Dog survives bear attack on Lion Mountain

Daisy is one lucky dog. In fact, she’s known as the dog with nine lives.

The 9-year-old weimaraner has been shot through the chest with an arrow, and severely broken her leg in a ball-chasing incident — living to see another day each time. Yet, her encounter with a black bear and a pair of cubs outside of Whitefish two weeks ago may have been her closest call yet.

Sean and Mollie Busby recently moved into a home on Lion Mountain two miles from Whitefish. Throughout the summer they’ve become keenly aware of the overwhelming number of bears that roam the hills around town.

At one point this summer they’d see a black bear nearly once every five hours. Their house is backed up against the forest, is surrounded by berries and has an apple tree in the yard.

“It’s bear-adise,” Mollie jokes.

But this time of year when bears are most active prior to winter, it’s no laughing matter — as the Busbys found out the evening of Sunday, Sept. 1.

The couple was working around the house that day when Sean saw Daisy bolt around the corner as if an intruder was in the area. She’s a very protective dog and keeps watch over the property and her family.

Sean heard an intense bark and knew something was up.

He came to the font of the house to find Daisy tangled up with a sow who was protecting two cubs up a tree. The bear swiped at Daisy, leaving deep cuts across her chest and slashing through tendons in her leg.

Blood was everywhere. They needed to act fast.

They called for Daisy who came limping back to the house.

Being Sunday evening, no local veterinarian office would be open, so they called the Flathead Pet Emergency hotline and rushed Daisy to the on-call vet in Kalispell, Dr. Dean Aldrich.

Following three hours of surgery and dozens of stitches, Daisy was sent home badly wounded, but OK.

“The vet said she is very lucky to be alive,” Sean said.

The Busbys say there is no one to blame for the incident. The bear was protecting her cubs and Daisy was protecting her family and home. They’ve been diligent about picking up fallen fruit and taking extra precautions, but they also recognize that their home is in the urban-wildland interface where these types of bear encounters are likely to happen.

“We are living in the bear’s home,” Mollie said.

They shared their story with the hope that it reminds people to take precautions against bear encounters and to be extra aware as fall approaches.

Pick up fallen fruit, don’t put out bird seed in easily accessible places, and secure garbage in bear-resistant containers.

A bear-resistant container can be ordered by calling the Whitefish Public Works Department at 863-2456.