Post by Graveyardbride on Jun 16, 2024 3:24:49 GMT -5
Black Bear Breaks into Home, Kills, Eats California Woman
Seven months after the partially eaten body of 71-year-old Patrice Miller was discovered in her home in Downieville, California (above), officials have announced the bear that fed on her corpse also killed her. It was originally believed Ms. Miller died of natural causes, and a bear, or bears, attracted by the smell of decomposition, broke into the house and partially consumed her body.
“Upon showing up, [deputies] immediately saw evidence of bear intrusion into the house,” Sierra County Sheriff Mike Fisher recalled. “The door was broken. There was bear scat on the porch. It appeared that the bear had probably been there several days and had been feeding on the remains.” Fisher added the Miller home “had a lot of bear attractants,” including cat food stored on the front porch.
Now, the medical examiner’s report has revealed the lady was mauled to death, and DNA testing has confirmed a bear trapped and put down shortly after Ms. Miller’s body was found was the bear that bit or slashed the victim’s throat. It is believed she was initially attacked while in bed, after which the beast dragged her to the floor. The bear in question, a large male, had bothered Ms. Miller for months to the point she called him “Big Bastard.” (A male black bear can weight up to 400 pounds and stand approximately 5'7" on two legs.)
The bear had attempted to break into her home on numerous occasions, and as a deterrent, she had steel bars placed on the outside of her windows. Big Bastard finally gained entry to the house by breaking down the front door.
Last November 8, when Cassie Koch, 55, who sometimes ran errands for Ms. Miller, had not seen her friend in several days, she requested deputies conduct a welfare check and they made the grim discovery. According to Ms. Koch, the victim, who lived alone with her two cats, had frequent run-ins with the bear, and two weeks before her death, Ms. Miller said the animal had attempted to break into her house but she was able to scare him off.
In September, Ms. Miller reported her bear problems to the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW), however, she turned down a depredation permit, which would have allowed authorities to shoot the animal. Two months later, she was dead.
This is the first known killing of a human being by a black bear in the state, said a CDFW spokesperson. Black bears are the most common bear species in North America, where their number is estimated at roughly 600,000. With the constant encroachment of humans on their territory, the large animals are becoming much more bold and losing their instinctual fear of humans. In addition to humans, there are dogs, which antagonize bears, making them much more aggressive.
According to the CDFW, California’s black bear population has grown from approximately 10,000 bears to 15,000 in 1982, up to a staggering 65,000 as of last year. Approximately 40 percent of these bears are believed to live in the Sierra Nevada.
Downieville, a pretty little conservative mountain town of less than 300, is “right in the middle of where bears like to be,” observed Caitlin Roddy of the CDFW.
But their numbers are increasing at an alarming rate. “When I was a kid, you never saw a bear in town,” Cassie Koch said. “Now, they’re all over, making their rounds. It’s easy pickings for them.”
Sources: Ruth Bashinsky, The Daily Mail, June 15, 2024; Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, June 7, 2024, and Brie Stemson, Fox News, June 15, 2024.
