Bear bites Boy Scout on accident

[Chan]

The Associated Press

ALBRIGHTSVILLE, Pa. - The state Game Commission is setting traps in Hickory Run State Park after a bear bit a 12-year-old camping with his Boy Scout troop.

The bear entered the boy's tent Sunday night and bit down on his sleeping bag, probably trying to get candy bars and cereal hidden there, but bit the boy instead, Tim Conway, a game commission spokesman, said Tuesday.

The boy was treated at Blue Mountain Health Systems' Gnaden Huetten campus in Lehighton and released.

"The bear took off when the boy screamed," Conway said.

For that reason, game officials think the bear was after treats and are not considering the bite an attack, he said.

Conway said the bear could not be identified, but game officials will trap as many bears as possible and transport them away from the park.

[Chan]

I'm so glad they're not going to kill the bear. It wasn't as if it tried to hurt the kid on purpose. And don't Boy Scouts know better than to leave food and stuff lying around where it can be sniffed out by a bear?

As for transporting the bears, I think that's fine, but with more and more of our environment being destroyed, where are they supposed to go?

[Jennifer]

From this Cub Scout Den Leader... HANG THE FOOD YOU MORON. Bag the treats and HANG IT!

[disnut8]

I was a Camp Fire Gril drop -out and I even know the hang up your food together so the bears can't get at it. What was that kid thinking about? A midnight snack? Well, he was the midnight snack. A canvas tent is chicken feed to a bear. Duh!!

And I really dislike when things like this make the news. The situation is being handled, the boy is OK and the public will still be warned about bears just like this Boy Scout troop was. But now this article will have people in the area in a panic that there is a rouge bear on the loose somewhere. Hickory Run is a very popular campground (been there many, many times myself) and it's getting to be the time of year when the leaves turn in Pennsylvania. How many people are going to avoid the area just because of this stupid Boy Scout? And a bear that was just doing bear things.

After reading some other posts, watch the boy's family sue the bear.

[Faith]

I'm willing to bet the kid snuck the stuff into his sleeping bag without the knowledge of the den leader. Totally sounds like something my 10 year old Webelo would try and do.

[disnut8]

The Boy Scout Manual:

The Outdoor Code

As an American, I will do my best to -

Be clean in my outdoor manners
Be careful with fire
Be considerate in the outdoors, and
Be conservation minded.One of the promises of the Boy Scout Oath:

DUTY TO SELF: Keeping yourself physically strong means taking care of your body. Eat the right foods and build your strength. Staying mentally awake means learn all you can, be curious, and ask questions. Being morally straight means to live your life with honesty, to be clean in your speech and actions, and to be a person of strong character.

Methinks this Boy Scout didn't really pay too much attention to some of things he was supposed to be enbracing when he took the oath. Or if he didn't take the oath yet, what he wanted to do.

Sorry. Most of Pennsylvania is deer and bear country. Anyone who lives there knows what to do if they are outside in camping areas. Especially now that the deer and bears are getting crowded out of their natural habitat. Anyone associated with the Boy Scouts or any other organization like this should have not only known what to do while out in the outdoors but should have been also setting a good example to others and even teaching others the proper thing to do. This might seem harsh but if I were the Scout Master, that scout would had either been thrown out of the troop or put on probation. He put himself and the lives of his entire troop in danger because he might have been hungry in the middle of the night.

[Faith]

Sneaking junk food into your sleeping bag doesn't mean he "missed" all those parts of the boy scout oath. It means he wanted junk food and did an extremely stupid thing by sneaking them into his sleeping bag - I'm sure most of us have done something stupid in our lives, despite knowing it was wrong. I mean jeeze, he's 12? I sure as heck did a lot of stupid things when I was in junior high. I think maybe he chose to ignore the "self control" part.

They have to memorize the scout oath as a second year webelo (5th grade or age 10), before they can complete the Arrow of Light ceremony and become a Boy Scout. And they DO learn what each part of it means, in depth and in detail, enough so they can explain to others what each part means.

Should he be in trouble? Yes, he needs to be held responsible for his actions. It doesn't say in that (very short) article what the consequences were/are. I'm sure it will be handled by those in charge of his (and his fellow comrades) well-being.

[~Lisa~]

I don' think the bear should be moved,... The kids should all learn a lesson from this.

[MyHandsSpeak]

Did the bear apologize for it's mistake???