Huckleberries are not only enjoyed by avid pickers, but they are a major source of food for the grizzly bear.
According to the Daily Inter Lake website, 17-year old Hunter Dana found out how dangerous bears can be during his recent huckleberry picking expedition.
Berry picker has harrowing grizzly bear encounter
… Dana, of Columbia Falls, hiked up to his family’s usual huckleberry-picking spot near Hungry Horse and sat down to pick. Dana’s mother, Jennifer Wheat-Dana, said that her son reported “something didn’t feel right.”
One of Dana’s empty gallon jugs clanked against another jug and the sow came flying out of the woods.
“She kept coming after him,” Wheat-Dana said. “He would spray her, get away, and she was coming again. She followed him clear around the lake.”
At one point, the sow charged Dana, he sprayed her, and her nail caught his pant leg and tripped him. The spray had subdued her enough for him to get up and get moving, she said.
Dana is scratched from the underbrush and hit the ground hard but is uninjured. He lost his voice from screaming at the bear.
Dana’s father was on the phone with him during the attack, and simultaneously called 911 with a co-worker’s phone.
When Wheat-Dana arrived, Flathead County Sheriff’s deputies and a game warden had already arrived. Dana was picked up at the south end of the lake…
NBC Montana also picked up the story and included a video interview with Dana. Check it out here: Kalispell teenager’s bear scare serves as a reminder.
