Electrocuted bear

[Rob S]

I'm posting this (hesitantly) because I was wondering to myself what my reaction would have been if I had stumbled upon this while hiking. And, I thought some of you might find this interesting, if not shocking.

Not sure if this is true, but a quick check on Snopes.com didn't turn up anything. The attached photos show what a Sprint technician found when he visited a cell cite to troubleshoot a power outage. Very sad.

Warning - Do not view the pics if you find photos of dead animals disturbing.

Mods - Please feel free to delete if this not appropriate. Just wanted to share something that my boss just emailed to me .......

 

[bubba]

...And, I thought some of you might find this interesting, if not shocking.

No doubt that's what he found it! Tragic.

 

[SAR-EMT40]

Black bears don't concern me. Grizzlies and Polar bears scare the hell out of me. Everything is on the menu to them. The picture should speak volumes about what they consider edible.

It without doubt looks authentic. Slightly different but this happens to some large birds also. Some of them have the ability to span across two lines with their wings. Usually its ones like buzzards and I think it has happened to some eagles as well. What I can't see in the pictures is what the path to ground was. If it was one or several of its feet, or something else.


Keith

 

[DougPaul]

Not sure if this is true, but a quick check on Snopes.com didn't turn up anything. The attached photos show what a Sprint technician found when he visited a cell cite to troubleshoot a power outage.

You have given us very little background info. Judging by the burns, it would appear that the bear bit into a fairly high power line. It is possible that it felt very little...

Doug

 

[Puck]

It without doubt looks authentic. Slightly different but this happens to some large birds also. Some of them have the ability to span across two lines with their wings. Usually its ones like buzzards and I think it has happened to some eagles as well. What I can't see in the pictures is what the path to ground was. If it was one or several of its feet, or something else.


Keith

Funny you should mention this Keith...from the AP

JUNEAU, Alaska - About 10,000 Juneau residents briefly lost power Sunday after a bald eagle lugging a deer head crashed into transmission lines.
"You have to live in Alaska to have this kind of outage scenario," said Gayle Wood, an Alaska Electric Light & Power spokeswoman. "This is the story of the overly ambitious eagle who evidently found a deer head in the landfill."
The hefty bounty apparently bogged down the eagle, which failed to clear transmission lines as it flew away from the landfill, she said. When a repair crew arrived, they found the eagle carcass with the deer head nearby.
This eagle "got a hold of a little bit more than he could handle," Wood said.
Power was out less than 45 minutes.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

 

[SAR-EMT40]

You have given us very little background info. Judging by the burns, it would appear that the bear bit into a fairly high power line. It is possible that it felt very little...

Doug

I agree Doug. He probably never knew what hit him. The more I looked at the pictures a scenerio comes to mind. Grizzlies are known to eat just about anything edible but I have never heard of one eating wire. It looks like this was underground service which is pretty common. It looks like he tore the cover off of the junction box to get access. My guess is he smelled a rodent or other food in there, thats what prompted him to tear off the cover. Trying to get the food he was pulling the wires that were in the way and his teeth finally scraped down through the insulation.

Keith

 

[Rob S]

You have given us very little background info.

Sorry, that's all I have. Received the email from my boss this morning. I always check the validity of stuff like this with Snopes, but came up empty.

However, after a Google search (apologies to Spencer, but hey ...... I wanna know too .....) I found THIS and THIS and THIS.

 

[DougPaul]

Sorry, that's all I have. Received the email from my boss this morning. I always check the validity of stuff like this with Snopes, but came up empty.

However, after a Google search (apologies to Spencer, but hey ...... I wanna know too .....) I found THIS and THIS and THIS.

Thanks--the third reference has some real info--biting down onto a 5KV line has its disadvantages... The line bites back.

On the first two, hitting the "next" and "previous" buttons brings up a few more pics.

Doug

 

[sardog1]

EDIT: Deleted because the link to the correct news account was already provided by i12climbup in that third link.

 

[Grumpy]

And why not bears?

Squirrels getting themselves electrically fried at a utility substation were a frequent cause of electrical power outages in one community where I worked.

G.

 

[forestgnome]

yuck...sad...

 

[dentonfabrics]

Black bears don't concern me.
Keith

...yeah, but that one would make me stop and think. That was one BIG bear.

 

[Woody]

The poor bear!

 

[una_dogger]

Wow, poor bear. Sad, gross and interesting all at the same time. That was a big bear, was it a Brownie??

 

[SAR-EMT40]

...yeah, but that one would make me stop and think. That was one BIG bear.

Thats no black. Thats a Grizz also called a Brown.

Keith

 

[1ADAM12]

I saw these pictures going around the net last year

 

[Seeker]

<shudder> That was one BIG bear. <shudder>

 

[gaiagirl]

I know the chances of bumping into a bear that BIG would be small, but DAMN am I glad I live in the East where that monster could only ever show up in my nightmares!!!

 

[Rivet]

To get this back related to hiking, if you found a dead bear should you report it to the DEC (if in NY or whatever agency in other states)?

 

[Jay H]

In NJ, the state DOT used to clear the deer on the sides of the road but recently it was switched to the individual town's DOT (probably because the state doesn't want to pay for it!). I presume this would be all roadkill, including the rare bear roadkill.

If you find a bear in the woods, I would imagine the DEC would be the folks who would care about anything like that..

Jay