Manitoba woman escapes injury after fighting off mother bear in front yard
A Manitoba woman is resting at home after she fought a mother bear with her cubs in her front yard.
The incident was captured on her home security camera, and comes as the province is seeing increased black bear sightings this summer.
Diane Fillion said it all happened in an instant on Saturday afternoon.
She was playing with her dog in the front yard of her Lac du Bonnet home when they came face to face with a bear and her three cubs.
"We’ve got myself and my dog and three bears all looking at each other," she told CTV News. "The dog put one of the cubs in the tree, and then the mom came after my dog, and the fight started.”
Fillion said she backed out of her yard while making noise and trying to look big, but when her dog ran away, the bear came charging towards them.
Video from her security camera shows the bear running at Fillion who was wielding a stick at the time.
"I thought I had tripped, and then we pulled our security cameras and then we realized no, the bear actually hit me.”
Fillion said after the bear knocked her down, it climbed into a tree with the cubs.
Manitoba Conservation came to assess the situation and determined the best course of action would be to wait until the bears left – which they eventually did.
Pauline Bloom, a wildlife biologist for the province, said Manitoba has seen an increase in reports of bear sightings in cottage country and towns near heavily forested areas.
She said the lack of rain in the province this summer is part of the issue.
"There’s a lot less water on the landscape for bears to access," she said. "So they’re out on the land looking for permanent sources of water, and they’re also looking for food.”
Bloom said the drought has also impacted wild berry crops, which bears would normally feed on.
Fillion managed to escape her bear encounter with minor bumps and bruises, but she said it could have been a lot worse.
"We don’t believe that she was trying to be mean," Fillion said. "She was just like, ‘Get away from my babies,’ and she made her point, and we said, ‘OK.’”
Bloom said keeping your yard clean, storing garbage bins in your garage or shed, and removing your bird feeder in the summer months will reduce the chances of coming into contact with a bear.
She said if you have a clean space, bears may come through but they won’t stick around.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
B.C. theatre to pay $55K to neurodivergent actor in discrimination case
British Columbia's human rights tribunal has awarded a neurodigergent actor, who was diagnosed with sensory and learning disorders, more than $55,000 after finding that a Kelowna theatre company discriminated against him because of his disabilities.
Who's responsible for regulating cannabis stores operating under the sovereignty banner?
It's not quite clear who is supposed to be regulating so-called sovereign cannabis stores or even ensure they're benefiting Indigenous communities.