An Oliver Twp., Perry County man and woman are being treated this morning for injuries received when a black bear followed a dog into their home.
Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman Jerry Feaser said the man and woman had left their dog out at their Newport Road home around 4 a.m. Monday.
Harrisburg Hospital officials said Richard and Angela Moyer were being treated in the emergency room this morning.
“When the dog came running back into the house, a bear was right on its tail and followed it into the house,” Feaser said.
View full sizeA black bear, like this one photographed in Halifax in 2009, followed a dog into a Perry County home early Monday and injured the homeowners. Feaser said the Richard Moyer was bitten and scratched. Angela Moyer attempted to chase the bear off “and it turned on her as well,” Feaser said.
Wildlife Conservation Officer Steve Hower attempted to locate the bear this morning but was not able to.
“I do plan to take a trap down, sometimes bears do return. They are primarily nocturnal. I will have a trap there before dark,” Hower said. The trap captures the animal alive.
It is unusal for a bear to go into a house but clearly this is a situation where there had been a dog-bear encounter outside, Feaser said.
"It is most likely this bear was in hot pursuit of the dog,'' Feaser said. "Bears and dogs are mortal enemies. In most reports of bear, human contact, in vast majority of the cases there is a dog involved.”
"Black bears are far more timid than their western cousins. They are more likely to run than confront a human but if there is a dog involved or a surprise situation a bear will defend itself,” he said.
Feaser said if the bear can be located it will be euthanized and tested for rabies.
Hower said he does not know why this bear chased the dog into the house. In the past he sadi he has had cases where a female bear with cubs perceives a threat — such as a dog — and tries to protect her cubs.
“That’s not unusual behavior for a female with cubs,” he said.
Once this bear chased the dog into the house, Hower said, it likely panicked.
Black bears this time of the year are bulking up for winter, getting ready to hibernate.
