LITCHFIELD, Conn — A Litchfield man and a family dog are recovering after an encounter with a bear Saturday morning. The wife of a man who was injured in a bear attack believes the bear was just defending her cubs.
Andrea Monscshein said her husband, Dave was sitting out on the porch with their dog Cooper when the chaos started.
“Cooper went after the bear and attacked the bear. It wasn't the bear attacking Cooper. It was Cooper attacking the bear,” said Monscshein.
That’s when her husband rushed to intervene.
“Dave went flying around the house to just save the dog because the bear started attacking the dog once he attacked her,” said Monscshein.
Andrea told FOX61 her husband tried to get the dog away from the bear but got injured in the process.
“Somehow, he got the bear off Cooper, and he was like, kind of behind a tree trying to protect himself because she was trying to protect herself and scratched Dave up, she didn't bite by Dave at all,” said Monscshein.
Her husband suffered multiple scratches, a puncture wound to the torso and possible fractures in his hand.
“His left hand is pretty messed up, and it happened so fast he didn't even realize he got hurt,” said Monscshein.
After the encounter, she said Dave walked right past the bear to get to the house.
“He said he walked right by the bear, and it just looked at him, there was no aggression at all,” Monscshein continued. “So I said okay, so she really wasn't out to hurt anybody. She was just trying to protect herself when Cooper attacked her.”
Cooper, the family dog was taken to a veterinary hospital to undergo surgery. Dave was taken to a local hospital for treatment, both are back home and expected to make full recoveries.
Monscshein said they have seen the bear with her cubs in the area over the last week but they often stay in the woods.
In a press release, DEEP said the bear appeared to investigate a bird feeder on the property before the attack.
DEEP officials gave a warning to homeowners in response to the attack:
Birdfeeders should not be up from late March through November while bears are active. Birdfeeders, along with trashcans, are one of leading causes of bear conflicts and damage reports that DEEP receives across the state. Food attractants such as birdfeeders around peoples’ homes are a gateway to bears associating humans with food sources, which leads to more dangerous behaviors such as home entries, which can lead to bad outcomes for both humans and bears.
This holiday weekend, DEEP urges residents to take caution if grilling or enjoying food outside. Clean barbecue grills after use, and store grills inside a garage or shed. Don’t leave food or trash bags out unattended. Store garbage in secure, airtight containers inside a garage or other enclosed storage area.
Jake Garcia is a multimedia journalist for FOX61 News. He can be reached at jgarcia@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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