Moose Droppings

Prowling Bear Knocks Caswell County Man to the Ground

Sep 26, 2007 @ 11:39 pm by Moose

Caswell county North Carolina not an area known for bears had an incident that is being called a “bear attack”. Last Thursday around 10 pm a county man investigating odd noises in his yard came face to face with a bear.

Here is what the Caswell Messenger is reporting;

23-year-old Clifton Marshall of Pelham, a big man at 6 foot 3 inches tall and 309 pounds.

Marshall says he’s lucky to be here to talk about his encounter with a “real big” bear last Thursday.

He was enjoying a pleasant evening on the front porch of his home with family and friends when, at about 10 p.m., all were alarmed to hear a frantic squealing noise coming from behind the Marshalls’ house. Clifton Marshall was concerned about the family dog, Cedar, who stays in the back, so he and his friend Kevin Phillips, 20, went to investigate.
They discovered Cedar in his dog house, frightened but okay, and had only walked about 10 yards further when it appeared in Phillips’ spotlight.

“He happened to throw the flashlight up and there was a black bear,” Marshall said.

“It was eating on something. The bear looked up and grabbed at us.”

Marshall screamed at Kevin to run, which he did, with the flashlight, leaving Marshall in the darkness.

Because he’s had three back surgeries, Marshall wasn’t as agile.

“Plus, my feet were caught in kudzu and [Kevin] had the light.”
The bear knocked Marshall down with his head. He said he could feel the bear’s breath on his face as it wrestled with him.

“I didn’t have time to think,” Marshall said. “All I could think of was to get him off of me.”

After a couple of minutes of Marshall’s “hitting and hollering,” the bear got up and disappeared into the woods as quickly as he had appeared.

Miraculously, Clifton Marshall suffered only bruised ribs and a strained wrist and knee.

Asked how he figured he’d survived, Marshall said, “The good Lord ain’t ready for me.”

I’m glad no one was seriously hurt running from a black bear is not a smart move and may actually encourage the bear to attack you. I guess this also shows that you don’t necessarily have to be fast enough to out run a bear just fast enough to out run your buddy Bears moving into the more populated piedmont area of the state will only increase the bear & human conflicts.