A Richmond woman is recovering after being attacked by a bear at Douthat State Park on Saturday.
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“There was that pause and we both stood there”.
The group scattered and the bear wound up running after just Laurie. So I don’t know if that had anything to do with it or not. “That made me go down and I went down on my back, the bear went down”.
Virginia State Parks spokesman Jim Meisner says the trails near the Tuscarora Overlook were shut down over the weekend while the conservation officers searched for the bear.
Laurie says she and her son froze, and so did the bear, but only momentarily.
Conner explained, “we have folks that encounter bears on a regular basis, whether that be daily, not necessarily, but on a weekly basis we have lots of folks seeing bears”.
“Of course, you’re in the mountains so you basically expect those types of things to happen”, she says. It bit into her right leg, near the knee. “Stay put at that point, hold your ground let the bear know who you are and that you are human”.
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The agency says a bear believed to be responsible for the attack was humanely killed around 4 a.m. Sunday. We packed up the tent and I’m not camping again.
