# Bear bites elderly woman



## Anonymous (Aug 13, 2001)

Bear bites elderly woman 
The Associated Press
8/12/01 5:09 PM

INLET, N.Y. (AP) -- An 81-year-old woman was bitten and clawed by a bear in her summer home in the Adirondacks, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. 

A conservation officer said the bear was probably looking for food when it pushed open a door and walked into the woman's camp around 1 a.m. Saturday in the town of Inlet, about 85 miles northeast of Syracuse. 

The door swung shut behind the animal. When the woman woke up and tried to re-open the door, the bear bit her arms and clawed her sides, Lt. Robert Henke told The Post-Star of Glens Falls. 

The bear ran off when a neighbor heard the woman's screams and opened the door. The woman was taken to Saint Luke's Hospital in Utica, where she was listed in good condition Saturday night. 

The DEC has received dozens of complaints about bears this summer from Hamilton County towns. 

DEC bear specialist Robert Inslerman in Ray Brook said his office is getting as many as 80 bear calls a week. Hot, dry weather has limited the bears' food supply and driven them into residential areas in the Adirondacks.


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