Welcome back to Scary Bear Attacks. Today’s episode takes us to the prestigious Rocky Mountains, to a little town called Ouray. The rigorous landscape consists of steep, boulder strewn mountainsides with lush pine forests, the perfect environment for sightseeing, and black bears. Water resources are abundant as well deer, elk and various berry bushes and nuts for bears to eat and nurture their offspring from. A popular tourist destination, the Colorado backcountry is replete with people. Hikers, skiers, hunters and campers frequently crowd the primitive areas bears prefer to live in, so sightings and confrontations are a possibility. Educated and experienced travelers are prepared with either firearms, bear spray or both.

Donna Munson was a 74 year old single female retiree and widow who lived four miles north of town and enjoyed her space, as well as her local wildlife. Her husband had passed away about 14 years prior to her attack so she was alone, with the exception of her periodic renters. She navigated her property with the support of a walker and was losing her vitality to age.

She befriended squirrels, birds, deer, elk and even skunks and frequently fed them from her porch or windows in her home. She even had visits from the local black bear population and particularly enjoyed their visits. She would set out dog food and bird seed for the area animals to eat as she watched from the relative safety of her fenced in elevated deck. Donna was too frail to carry the big bags of dog and cat food, so she engineered a pulley system that would allow to lift the bags up to her deck. The animals essentially developed into her social interactions for each day and she believed she understood them and had developed a personal rapport with them. They were her friends and she believed she knew them well enough to trust them.

As the years went on and she would see new individuals come and then go, the authorities began to look closely at what was going on near her home. They cautioned her against the illegal act of feeding wildlife of all kinds, as well as the dangers of feeding bears. She became so accustomed to receiving their certified letters and phone calls instructing her to stop feeding animals at her home that she began ignoring the warnings and cautions. Authorities began building a case to file charges against Donna, but the wheels of justice turn very slowly and require time to accumulate evidence. Donna had also been informed that any bears seen feeding at her home would be euthanized. Afterall, it isn’t that only bears can be dangerous once they get accustomed to regular feeding from a single source. Animals as peaceful in appearance as deer and elk have attacked people whenever they are no longer afraid of humans.

Donna’s neighbors had approached her on a few occasions after learning she was feeding the bears from her home. They expressed strong opposition to this practice as they had been seeing more and more bears in their neighborhood and in the hills surrounding the area. Some of these bears had started to approach humans for food and even acting aggressively toward them. Neighbors reported seeing as many as 14 bears at one time on her property.