Canada: Grizzly Broke into House, Shot Dead in 2015 with a Rifle

It was 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, 9 August, 2015, in Kimberly, British Columbia when Niki and Mark Traverse' pet dog, a 9 1/2 year old Jack Russel Terrier named Sid, started barking frantically. Niki went to investigate, and came within five feed of a grizzly bear. From ctvnews.ca:

"It was 10 feet from our son’s bedroom door," she said.

"I ran back into our bedroom to grab my husband and say,‘There’s a bear in the house, there’s a bear in the house!’"

Mark Traverse, who is a hunter, quickly grabbed his gun, loaded it, and approached the feasting grizzly.

"It took a step to me and I shot it. It took another step and I shot it again," Mark said.

The bear soon died on the kitchen floor.

The couple now credits their pet for alerting them in time.

"This is the dog that saved us," Mark said as he scratched the little dog’s chest.

Mark was able to access the rifle from a locked locker in the bedroom. It was unloaded, as is required by Canadian law. Fortunately he had time to load the rifle before the bear investigated the bedroom.

The story might have been different if he had to retrieve the rifle from a locked safe in another part of the house. I have not been able to determine the make or caliber of the rifle.

Canadian bear attack stories are often ignored in American media.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch