Sounds like this bear kept the receipts.
Craig Lankford, a man who lives in La Grande, Oregon, was doing his best to protect his chickens from a bear that had been harassing them. As any loyal animal owner, the Oregon man felt like it was his responsibility to keep his chickens safe, and the wild bear was putting them in danger.
The bear became so much of a nuisance to the man and his chickens that on Tuesday night, Lankford resorted to violence and shot the bear. That of course made the bear retreat into the woods, and the Oregon man believed he would eventually find it to be dead, so he went out the next morning to track it down.
That decision ended up being a pretty bad move, because things went “full Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant” between the Oregon man and the bear. Lankford shockingly encountered the beast as he was looking for it and shot it again, angering the bear and leading to the wild animal attacking him.
A call to 911 was received shortly after 7:30 in the morning local time reporting the incident, and Sheriff Deputies and medical personnel quickly responded quickly to the scene. An area of the road close to where the attack occurred was closed due to safety concerns surrounding the injured bear.
The Oregon State Police and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife arrived shortly after and set out a plan to hunt down and kill the bear, which they successfully did around three hours after the 911 call.
The news release put out by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife following the bear being put down stated:
“Wounded bears can be dangerous. ODFW is aware of at least three incidents when wounded bears attacked hunters who had shot but not killed them. None were fatal.
Bear attacks are rare but tend to occur when bears are wounded, when they are being fed by people and lose their natural wariness, or when they are surprised by people or their dogs. Oregon has not documented any fatal bear attacks.
Oregon is home to an estimated 25,000-30,000 bears. Everyone recreating outdoors or living in bear country is encouraged to take simple steps to reduce the risk of bear encounters and conflict.”
An autopsy that was performed on the bear confirmed that it was the same bear that Lankford had shot the night before.
As for Lankford, he was treated at the local hospital for injuries to his head and his arms, but he is expected to make a full recovery.
There’s only one thing left for the man to do once he gets back to full health.
Set the tone for any other bears in the area and do what this guy does in this classic commercial:
