Colorado Man Attacked by Bear While Walking Dogs in Boulder

One of the things that I love about Colorado is the wildlife. We have so many amazing animals that live in this state; however, many of them can be dangerous. Mountain lions have been known to attack humans and pets, elk have been known to gore tourists who cannot seem to grasp that large animals with sharp pointy things coming out of their heads can seriously injure you, and let's not forget about the bears.

Bears in Colorado: Hungry and Opportunistic

Bears are driven by hunger. If given the opportunity, they will break into an unlocked car and destroy it all for a half-eaten bag of chips. Black bears in Colorado have also been known to break into homes when they can smell food, just to get a taste of that sweet home cooking, too.

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Fall is the prime time of year for bears to be eating as much as they possibly can before hibernating for the winter. With that being said, these hungry bears can easily consume up to 20,000 calories or more per day to fatten up for the winter months.

READ MORE: CPW Shares Fall Wildlife Safety Tips

That means that these bears will do anything and everything in their power to secure the food they very much need for their long winter slumber, even attacking humans if they feel threatened. According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, that is exactly what happened in Boulder, Colorado, this past weekend.

Boulder Bear Incident Leaves Man Scratched

Around 11 p.m. on Saturday, a man was walking his two dogs along High Street in Boulder when a sow with a cub nearby started to charge the man and the two dogs. When the man attempted to escape the bear, he tripped over the dog's leash and fell. This is when the bear scratched the man on his back.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Officers responded to the incident and found an overturned trash can and evidence of bear activity; however, officers were unable to locate the sow and the cub. Thankfully, the victim only sustained superficial injuries from the hungry bear.

READ MORE: What to Do If You See a Bear in Colorado

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are warning residents in areas where bears are common to be vigilant about trash and non-natural foods that bears would be on the search for, so these bears are not rewarded with easy meals. Learn more about this incident and how to keep yourself safe from bears in Colorado at cpw.state.co.us.