Женщина получила ранение от медведя на тропе в Йеллоустоне, но смогла отпугнуть хищника аэрозолем

On Monday evening, Maggie Schwartz practiced sliding her bear spray can out of its holster before embarking on a hike on the secluded History Trail. Rehearsing being quick on the draw occurred to her as she was strapping her holster onto her shorts at Trail Creek Trailhead and realized she wasn’t totally sure how the setup was supposed to work. “I had never deployed bear spray before,” she said. “I had never even practiced doing it.” Perhaps it was a premonition. Midway through her hike, she was attacked by a mother black bear in the first bear-inflicted injury in the Jackson area this year. “It bit me in my butt, so that’s fun for everybody,” she said. Schwartz was able to spray the bear, which subsequently ran away. She hiked out on her own and visited St. John’s Health, where she was discharged Monday night. Wyoming Game and Fish Department personnel investigated the incident and deemed it a surprise, defensive encounter by the mother, who was with at least one cub. Department officials are not planning to take action against the bear, said Raegin Akhtar, a Game and Fish spokesperson. The attack came at a time bears are ranging around in search of berries to pack in calories prior to hibernation. Wildlife managers typically see bears congregate in the Old Pass Road area at this time of year to feed on serviceberries and chokecherries, Akhtar said. Schwartz, a lawyer in her early 30s, grew up in Jackson and has been hiking trails around town all her life. In the summer, she and her mom hike in the Old Pass Road area almost every day. On Monday, she was hiking alone with two dogs, while her parents attended a lecture at the Old Wilson Schoolhouse. Land managers have been encouraging residents to carry bear spray while recreating on all parts of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, which includes the trails off of Teton Pass and in the Cache Creek and Snow King areas, said Linda Merigliano, a longtime Bridger-Teton recreation specialist with who now volunteers for the forest. “Frontcountry trails are still in bear habitat, moose habitat and lion habitat,” she said. Proximity to developed areas “doesn’t matter, you can still encounter an animal.” That’s particularly the case when berries are starting to ripen and bears may be moving into areas closer to town. Schwartz deserves “a ton of kudos for carrying bear spray,” Merigliano said. “It’s a lesson for everybody out there.” Evening stroll Schwartz began her hike at about 5 p.m. While on the upper section of the History Trail, between the bridge where the History Trail and Crater Trail meet and the field leading up to Old Pass Road and Crater Lake, she rounded a corner. The two dogs she was walking were ahead of her. They ran over to a bush to sniff at something small, furry and black. At first glance, Schwartz thought it was another dog. But it was actually a bear cub, and she was close enough to touch it. “I of course had the thought that the mom was going to be close,” she said. “I looked up to scan for her and she was already coming at me.” The sow came through the bush right where the cub was. Having had other bear encounters where the bear had walked away, Schwartz turned around to gather her dogs to head in the opposite direction. That was when the bear bit her butt, sending her to the ground. Schwartz was able to maneuver to grab her bear spray from the back of her shorts. The bear was close enough that her feet were on it. “She was coming at me, and her mouth was open, and I was able to get my bear spray out of the holster,” she said. “And I shot it from the ground, holding it with both hands, like a gun or something, and sprayed like heck, and she turned around and left.” After the coast was clear, Schwartz got up and began hiking up toward Crater Lake. She continued hiking uphill because the bear had headed downhill. She then walked down Old Pass Road, which felt safer than the trail because of increased visibility. She realized that she didn’t have a phone, because it was in the back pocket of her shorts, which had been ripped off. She didn’t see anyone on her way down. The walk felt long. Schwartz still had her mostly empty bear spray canister in her hand and whipped around any time she heard motion in the brush. In the parking lot, Schwartz encountered two people and started to cry. One of them had a first look at her wound. “He was right up in there, looking at my butt,” she said. They drove her to the Old Wilson Schoolhouse to find her parents, who were attending an event held by the Jackson Hole Jewish Community. “I caused quite a ruckus standing out there, holding bloody gauze to my butt,” she said. She finally broke down after seeing her brother-in-law. The head rabbi, Josh Kleyman, came out and evaluated her wounds. Her mom, Cheryl, then drove her to the hospital while her dad, Bill, took the dogs home. She was at the hospital for a while, getting her wound flushed with saline and an X-ray to make sure there was nothing stuck in the bite. Nurses left the wound open, as is typical for animal bites. Besides the puncture wounds, she was scratched up, including with what she thinks are claw marks on her thighs. “I’ve been a bit of a bloody mess,” she said. “But if you’re going to have a violent interaction with a bear, I can’t imagine less severe injuries than what I have.” Schwartz hadn’t always carried bear spray when recreating on trails near town. That changed last summer, when she started seeing more bears on Old Pass Road. “It’s lucky, because I was not that way my whole life,” she said. Investigation Colton Galambas, a Game and Fish game warden, came to the emergency room to interview Schwartz on Monday night and took her clothes for DNA testing. Game and Fish personnel investigating the incident on the scene Tuesday found her phone, which had a bite mark in it. Schwartz only had three puncture wounds, so the cracked phone indicated where the bear’s fourth large tooth went. Game and Fish personnel from Lander and Dubois also travelled from Jackson to help with the investigation, which concluded early Tuesday afternoon. Forest officials reopened the trail after an emergency closure. Land and wildlife managers did not see the bear on Tuesday, but hikers should use caution in the area. Land managers first saw the mother and cubs on Friday, Merigliano said. They began putting up signs telling recreators to be alert because of increased bear activity. This is the first bear attack in the valley in two years. In May 2024 when a hiker was mauled by a grizzly on the flank of Signal Mountain in Grand Teton National Park. “Even if it’s a black bear, you still don’t want to surprise a mother with cubs,” Merigliano said. During times of high bear activity, land managers recommend that hikers be extra cautious, including not wearing earbuds and leashing dogs. “Dogs can be a mixed bag,” Merigliano said. “They maybe will alert you to the presence of a bear, but if a dog surprises a cub, it can bring the mother back to you.” A lot of people have unleashed dogs in the Teton Pass and Cache-Game areas, Merigliano said. Hikers should keep an eye on dogs, as well as keep them close, within sight and under verbal control. Bear activity will continue to increase going into the fall. “That doesn’t mean people should be scared,” Merigliano said. “Be alert, know how to use bear spray, control your dogs and all that good stuff, and still enjoy the trails.” Schwartz intends to continue hiking. “It’s my most important physical and mental health outlet,” she said. “I think the fact that I thought that bear was doing exactly what a bear should do helps me a bit too. It’s not like she was some psycho killer out there. She was protecting her baby.” Schwartz was moved by all the support she received, including the passersby at the trailhead, people at the Old Wilson Schoolhouse, healthcare workers and Game and Fish staff. “In such an intensely divisive time in our country and our community, I was so incredibly touched and thankful for this community and all of the people who were just on it and took care of me and were so kind and dropped everything they were doing,” she said. “It felt really special that people cared and were able to help.”