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Subscribe to RSSA 65-year-old Canadian man had a trip to the outhouse that he’ll never forget.
Gord Shurvell of Winnipeg says he was doing his business when a black bear barged in and attacked him, leaving him with scratches and a head puncture wound, before his friend shot the animal.
Shurvell recounted his tale of survival to CBC News on Wednesday.
He said he and his friend, 63-year-old Daniel Alexander, were on a camping and fishing trip near Dunbar Lake, about 37 miles north of Sioux Lookout, Ontario, when the attack happened early Saturday.
He told CBC he went to use the bathroom, leaving the door open so he could enjoy the morning view, when the bear barged in.
"I'm sitting on the throne, and my feet are sort of up on the 'poopstool,' we call it," he told CBC.
"So I'm kicking at him to get away, but he grabbed my pants that were down around my ankles. And that was the start of it, and he just kept coming."
He said the bear got a hold of him by the right shoulder and dragged him out of the outhouse toward the bush.
“I’m screaming for my buddy to come with a gun,” he said.
Alexander was in the cabin when he heard the commotion.
"I started out of the cabin and something clicked in, and I thought 'bear.' I turned around, went back into the cabin and got the gun," Alexander told CBC.
Alexander said the bear dropped his friend and turned toward him. That’s when he took aim and shot the bear in the head, killing it.
Shurvell was treated at a hospital for scratches on his head, neck and arms, as well as a puncture in the back of his head.
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So the poor bear had to die 'cause the guy was a jerk and left the door open - geez!
so i guess the poor bear should be spared as it's mauling you to death?
Bears do S**t in the woods, and they are very particular about who else uses their outhouses.....seriously, that could make you crap your pants....oh, good timing?...ok, truly seriously, sorry for the bear, glad the guy is ok.
I bet Merdyvalley is one of those tree hugger, vegan cityfolk that thinks all animals are like the ones in Disney cartoons that never, ever show any aggression when "threatened" in their natural habitats. While I currently live in a city, I was raised in an area where it's not unusual to see bear walking through your backyard in the morning.
Merdyvalley? He must come from Merde Valley.
I'm guessing Merdy was joking, but what do I know.
if merdyvalley were gords friend he would be dead now. merdyvalley would have tried to reason with the bear while the bear ripped the mans face off.
Those Poo Bear's...
Merdyvalley's remark has to be the stupidest I've read in a month.
"Oh, I've got to crap." "OH CRAP, the seat's damp and it stinks in here." "OH CRAP, A BEAR."
An outhouse can be a dangerous thing! Not all bears wish to sh^t in the woods.
Probably one of those bears from the Charmin commercial. Those out-of-work actors get all pissy.
merdywerd or whatever,,,,really, the bear had to die because the guy did not shut the door???seriouunsly, if a bear goes after a human,,,yes the bear needs to die? Unless it is a mother bear and unfortunatley someone walks or tracks into their path......that is nature, and the mother and cubs should be given a pass. But this was a man eating bear or stupid young bear.....shoot the B to the ground and that is mother nature.
If you want a ticket to the Zoo, I will buy it....then if you want to go hug the bears I will watch,,,,and contact me if you get out alive....because I will suggest you can wright a book or be interviewed by the media..............yes you guessed it you are a DA.
Happened to my dad back in about 1958. Up at Sugar Lake at Grandpa's cabin. We had cleaned quite a few fish and tossed the remains in the woods, and had the usual Marshmellow roast. All the cabin windows with screens, opened. All of us kids just gone to bed. The prankster neighbor old Jack Aiker took the crooked path through the woods back to his cabin walking crooked because all the men had a few beers. Dad as usual made his last night trip to the outhouse about 11pm. We hear dad yelling at old Jack to knock it off. After dad yelling about 5-6 times, mom shines the big sealed beam flashlight out the window and lit up dad trying to remain seated while a black bear was on the back side of the outhouse pushing it over , enough to make the door fly open and dad trying to hang on.. Still yelling at Jack to knock it off, mom calmly tells dad that it is not Jack, but a black bear. Dad did not even try to pull em up as he ran out the outhouse and into the cabin. We all started banging pot and pots inside the cabin and the bear left. Several nights later, dad went out, and started yelling again this time at the bear he thought was out there again. Mom put the light on, and we could clearly see old Jack pushing the outhouse all the way over this time with dad inside. We watched Jack run away....For years no one would tell dad it was Jack for Jack's safety. Lesson learned..don't feed the bears, don't feed the beers to Jack!
Thanks starsailing What an awesome tale! We all need a good dose of laughter.
The bear literally scared the chit out of him.
Well then, how about another story then NC!....Same cabin, about 1960, brother and myself forced to drive to cabin w/Grandpa Sven and Jack to paint the cabin yellow. Started 5am. got up there 11:30, Sven and Jack drunk driving in the blue 51 Henry J. Brought up 6 cases of beer. Next day Bill and me would take out 4 beers from the case and hide them. Sven thought Jack took em. Nice arguement, we put 3 back. Sven goes to get a beer and counts...He yelled at Jack saying you put the beers back starting another fight. We took out 3-4 beers, put 1-2 back all afternoon until Bill and Me almost had a case of beer ourselves. Painting begins, we put the beer we took into Cool-Aid while we painted the cabin. Jack and Sven look like the 2 muppet old guys in balcony on Muppet show. Well they criticized our sloppy painting once too many times. Bill dipped brush into yellow paint and Jack walked by, Bill swished the brush up and down , paint flying off giving Jack a big yellow streak down his back....ya...Jack walks past Sven, Sven sees the yellow paint streak down his back....says to Jack...you have a yellow streak down your back! Well that was it, Jack starts a swinnging at Sven. The two fought off and on all afternoon while Bill and me, 12 and 10 yrs old drank beer..............Miss that cabin.....
i wonder if bear taste like chicken? ought to be good with beer and marshmellows
Oh my, I thought I'd laughed as hard as possible tonight watching Eddie Izzard's 1999 performance. Thank you and congratulations! Both for the awesome tale telling and for surviving the cabin to tell them.
NC...not done yet with the Dad and bear stories. Dad grew up in South Superior Wisc. About 1936, He had an older brother with him at the old farm that wasn't the brightest. Got kicked out of school in 4th grade.....Ya...So dad and his brother John are filling the root house with potatos, which was about 40 yards from the house. Uncle John sees a bear and her cubs at the spring about 30 yards away, the idiot takes a potato and throws it at one of the cubs and hit it pretty hard. Cub lets out a cry, mother bear charges dad and uncle John. They couldn't make it to the house, the bear chasing them around the root house once and dad and uncle John ran inside and pulled door shut. Tar paper side over plank wood two feet wide. The bear is clawing away, tearing all the tar paper off and John is laughing(remember kicked out of school 4th grade) the wood is being all clawed up with the bear trying to get through the wood. Dad makes John help him pile all the potatos on that side al wall inside root celler. As soon as they get hundreds piled against the wall, the bear would switch sides and process would start all over again. This went on for several hrs. Finally they see the bear walk away....they leave the root house...Uncle John sees the bear about 30 yards away....yep..throws another potato and hits the mother bear.....Charges again. Same scene..piling potatos each side over and over with dad punching Uncle John in between bearing ripped off one of the boards. Bear leaves. Dad quit helping on the farm and became a lumberjack. Everytime we went to the farm, dad always had a rifle with. We pulled off the siding of root house about 1970 and there were the massive claw marks.
I saw the very same thing happen on "Seinfeld". If only the man would have "spared a square" this whole confrontation could have been avoided. Or just maybe the bears are growing sour from all the human stereotyping about them @!$%#ting in the woods and he just wanted to prove us wrong.
Starsailing, I know a filmmaker......lol. At the very least, you ought to be able to sell the script to the Family Guy folks.......lmao......
Thanks starsailing for making my morning a little brighter! :)
Ya!
Thanks starsailing for the great stories. I think all of us who grew up in the days of "goin' to camp" have similar; or maybe just the ones of us who went to camp with prodigious amounts of beer.
I guess next time..he'll put the seat back down!
If he'd understood bear language, he would have heard him coming, "...out of the way, I gotta go.... No, NOW! I gotta go, now!....Outta my way!..." Another case for universal translators, poor bear.
Poor bear smells like sh-- then they shoot him.
... and THAT's whatcha get for squeezin' the Charmin! LOL
Was the outhouse a one-holer or a double-holer? Bears... they are uncouth. Dragging a guy out the door when he's doing his business. At least potty-man was not dismembeared. I crack me up.
Well he was in the right place to be for what he probably did when he saw the bear. Or maybe the bear needed to us the facility...
Apparently, bears do crap in the woods, but they don't like others doing it. I suppose if I came home and found a bear on my toilet, I would get mad too
That's what happens when you take a growler
FINALLY!!! We have an answer to the age old question, 'Does a bear sh** in the woods?'
Apparently the answer is YES, but don't use the outhouse before he does.
Maybe the guy ate a bunch of berries the night before.
Man that is a crappy way to start your day.
Is it just me, or does this remind anyone of that scene from Jurassic Park?
Maybe the bear got mad cause his sh1t stunk too damn much. The bear smelt it a mile away.
wonder if he had all his digits? lol
@!$%# happens.
This story is unbearable.
I should strangle you with my bear hands.
he was running through the woods with a bear behind
sounds like he bear-ly escaped with his life
That puncture wound is going to need a few bear-aspirin ....
Those were some nasty scratches on his bear back.
he couldn't bear the smell...i don't blame him...
oh please, stop! All these stupid puns are making me grizzled.
How could this situation be avoided?..........It's simple....Look for the... BEAR necessesities the simple BEAR necessities, forget about your worries and your strife, I mean the... BEAR necessities that's why a BEAR can rest at ease with just the BEAR necessities of life...........
Quick, someone call Bear Grylls. He'll use some Bearies to lure the bear away.
He bearly got away
awright, knock it off! This is more than I can bear...
How embearassing. With his pants down around his ankles, the gentleman was virtually bear naked.
Bears...Nature's Exlax.
I guess that answered that question Bears do Sh!t in the woods
The bear was probably just after the nuts.
Ya gotta just grin and bear it on this story...
That would have ben a grizzly discovery.
I can't bear to read anymore of these...
I can't bear to read anymore of these!
At least he didn't crap his pants as a 500 pound animal was bearing down on him.
hey, the poor guy had something bruin, and he couldn't bear the growling. When nature called, he bearly made it.
Bear with us as we have bearly begun to bring the full weight of the puns to bear.
I'm sorry for the guy's injuries, but you people are just TOO funny with the jokes! I can bearly stand it!
He should of been quicker to bear arms.
Well, at least he didn't poop in his pants. Must have had corn the night before.
Well if he hadn't had his bowel movement yet I bet it did not take long.
maybe the bears roll of tolite paper run out,the one on the tree branch.
that realy is a sh@tty thing to have happen to you bet he uses diapers from now on
Depends.
Depends......roglmfao...almost as good as stars stories...epic win
Another reason to carry guns in National Parks here in the U.S. as I'm sure this has happened often. I'll google it and get right back with a complete listing.......
I'm pretty sure that "being mauled to death by a bear while taking a crap" is right up there with car accidents and heart disease as one of the leading causes of death...
There exists all the millions of people this incident or something similar to this doesn't matter to. And so it is a thing to clown around about or make stupid jokes about how the bear got a nasty break. Until this happens to you or yours. As did something worse, death, happened to 17 people since 2000 in incidents with black bear. As death happened to a baby about 60 miles north of where I write less than 10 years ago. Perhaps these are attacks by black bears instead of incidents? You can be sure there are well-meaning but misled or overly sentimental people who will now damn these guys for even being in the woods and killing the poor brute.
If you get a gun to protect yourself from black bears while you may slightly increase your chance of surviving the very very very remote possibility of a black bear attacking you (unlike a Polar Bear, which think of humans as food, and to a much lesser extent brown bears, which will attack to protect their young), you will overall increase your chance of death from accidental discharge of your gun. So getting a gun to protect yourself from black bears is not going to increase your overall survival odds. If you are concerned about bear attacks get bear spray, which is far more effective and does not pose the same risk to yourself.
I have been a hunter and out doors person all of my life. I have seen very few bears in the wild in my 73 years. When you see one enjoy what you see, don't antagonize them by making any questionable moves. And if they are headed your way make some noise, most often they will be just as wary of you, as you are of them. And when you visit those areas where such critters are common don't bait them in any way. Keep your garbage and smelly trash far away from your accomodations, so you do not attract them to you.
However the city folks and those of like mind, need to remember animals both wild and domesticated go off their rocker quite often. Bear spray is not effective at 30 yards, and once a bear has taken a dislike to your presence, for what ever reason, they are a formidable enemy. There is no POOR BEAR involved, and there is most often no run away opportunity, once this process has started. A bear can out run a horse, can you?
This guy did nothing to antagoize this bear, he was just taking a dump. The solution his pal made, was absolutely the proper one. Anyone who thinks different has a need for serious mental help.
Your more at risk going to your doctor.
CDC Death Data 1930's, over 2,500 accidental deaths by firearm discharge
CDC Death & Data 2009 554 deaths by accidental firearm discharge, right at 100 age 0-18 yrs old.
US Census 1930's 112.8 mil
US Census 2009 304 mil
BATF 1930 TO 2009 100 Million more firearms in civilian hands
JAMA 700,000 doctors in US kill 44,000 to 98,000 by medical malpractice every year or .065 to .14 per physician.
554 / 304,000,000 = .00000182
Physician is .065 or .14 /.00000182= 35,714 to 76,923 times more likely to harm anyone than they being accidently harmed by a lawfully owned firearm.
Explain to everyone again what the oh sooo scarey risk is of an accidental death by firearm discharge that has dropped 75% since the 1930's and has not increased in paralell with the population increase of 167% and your fear mongering inferals.
So where is the risk from concealed carry holders and why aren't you antis crying to ban doctors?
Then the number of accidental deaths while in the woods or hunting is so infinitely small versus the number of people who use our stae and federal parks and lands, so again what is your irrelevent point?
Finally, someone with actual statistics to back their point...not just knee-jerk sentimental over-reaction!
Matt: Have you ever wondered why bear scat smells like pepper and is full of whistles and shoelaces?
Glad to see he's okay..... yikes.
butt he was...embareassed...
Police discovered a trail of turds which led to the camp site.
I once bought a post card many many years ago that had a man running from an outhouse with his overalls down and a bear closing in. The caption read "Big Bear Behind"
I think we found where bears DO Sh*t!
Bet that scared it out of him!
Glad he's OK.
This is just another reinforcement for those folks who still think of bears as 'our furry forest friends'. Bears can be temperamental and are omnivores (that means if the bear is hungry and you are in the neighborhood, you are on the menu.)
Nothing wrong with that.
This not only answers the age old question of DOES A BEAR but also appears to tell us WHERE A BEAR and they apparently aren't the kind to wait their turn either.
Poop-stool? Amateur. I just brace myself against the wall opposite and give it my all. That bear'd been splattered to eternity!
WAY too much info. Try a little fiber once in while, it'll help.
Seriously, it's just not polite to leave the door open. Glad he's OK, though.
Those damn bears encroaching on our camping grounds deserve what they get! (sarcasm)
They get crap everytime.
FINALLY! A kinda funny story (sorry dude) without racial, political, religous, smack responses. THANK YOU Mr. Bear!! And thank all of you for the witty banter! Awesome! Yes, in the woods, or the outhouse or where ever he damn well pleases! AND, best of all, it's not Obama's fault!
What do you mean no racial responses? It was a BLACK bear!
Ok, you forced my hand!
It's Bush's fault... LOL
Not OBAMAS fault. Thank you for saying this!
May he recover from this ordeal well, Thank GOD it was not his time!
Does put a new twist on Bear-Ass@# naked! (sorry), hahahaha
What are you saying, it smells of politics. eh. Besides PETA is all over it.
If I was on a camping trip and a bear attacked me in a out house; I'd be going even more than when I first started and bear would leave after awhile he would be so tired waiting for me to finish.
Thats some holding tank.
Everyone should read Herrero's "Bear Attacks" and be afraid to enter MY wilderness with this "back to nature" movement that's going on now. It's sooo crowded out there sometimes...the Green River Lakes of the Wind River Range in WY is being reclaimed by the GRIZZLY after leaving for 100 years! So that's a good place to avoid:) I had to make a 4 mile ocean crossing (sea kayak) in AK from Russel Island at 11pm one night after being greeted by hords of GRIZZ at each attempted landing...be afraid!
Right on, yakman48, and I was stalked by a bear in Ak, along the Alcan back in the early 60's. A car picked me up much to my surprise.....OUT OF NOWHERE......and saved my life.
Following the bears death,the shooter was arrested for carrying a weapon and will be tried and probably serve 30 years in a Canadian prison.Just kidding,I hope.
The bears probably know it's a crapper and tired of the humans smelling up the place, and was thinking wait until I catch another one doing it, and not leaving us any food. Who knows what that bear was thinking, but he caught him in that outhouse!
If a man shiits in the woods, does a bear make a sound?
Heh!
that's if a turd falls in the forest... and there's no one there to smell it ...do it stink...
i don't like bears and i don't even go to the outhouse without either a gun or pepper spray when in the woods. i have had several run in's with bears in the last 50+ years and have learned that you never know what a bear will do. it is their world and if your going to enter it you need to be prepared. better safe then sorry.
We once endured the mandatory bear lecture from a ranger as we entered Yellowstone via Cody. I heard the lady say that bear spray halts 90% of bear attacks. I responded, "Are you telling us that 10% of the aggressive bears who get sprayed just keep coming? And that's why rangers like you go armed while visitors like me get to have the ineffective spray?"
Today she'da had me locked up for not genuflecting to a member of the national terrorist team.
Hahahaha.
Yeah Tom...love that road in from Cody to Yellowstone. Love how traffic stops for critter watching..all the cars line up, you see people ahead with cameras......we are in a little 81Merc Lynx Wagon, wife , two kids.... After an hr sitting literally bumper to bumper, now we see what they are looking at. Here is a Griz ripping up a log not 20 ft from the road and our car.......I can't pull out as all cars have us blocked in..At least 10 minutes like that......I am laying on the horn when finally the camper in front moves forward.....Now I know what dad felt like......
I can bearly handle it.
My daughter lives in a cabin in the mountains outside Anchorage by herself. Has an outhouse with no door. Guess she need to read this article and make sure her crapper has a hook inside to hang her shotgun....
Bears? Just picture the winters! Why doesn't her loving papa send her a door?
It's nice to get away sometimes, but that (or the bear) would kill me.
Bears like salmon so make sure your daughter washes that hairy Alaskan muff of hers if she is going to keep the door open.
Is her name by chance Girlzzly Adams?
is her nick name...Rapunzel ankles...
If I were facing a bear, I think I'd much rather have a high-powered rifle than a shotgun. Unless it's a close-up head shot, shotgun pellets probably wouldn't even faze a large bear.
Shotty slugs.
GAdude- 000 buckshot at is a definite bear stopper at close range. you have 6 9.1mm pellets blasting from a 3" magnum shell it will put them down.
Make sure to tell her not to wear the "bear paws" brand of slippers and shoes! Old Blackie won't paws (pause) for a second before ripping those off her feet!!!
Hey, what an idea for the WWF. Outhouse in a steel cage match. First fighter to knock his opponent out of the outhouse and pin him wins. I can bearly stop drooling with anticipation over that!!!(sarc)