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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 16 OcTOber 2018

Grizzly bear attacks hunter in

mountains north of Yellowstone

By MATT VOLZ “I was hoping it was going blinded by bear spray.
Associated Press to be a bluff charge, and “I had blood in my eyes
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A halfway through I realized and bear spray in my eyes
grizzly bear attacked an it was going to be the real and I couldn’t see a damn
elk hunter who surprised deal,” he said. thing,” Legasa said. “We
the sow and her cub north The bow hunter from were putting snow and wa-
of Yellowstone National Hayden, Idaho, didn’t ter in our eyes, trying to get
Park, with the bear sinking have time to reach for his relief.”
her teeth into his arm and bear spray; he barely had The men were eventually
clawing his eye before an- time to raise his arms in front able to get back to their
other hunter drove her off, of his face. truck and drove to a hos-
the victim recounted Mon- The grizzly bit his hand, pital. This photo provided by Bob Legasa shows him in a hospital in
day. leaving puncture wounds Legasa was operated on Bozeman, Mont., Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, after a bear attack the
The mauling of Bob Legasa, and breaking a bone in his Saturday to flush out his day before.
57, in the Gallatin National forearm. The sow clawed wounds to prevent infec- Associated Press
Forest on Saturday was at at his eye, leaving a bloody tion. On Monday, he was grizzly bear hunting season bear researcher working in
least the seventh bear at- gash across the bridge of scheduled for another sur- in the Rockies since the the Cabinet Mountains of
tack on a human since his nose. gery to put in a plate and 1990s, but a judge inter- northwestern Montana. A
May in the Northern Rocky His partner and hunting screw to secure his broken vened last month and said 10-year-old boy was injured
Mountains. guide, Greg Gibson, dis- bone. the bears living around Yel- in an attack in Yellowstone
Legasa, awaiting his sec- charged bear spray and Montana Fish, Wildlife and lowstone still deserved fed- park in August while hiking
ond surgery on Monday, the grizzly let go. Legasa Parks officials said in a eral protections as a threat- with his family, and a hiker
told The Associated Press in pulled out his own spray, statement Monday that ened species. in the Beartooth Mountains
a phone interview from his but inadvertently sprayed the bear’s response was One attack in Wyoming on the Montana-Wyoming
hospital room in Bozeman, himself with the Mace-like normal for a sow with a cub last month killed hunting border in September.
Montana, that he and his mist. encountering a human at guide Mark Uptain of Jack- Legasa said the experience
hunting partner were mov- Gibson discharged his close range. son Hole. Separately, a won’t put him off hunting, a
ing toward some elk when spray canister again, and It was the most recent in a bow hunter on Montana’s hobby since he was a teen-
he heard a growl. the wind blew the mist spate of bear encounters Blackfeet Indian Reserva- ager. But, he added, he will
It was a 2-year-old cub back into his eyes as the in Wyoming and Montana, tion reported killing a grizzly be more cautious in the fu-
and its mother about 12 bears ran off. several of which have hap- that attacked him, and a ture.
yards (11 meters) away Less than three weeks ear- pened during hunting sea- hunting guide shot another “I’m always going to have
from the tree that he had lier, the two men made a son when hunters look for grizzly that charged three my hunting partner close,
just stepped away from. bear spray safety video for deer and elk in bear habi- people along Wyoming’s and reposition where I car-
After the cub growled and Gibson’s Montana Guide tat. upper Fork of the Shoshone ry my bear spray so I can
moved aside, its mother Service, Legasa said. Now, Wyoming and Idaho had River. grab it with both hands,”
charged, Legasa said. both were on the ground, been set to open the first In May, a grizzly wounded a he said.q

Jurors: Don’t throw out $289M weed killer cancer verdict

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Ju- paper reported Monday. to this trial,” he said. Juror million in punitive damages a San Francisco Bay Area
rors who found that agri- Juror Gary Kitahata told Robert Howard wrote to in favor of DeWayne John- school district, according
business giant Monsan- Judge Suzanne Bolanos in the judge that the jury had son. She is also considering to his attorneys. He was
to’s Roundup weed killer a letter that the jury was paid “studious attention” to dramatically reducing the diagnosed with non-Hodg-
contributed to a school convinced by the evi- the evidence and any de- remaining award. Her final kin’s lymphoma in 2014 at
groundskeeper’s cancer dence, the San Francisco cision to overturn its verdict decision is due by Oct. 22. age 42. His lawsuit is among
are urging a San Francisco Chronicle said. “I urge you would shake his confidence Johnson sprayed Round- hundreds alleging Round-
judge not to throw out the to respect and honor our in the judicial system. Bo- up and a similar product, up caused cancer, but it
bulk of their $289 million verdict and the six weeks of lanos said last week she is Ranger Pro, at his job as a was the first one to go to
award in his favor, a news- our lives that we dedicated inclined to throw out $250 pest control manager at trial.q