Woman Killed by black bear on Rainy Lake island

I am sure we will likely never know the full details about what happened, but a 62 year old woman was killed by a black bear recently. Definitely unusual, but I have a feeling the fact she had dogs and the other bears were likely the moms cubs is what led to the confrontation.
Sad and scary deal all around. We were camping on an island on Lake of the Woods back in June and we had a mom and her 2 cubs come into camp. The thing is we have an electric fence we bring with, but at the time when momma got in the lone guy in camp was on the crapper and had turned the fence off. Hears something look over his shoulder and there she is standing on the picnic table.

IMO they are getting far to comfortable around people especially considering we are on an island that is popular for guide provided shorelunch.
After she was finally spooked the first time she came back 3 more times that night before finally walking into the electric fence.
It doesnt make me feel too comfortable knowing those 2 cubs are going to have another year of experience likely and never knew to shy away from humans when we go back up there.

So you’re blaming the bears?

Da bears

CaptainMusky wrote:

IMO they are getting far to comfortable around people especially considering we are on an island that is popular for guide provided shorelunch.

Exactly why I would avoid camping on said island. Food scraps and grease will attract bears, ask any bear hunting guide. It’s not rocket science.

Unfortunate indeed but people in wilderness settings need to remember that they are in the bear’s back yard, not the other way around.

Having dogs in a camp like that is big time not smart, if that was the case here.

Regardless, its unfortunate and sad.

Vexman wrote:

Da bears

Good Lord man, show a little respect.

I’m sure if she were your mother or wife you’d have a different opinion.

Tom Sawvell wrote:

Having dogs in a camp like that is big time not smart, if that was the case here.

I believe it was a cabin/home they were at on the island.

It was a fluke incident. No need for judgement. No need to over think. No need to blame dogs.

The news said it was only about a 100 pound bear and was likely a malnourished juvenile.

Mr. Clowncolor your not a SCRATCHER if you haven’t put two 2′ scratches down the side of a brand new ranger lol!! sorry to disrupt this post! I could only imagine what she went through. My regards to the family!

WCCO had a DNR Biologist on today who said it was rarer than rare.
He went on to say nobody has ever been killed by a Bear in MN, ever.

Minnesota woman identified after she was killed by bear on Rainy Lake
Maple Plain woman was checking her dogs on remote island in Ontario.
By Mary Lynn Smith Star Tribune SEPTEMBER 4, 2019 — 6:19PM
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Canadian authorities released the name Wednesday of the Minnesota woman who was killed by a black bear on a remote island on Rainy Lake.

Catherine Sweatt-Mueller, 62, of Maple Plain, was at the cabin on Red Pine Island for a family reunion, authorities said. She went outside when she heard her two dogs barking about 6 p.m. Sunday. The dogs, one of them injured, eventually returned to the cabin, but the woman didn’t.

Her parents, both in their 80s, called police.

The heavily wooded island is in Canadian waters, about a quarter-mile north of the international border that divides Rainy Lake and about 10 miles northeast of International Falls, Minn.

Officers searched the area and found a yearling bear standing over the woman’s body and shot it.

Another yearling and a sow were nearby in the brush, acting aggressively by making noises with their mouths and stomping, said Ontario Provincial Police Constable Jim Davis.

What to do if you encounter a black bear
What to do if you encounter a black bear
Stay calm. Don’t climb a tree. Back away slowly.
The bear that was killed will be sent to the University of Guelph in Ontario for a necropsy — an animal autopsy — to determine if any health problems caused what officials said was abnormal behavior. Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is leading a search to find the other two bears, according to a written statement from the ministry.

There were no witnesses to the incident so officials there said they don’t want to speculate about why the attack occurred.

“Attacks of this nature are extremely rare and our hearts go out to the family and friends of the victim,” a ministry spokesperson previously stated.

Sweatt-Mueller’s family declined to speak about the incident, asking that the public and media respect the Maple Plain woman’s “lifelong pursuit of privacy.”

How can you blame the bears when we are in their territory? Bringing food and having shorelunch and then not understanding how and why the bears come.
Very sad story and I feel for the family.
Any time we camp and or are in the woods we carry a 45 on us. For a reason.

IMO they are getting far to comfortable around people especially considering we are on an island that is popular for guide provided shorelunch.

Maybe its us who are becoming to comfortable and trusting?

Just sad.

Probably a dumb question but what was so not smart about having dogs in a camp like that?

Bearcat89 wrote:

Probably a dumb question but what was so not smart about having dogs in a camp like that?

Not so dumb, I’m wondering the same thing..

I would think the bears would be threatened by the dogs and become defensive

Super sad story and I can’t imagine how her parents feel, no parent should have to bury their child.

I can’t believe people get mad at the animal in a situation like this or “blame” the animal. It’s Nature plain and simple.

Matt Moen wrote:

So you’re blaming the bears?

Nice leap, the creek you tried to jump across was much wider than you thought.
Not even close to what I said.

cheers wrote:

I would think the bears would be threatened by the dogs and become defensive

Dogs are protectors as are bears with their own. The dogs will try and protect their humans and that is usually never a good mix.
I was fascinated when the bears came into our camp. Uncomfortable absolutely because momma was quite large. I have never been that close to a wild bear before, but it was awesome to see.
When the guy in our group noticed her and walked toward her and started yelling, she walked toward him and he smartly walked the other direction and got a guy from the houseboat across the bay from us to pick him up.
The island we are on is sort of crescent shaped with a narrow neckdown area where houseboats generally pull up that is only 20 feet wide. The bears were trapped between our camp and those folks. It was a restless night for sure, but thankfully the next morning we saw the bears on the other side of the houseboats on the much larger portion of the island.
I imagine momma bear took her cubs to this island to get away from males. Hopefully they wont be around next year. Here are a couple pics, one of mom and the other of a cub up in the tree behind one of the tents.
Definitely not the bears’ fault, they are just doing what they do.

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IceNEyes1986 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
Probably a dumb question but what was so not smart about having dogs in a camp like that?

Not so dumb, I’m wondering the same thing..

I think “dog” is a very general term these days. We’re they 4lb lap dogs or 85lb labs?
At our cabin on Namakan we’ve had 3 aggressive bears in 50+ years.
The one situation that involved a dog had the best outcome, dog barked and chased the bear away from everyone. Dog came back unharmed, bear never returned. It was a large lab/ Chesapeake mix though. Dangerous for the dog yes, but in that situation the dog is less important than people/ kids.
I prefer having a dog in camp (large breed). They know and usually inform us of something going on well before we know.

Very sad event, it was freak thing that can happen in nature. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. You can’t blame the bear for needing to eat and you can’t control nature.

grubson wrote:

Very sad event, it was freak thing that can happen in nature. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. You can’t blame the bear for needing to eat and you can’t control nature.

x2

I’ve had 3 separate incidents all fishing on the st croix where my shepherds scared a bear off that was blindly approaching me. Maybe we were lucky, maybe not. I felt thankful. I could definatley see it being a issue if they were harassing Cubs. But I was always thankful they were with

I’m wondering if the cub killed the woman or if it was the momma bear?

Roy wrote:

I can’t believe people get mad at the animal in a situation like this or “blame” the animal. It’s Nature plain and simple.

I also think that it is a very natural reaction for people to be angry and blame the bear in an event such as this. Quite honestly, I would find it surprising if people didn’t.

People are also a very real part of nature, every bit a part of the big picture as the bear.

Horrid story – my thoughts and prayers go out to the families and all those affected.

I would like to know what happened to the dogs.

My condolences to the family after this unfortunate tragedy.

BCNeal wrote:

I’m wondering if the cub killed the woman or if it was the momma bear?

The article said the bear was about a hundred pounds. More than big enough to be dangerous. At that size, the bear was about 1 1/2 years old and more than likely had been givin the boot from mom. I’d bet it was with siblings not mom. Bears on their own for the first months are the most dangerous because they are more than likely hungry and less educated than older bears.

grubson wrote:

At that size, the bear was about 1 1/2 years old and more than likely had been givin the boot from mom. I’d bet it was with siblings not mom. Bears on their own for the first months are the most dangerous because they are more than likely hungry and less educated than older bears .

The article said the yearling and the sow were nearby in the bush.

Very unfortunate.

I’m not sure why the fascination is with blame. A wild animal killed someone.

lindyrig79 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>grubson wrote:</div>
At that size, the bear was about 1 1/2 years old and more than likely had been givin the boot from mom. I’d bet it was with siblings not mom. Bears on their own for the first months are the most dangerous because they are more than likely hungry and less educated than older bears .

The article said the yearling and the sow were nearby in the bush.

Interesting, the article I read (Kare11) didn’t specify, it just said that 2 other bears were noticed nearby on the island.
Very sad either way. I feel for the family. Nature can be cruel.

Bears and dogs are by nature not good company. Bears will go ballistic on dogs and anything or anyone getting in the fray is going to be in serious trouble. We have lots of bears come in the cabin yard. We do not allow company to bring dogs to the cabin for that very reason. If that was a mother with cubs, they’d have been born this last winter, not yearlings which would have been the winter prior. Those cubs would be about 30 pounds tops. Bears kick year old cubs away so the mother can breed without endangering those cubs. It may well be that she did not get bred and allowed the year-olds back.

Large dogs can outrun a bear in the woods. And a bear will only chase so far. Small dogs seem to have a tenacious aire about them that makes them think they’re on some wonder drug or steroid and will face off with anything they think is in their space. Up close and personal a bear standing its ground is incredibly fast with its feet and a small dog nagging a bear up close is likely a dead or severely injured dog. That bear will be the supercharged with the fight/flight juice and anyone or anything stepping in on that is not going to like the outcome.

Anyone going in the wilderness with dogs should also be armed heavily enough to handle a bear. If not, don’t take a family pet anywhere bears may be found unless you keep the thing on a leash. When someone steps off a boat onto a wilderness island, they are the trespasser, not the bear. Cabin or no cabin this is the bear’s world and whoever better respect that.

Its tragic but in this case 100% avoidable.