I'm calling BS on the story about the DII runner hiding in a tree to avoid a bear attack

I probably should have posted my thoughts in my first post. I certainly am not 100% sure I believe the story but also would say, "We're talking about a wild animal. It seems crazy that a bear would chase someone 5 miles but then again we are talking about a wild-animal. So to expect it to act rationally isn't fair and then you could also have wild animals that are crazy or limited mental capacity just like humans." So I'm a bit skeptcial but even if it is true, my main problem with the story is the way the title is written. Instead of "A College Runner Spends the Night in a Tree to Escape a Bear" it should have used the word "Allegedly." But the more I think about it, if my life depended on it, I'm going to say I don't believe the story. I'm supposed to believe she stood in a tree without sitting for like 9 hours?

RW wrote:

"She couldn’t sit because of the shape of the tree so she alternated between standing on one leg and squatting, hugging the trunk tightly for hours until sunrise." Sunset was at 7:58 pm. Sunrise at 6;009

No freaking way. That's a REALLY long time to squat. A little research reveals that sunset was at 7:58 pm and sunrise was at 6:09 am.

Plus it was a clear night according to the weather apps with a three-quarter moon. That far upstate, she should have been able to see if the bear was there.

Bears can run a lot farther than you think. 5 miles? Nope, he'd lose interest. Humans aren't exactly a staple on the menu.

Tree climbing. Look at the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD-3E6QuP3M

https://youtu.be/9oqq70wx76U

What stood out to me was the part where she said she ran off the trail into the woods. I'm not sure what it's like in that area, but most forests are actually almost impossible to run through. The amount of undergrowth and vegetation makes it hard to even walk in... and would certainly leave a ton of nasty cuts after 5 miles. A bear is significantly better than a human at navigating a forest. It would have caught her in about 10 seconds.

Best case scenario: she had a truly traumatic experience and was scared out of her mind. She doesn't remember exactly what happened, and whatever she told a reporter was extremely misconstrued.

Worst case scenario: she made it all up for attention. Unfortunately wouldn't be the first time this has happened.

I'm gonna go with: she saw a bear/cubs and got scared and ran into the forest for a couple minutes. Got lost for a while, scared and cold, and had to survive overnight. Traumatized by the whole experience (which any reasonable person would be) her mind fabricated some additional details. I really hope she didn't just make it all up for attention.

The idea that she was chased by a bear and managed to escape by running and climbing a tree isn't crazy. Yes, black bears can climb. But a black bear trying to chase a human away from her cubs might move on when the human climbs a tree and is no longer a threat.

But chasing for 5 miles is really unbelievable to me. Unless it was a badly sick/rabid bear not thinking clearly, I can't imagine why it would do that. And bears are a lot faster than people, I find it really hard to believe anybody could keep away from a bear for an extended distance like that. When I first saw the story, I assumed she was claiming she ran a short distance (50 feet?) and then climbed a tree.

The more i read this story and this thread, the more I think parts of it are made up.

The article says she through her socks and sports bra at the bear but was unable to recover either. Isn't that weird? Socks are kind of small but how do you not find a sports bra?

Plus I found another story that says she was found at 10:30 am the next morning? Why would it take her 3 plus hours after sunrise to be found?

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Chased-by-bear-19-year-old-woman-spends-night-up-15519002.php

If black bears wanted to eat people they would eat people. This bear probably just wanted to give her a good scare and make sure she stayed away from her cubs. She says she kept turning left, so she may have never gotten very far from the cubs. Even if she didn't intentionally turn most people lost in the woods end up traveling in circles. Or the cubs may have been following mama bear the whole time. Five miles is nothing for a bear.

Male sprinters can not out run bears and no human can out climb a bear, stories is BS...

But if a bear did follow her , maybe it was just tying to make a new friend. It did jog with her for 5 miles then waited for her to finish whatever she though she was doing in that tree. she misread the bear, it was definitely a friendly bear.

it's a dry heat wrote:

I just want to know the logic behind taking off clothes and shoes before climbing a tree. If i were being chased, the last thing i would do is ditch my jogbra and shoes since those are kind of crucial to being able to run.

I somewhat agree, but it was supposedly a last-ditch effort to scare the bear off and didn't work. It also could have inadvertently saved her life -- leaving wet clothes on in 40 degree weather can kill.

Problems:

Bears are way too fast, especially in that terrain.

If the bear we're defending her cubs, why would she abandon them to pursue someone who was running away from them?

Peeing you pants does not help you to stay warm.

Jumping to conclusions here, I know...but I think she wanted attention...

BS

Until it's on Strava it didn't happen

I dont know where I saw it but there was a mini doc on a guy who was practicing dug mushing and somehow was chased up a tree by a grizzly but his alpha dog stood at the base and kept the bear away. But the bear climbed a nearby tree and kept swiping at him for a bit. He indeed stayed an entire night up there.

I don't believe her story anyhow.

Honey Bear wrote:

If black bears wanted to eat people they would eat people. This bear probably just wanted to give her a good scare and make sure she stayed away from her cubs. She says she kept turning left, so she may have never gotten very far from the cubs. Even if she didn't intentionally turn most people lost in the woods end up traveling in circles. Or the cubs may have been following mama bear the whole time. Five miles is nothing for a bear.

This person gets it.

Or perhaps when she said chased by a bear she meant a husky person like Bert Kreischer.

Another possibility is that she left home that evening intending to "do a runner," quite literally: that is, disappear from her current life due to who-knows-what stressors. (According the RW article she's a pre-pharmacy/ biology major, with a minor in chemistry.) However, after. a few hours she thought better of it, then concocted the bear story from whole cloth to explain her all-night absence and validate the search that had been mounted for her.

Hoax alert wrote:

Agree. For one thing, a bear can run hella fast for a short burst. So if it was close to her, she's toast. But a bear cannot (and would not) run 5 miles.

Also, bears are awesome at climbing trees, so it it wanted her that badly it would have gone up and gotten her.

This whole story smells.

Why would the mama bear leave the cubs? Once the threat was gone the bear would not leave the cubs alone to chase a human for 5 miles. Color me skeptical.

Both threads about this completely miss the point of tall tales. It doesn't matter if you believe the story, only if you like the story.

The helicopter being "too far away" to see her in a dark forest at night is classic. What would it have done if it had seen her? She's gonna be saved by a passing helicopter?

Not all bears behave the same.

https://youtu.be/rbE53XUtVw0

All I know is, the mansplaining is strong.

fake news? wrote:

I'm gonna go with: she saw a bear/cubs and got scared and ran into the forest for a couple minutes. Got lost for a while, scared and cold, and had to survive overnight. Traumatized by the whole experience (which any reasonable person would be) her mind fabricated some additional details. I really hope she didn't just make it all up for attention.

THIS is probably what happened!

But it's not such a good story like a bear chasing her for 5 miles.