‘I feel a paw on my lap’: St. Louis Cardinals prospect bitten by bear while bow hunting

October 20, 2021, 03:01 PM

Nice kid. Two videos at the link show the bear approaching the tree stand. The second is an interview in which he desribes the encounter.

TREMPEALEAU COUNTY, Wis. (KTVI) — A St. Louis Cardinals pitching prospect is recovering after being bitten by a black bear while bow hunting in Wisconsin.

Dalton Roach, a 25-year-old righty with the Double-A Springfield Cardinals, told the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram it was the first time he had ever seen a bear on the family-owned land where he’d been hunting for years.

Roach posted a 7-10 record with a 5.65 ERA in 2021 for the Springfield Cardinals, according to MiLB.com.

Roach told the paper he was in a tree stand about 20 feet off the ground and grabbed his cellphone to document the encounter.

Roach said first the bear was just moseying around at first, but when he got about 20 yards away, he took a turn and came directly under his tree.

“I thought, ‘OK, it’s time to put the phone away. I want to be hands-free now,'” hetold the paper.

He said he then heard scratching and realized that the bear was climbing the tree and heading toward him.

Roach said the next thing he knew, the bear was right behind him and he could feel him breathing on his back.

“Then I feel a paw on my lap. He just kind of left the paw sitting there, so it’s not like I wanted to make a big move and make him squeeze,” he told the paper.

Roach said when he felt the gear on his back tighten he realized the bear was biting him. He decided he had to do something to try and free himself.

He had always heard bears are more scared of people than the other way around. Roach told the paper he made himself as big as he could and started yelling.

Roach said it worked because the bear backed down. Once the bear was out of sight, he headed for his truck.

“I think I still had so much adrenaline pumping that there wasn’t tons of pain going on, and I could tell there wasn’t a lot of blood dripping,” Roach told the Telegram-Leader.

He got the wound checked out at a hospital. The staff cleaned the bite, gave him antibiotics and a tetanus shot. He also got his first of what will be 22 injections of the rabies vaccine.

Roach said during the incident, he was focused on getting free. After, he admits thinking that if the bear had been more aggressive, he might not have been looking forward to pursuing a career in the Major Leagues or spending time with his family.

LINK: https://wgntv.com/news/i-feel-...r-while-bow-hunting/

October 20, 2021, 04:50 PM

architect

Yeah, but can the bear hit the major league curve ball?

October 20, 2021, 05:27 PM

chellim1

quote:
He also got his first of what will be 22 injections of the rabies vaccine.

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible."
-- Justice Janice Rogers Brown

"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth."
-rduckwor

October 20, 2021, 05:41 PM

p08

I have seen vids of this before, but the others were smart enough to make noise "before" the bear got up the tree!

October 20, 2021, 05:45 PM

SHOOTIN BLANKS

quote:
Originally posted by chellim1:
quote:
He also got his first of what will be 22 injections of the rabies vaccine.

Been there done that. Not pleasant.

October 21, 2021, 12:09 PM

LS1 GTO

quote:
Originally posted by architect:
Yeah, but can the bear hit the major league curve ball?

quote:
Bear said:

Bats, they are sick. I cannot hit curveball. Straightball I hit it very much. Curveball, bats are afraid.

October 21, 2021, 04:59 PM

jsbcody

This is a new low by the Cubs. Biting one of the Cardinal's prospects.

October 21, 2021, 05:11 PM

sourdough44

Sounds like he was deer hunting?

A bear hunter got bit in the foot 8-10 years ago in MI, similar scenario. He was bear hunting.

I was bear hunting in MI years ago, a smaller bear started up the tree I was in. Once he got within 10 feet or so I moved some, made some noise & pointed my Rifle towards the bear. It was a smaller but legal bear, didn’t want to shoot it. Once it saw me move with some noise, it decided to go back down. Had it got close, I was prepared to shoot it.

Many deer bow hunters carry a handgun while hunting. Not saying to sling lead at any bear, but unpredictability is their trait.

I think in my case, there was scent on the tree steps the bear found inviting.

October 21, 2021, 05:26 PM

ZSMICHAEL

quote:
This is a new low by the Cubs. Biting one of the Cardinal's prospects.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Durocher would have done it.

October 21, 2021, 06:39 PM

Graniteguy

So..........shooting the bear was not an option?

October 21, 2021, 07:08 PM

dsiets

Sometimes you eat the bhar. Sometimes the bhar eats you.

October 21, 2021, 08:27 PM

lastmanstanding

October 21, 2021, 08:46 PM

ZSMICHAEL

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Thanks. Was that a young cub who climbed the tree. It looked like his mother in the distance. Lucky guy.

October 21, 2021, 08:54 PM

bigdeal

Per the video, the kid seemed to be a smart well rounded, well spoken person who kept his head and managed to handle a bad situation fairly well. Hope he has great success with the Cardinals.

October 21, 2021, 08:57 PM

bigdeal

quote:
Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
[FLASH_VIDEO]<iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8jRTrRxamxQ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>[/FLASH_VIDEO]

That was a really cool video. And I'll echo the guy in the tree stand's comment. Wow!

October 21, 2021, 10:35 PM

OKCGene

I've not forgotten this one from a few years ago. They're laughing and giggling like it's nothing.

The woman does some funny things, like wagging her pink fingernail at the bear and telling him ass is too big.

It's just a big party until someone gets hurt.

October 22, 2021, 04:10 AM

tacfoley

1. See the Black Bear?

2. Climb the nearest tree.

3. Black bear will follow you to eat you.

or

1. See the Brown Bear?

2. Climb the nearest tree.

3. Brown bear will shake the tree until you fall out.

4. Then eat you.

Please note - from my 'Meet the Bear' lecture we attended in BC some years ago - a Brown bear is a very light-toned black bear. A Black bear is a very dark-toned Brown Bear.

We were then shown a shaky bit of amateur movie of a park ranger being chased by a very large and athletic brown bear, about 90% of a grizz. The bear was closing in on the ranger, who was only saved by jumping a ten-foot wide and ten-foot deep firebreak ditch. Not that HE was particularly athletic, but the horse he was riding clearly did not want to be et.

October 22, 2021, 07:15 AM

Graniteguy

I was hiking in Franconia Notch (NH) a few years back with my son. We look up about 50 yards down the trail and 2 cubs are climbing a tree on the left. I look right and Mama is watching us up on a small hill/rise. We backed up a few feet. A group of naive hikers walked right past us despite the cubs being pointed out to them. Then Mama stood up and made some noise. Fun to watch them scramble backwards, fall down and shit themselves. The cubs departed a few minutes later and all was good. People are very oblivious and ignorant to the dangers wildlife can pose if not respected.