a bear, but she said this was different.

“This whole time I’m thinking 'this bear’s not right, this bear’s not right, but I have to save my dog,'” Heather Willobee, owner of 8-year-old Lucy, said.

For Heather, it began like any other night: letting her dog Lucy outside before calling it a night. But something was off when Heather called Lucy's name.“I could see her in the light and I knew she was coming but I also knew she wasn’t coming alone and that something big was right behind her,” Willobee said. 

Something big, indeed: a 300 pound. black bear that had just gone head-to-head with Lucy -- a black bear that refused to turn away.

With Lucy in the backseat and her sights set on the vet, Willobee turned to see the bear had returned. “It didn’t move. It just kept eye contact; I kept eye contact and I was just like 'I don’t have time for you, bear. I need to save my dog,'” Willobee said.

 
Lucy had to undergo surgery as a result of the claw marks on her torso, shoulders and paws. It wasn’t until Monday afternoon Lucy was able to return home. "She is walking and eating, drinking," Willobee said. "The road to recovery is going to be a long one for her."

As Lucy begins her recovery at home, Heather believes it was her bird feeders that attracted the bear.LINK