Before we reminisce on this story, I have something to say.
Why in the fiddlers fuck would you want to walk up on a bear in the wild?
Sure, they’re kinda cute from a distance, but those things can outrun you, they’re 10 times your size, and not to mention you look like a filet mignon in their eyes.
Hell, I remember going on a hike one time and bringing a bat just incase a bear ran up on us. I mean sure, the bat wouldn’t do much, but it might daze the bear for a minute.
Anyways, with that being said, we’re finally getting caught up on the story of Samantha Dehring, the Illinois woman in trouble for approaching a bear in Yellowstone National Park this past summer.
When a bear and her three cubs were on the side of the road, everybody else went to the car, but she continued to take pictures and get closer.
Mama bear then gave her a terrifying false charge, ultimately deciding not to attack the woman. However, if the mama bear wasn’t so kind, there’s nothing anybody would’ve been able to do for that woman.
And Yellowstone? They’re serious as a heart attack when it comes to animal encounters in the park. The situation was immediately investigated and the woman was identified.
Ol’ Samantha caught a charge after pleading guilty to willfully remaining, approaching, and photographing wildlife within 100 yards. The other count of feeding, touching, teasing, frightening, or intentionally disturbing wildlife, was dismissed.
She finally got her day in court, and I’m sure she was thinking to herself:
“Ah, they were just trying to scare me. They’re gonna give me a warning and let me go.”
Well, she was wrong if she genuinely thought that.
According to NPR, she received a four day jail sentence, a number of fines, probation, and a one-year ban from Yellowstone National Park.
Bob Murray, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming, weighed in on the issue:
“Wildlife in Yellowstone National Park are, indeed, wild. The park is not a zoo where animals can be viewed within the safety of a fenced enclosure. They roam freely in their natural habitat and when threatened will react accordingly.
Approaching a sow grizzly with cubs is absolutely foolish. Here, pure luck is why Dehring is a criminal defendant and not a mauled tourist.”
Needless to say, she learned her lesson.
Play stupid games? Win stupid prizes.
Here’s the moment she was almost eaten by the bear.
