A black bear tore into a tent at a campsite near Fool Creek in Wyoming’s Bighorn National Forest on July 5, forcing two women to flee in the middle of the night after the animal ignored barking dogs, gunshots and car horns. Shonna Dehl said she and Maggie Basset woke up to the sound of fabric ripping and had to leave camp before dawn.
The attack stands out because Dehl said the women had no food or scented items in their tent when the bear came straight at them. The two women and their four dogs tried to drive it off, but the bear returned and later destroyed the campsite, turning what should have been a routine night in active black bear habitat into a scramble for safety.
That is why the story has drawn attention now. Chris Servheen, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly manager, said the bear’s behavior was way too aggressive around people and would likely not change. He said similar tent invasions have come up only a handful of times in his 35-year career, and they are extremely rare, especially when no food is left in the tent and the usual warnings still do not work.
Dehl said the pair did everything they were supposed to do. They had bear spray with them but could not use it because the attack happened too fast. She said they packed up all food and drinks and kept scented items out of the tent, yet the bear still went straight for them. The women hid in parked cars nearby and honked their horns, but when the bear would not leave, they drove away and returned the next morning to find the campsite torn apart.
Servheen said a bear that tears into a tent should be sprayed immediately, and he warned against running because it can trigger a chase. His view is blunt: once a bear starts ignoring dogs and people, it may keep doing it. For Dehl and Basset, the question now is not whether the attack was unusual. It is whether anyone will act on a bear that has already learned how far it can push people out of their own camp.
