Thursday, July 08, 2021

BEAR KILLS BICYCLE TOURIST IN MONTANA

The Wild Outdoors Can Be Wilder Than You Might Want

by Bob Walsh

Leah Davis, 65, was a registered nurse from Chico, CA.  She had been traveling with friends on a bicycle trip and stopped in the small town of Ovando in western Montana for the night.  The small town (population less than 100) is at the edge of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area and is about 60 miles northwest of Helena.

A 400 pound grizzly bear had been to the camp site earlier and the cyclists took all of their food out of their tents and stashed it.  This was about 3 am.  What is believed to be the same bear showed up on surveillance at the post office in town about 15 minutes later.  Unfortunately the bear returned about 4:15 a.m. and pulled Ms. Davis out of her tent and killed her.  Some of her traveling companions heard her screaming and responded with bear spray, which chased the bear off.  

The bear is also believed to have torn up a chicken coop and killed and eaten some chickens in the same general area.

DNA was recovered from the bear.  Once the bear is trapped and identified it will be destroyed due to the nature of the attack.

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