Charles Darwin's Darwin Awards 
HOME
Darwin Awards
At-Risk Survivors
Slush Pile
2009 August Rejects
Man who had been drinking refuses r
Woman uses lighter to check gas can
AP-US--California Wildfires-Hot Tub
Don't drink & roll the car over you
Dammit I'm Not Too Drunk To...CRASH
fire whith fire
One really hot tub
califorina hottie
hot tubs can't stop fires
2 injured riding out fire in backya
The Hottest Maiden
Love... it hurts to death
Man accidentally shoots himself in
For Want of a CFL
Man Killed by Condom
No surprise when gas and lighter mi
Woman burned after using lighter to
Woman Burned While Checking Gas
Man shoots self in standoff with ’p
Woman uses lighter to check gas can
Don't flic your BIC by a gas can
Bad move: lighter and gas can no ma
Car set ablaze after Joliet woman u
Face OFF
Uses a lighter to check Gas can lvl
Check gas, better get my lighter..
Car set ablaze after Joliet woman u
Italian train follies
Well Preserved
Body found in petrol tank
Bear bites the hand that fed it
Bank Robbery Demand Written on Traf
Speed Demons Catch Fire
Robbery + Spray Paint +Face = D.E.D
spray painting face to hide identit
South Carolina Robber Dies After Sp
Robber spray paints face--dies
Robber dies spraypainting
Man dies after spray painting face
Robber Dies after using spray paint
'Critical' teen left ward for pub
TheStar.com | GTA | Man, 27, critic
Man dies after dive into fountain
Ignorance Personified
Vaccines aren't that safe...
Teen driver killed trying to save p
P-plater crashed after turning off
P Plate Death
death by stupidly
P-plater crashed after turning off
Saving Petrol
Save Gas by Turning Off Engine
Petrol saving strategy
Look ma! No key!
P-plater crashed after turning off
P-plater crashed after turning off
P-plater crashed after turning off
GFC claims another victim
4 iInjured in cat rescue attempt
Saving fuel
Petrol Saver!
Crashed after turning off Engine
P-plater crashed after turning off
Saving fuel causes death
Crashed after turning off engine
Teen's ignorance was fatal
Saving petrol costs lives
Dying to save petrol while driving
Saving Petrol
P-plater crashed after turning off
Teen's ignorance was fatal
steering locks kill
Horse rider
Man Killed by own boat
Stupid Boat Tricks
Sebastopol man's thrill ride ends i
Carbon Monoxide and DVDs don't mix
Happy Birthday?
17year old jumps into death
Boy vs 75mph Train
Partygoer killed by bulldozer
Update On Jean-Baptiste Lully
Fixing microwave with a knife
spray paint bandit
Robbery suspect spray-paints face f
Was golden disguise a death mask?
Watching video in the car
Robbery suspect spray-paints face
Man dies watching movies in garage
Movie Watcher Dies in Garage
A $20,000 DVD Player Deathtrap
North Houston man dies watching mov
Man dies watching movies in garage
Man dies watching movies in his gar
pocket rockets
Man Dies After Falling off Escalato
Suspected drunk flees, flips, die
Repairing a microwave
Man Crushed Beneath House Trailer
Fried fixing genius
Barbaque and cuttings
Macho man
Plunged the dagger into his chest.
Captain Dynamite
Handrails are for hands only!
A young kills himself with a knife
Young manhood knife on the chest
Student drowns while testing concre
Money in the fastlane
A 24-year old man stabs himself
21-year-old injured at
Man dies after stabbing himself
In the name of bravery
Self-stabbing
Party at the beach
One man dead
Boater Missing In Lake Erie
Electric Cigarette Lighter
21, drunk, dead, stupid
Riding the rails
Crash injures Dutchess motorcyclist
Naked man's Deadly Dive in Fountain
Man dies after dive into fountain
Snap frozen for freshness
20-year-old killed trying to walk a
icehead
Man dies after dive into fountain
Killed after diving into fountain
Inmate dies trying to escape in Sai
Jumping headfirst into a fountain
Diving to Death in Toronto
Portland bicyclist hurt in flap wit
One Last Parking Spot
Woman feeds self to bear.
Roof Plunge
Propane Sniffer Honourable Mention
A robbery? Please show your ID...
Add Water = Instant Shrapnel
Woman crushed in freak accident
Driver dies in fiery crash
homemade bazooka
A Hot Idea
Road Rage
Update to "Road Rage done Rong"
Motorcycle vs Motor Home
Swimming St. Mary's Glacier
Arabs crash 200M$ Airbus
Woman crushed by own SUV in Calgary
Lenin Statue Kills Drunk Belarusian
Ouch!
Hijacker shoots himself in the groi
Don't reach up unlesr you mean it.
Kid copies youtube bananna fire vid
Biker Killed in Road-rage Encounter
Road-Rage gone Rong
Don't Worry Sis! Its only blanks!
Motorcycle v RV
Ventura biker killed in freeway roa
Motorcyclist dies in apparent road-
our hero
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/new
Motorcyclist v. RV, part duex
Suicide by RV
Man Impaled by Glass
Man killed by window
Plateglass window death
Alberta Oilman Takes a Walk
Biker Killed in Road Rage Accident
Man impaled on shop window dies
motorcyclist vs RV
Really SLOW motorcyclist
Don't feed the bears
Feeding the bears
Motorcyclist dies in apparent road-
Man who pushed woman through shop w
DON'T FEED THE BEARS
Man impaled on shard of window
Man killed by window shard after ro
Bungled Copper theft suffocates 2
Lenin still knocking them over
Lenin statue collapses, kills man i
Don't Feed the Bears...
What Else Could They Do?
Young Belorussian dies of Lenin han
Teenage boy dies at railway depot
Fell asleep on the railroad tracks.
Teen Killed After Fall From Roof of
Car Surfing
Coroner: Man shot self by accident
Okie Nooder loses more than fingers
Car-Surfing
Teen Dead After Fall From Car Roof
Man who killed lawn walker
Mistaken Mix
Man Jumps from Bahia Belle
A Bridge too Far
She had the hots for him
Greek fire
Man falls four stories as he rappel
Playing with fireworks
how to become optimus prime
Woman Sues College: Can't Get A Job
car surfing
Drunk Car Surfing
Skate Boarding for Dummies
Car Surfer Killed
'Monkey boy' killed after climbing
Monkey boy' killed by touching 66,0
wedged in a window
second story man dies
Turd Burner
car surfing in Montreal, Canada
Teenager's pylon death
Man dies in drain
Snake bites Monk
Man dies skateboarding down highway
Skateboarder killed on highway
Low-hanging pants caused fatal guns
Older Rejects 
 
~ Random Story ~
Email Alert!
NEW! Gift Shop
Rules  Search
Contact Darwin
Submit a Story
Philosophy Forum
Home

  

Darwin Awards
2009 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Bear bites the hand that fed it

2009 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Woman warned against feeding wildlife eaten by bear - The Denver PostAug 9, 2009 ... Woman warned against feeding wildlife eaten by bear.

http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_13023974 Wildlife officials say Donna Munson, 74, built a metal fence covering her porch, shown here, so she could feed bears through it. Munson was found dead outside her home Friday. (Jerry L. Neal, Colorado Division of Wildlife) Related Ouray Bear Attack Aug 11: Autopsy: Bear killed woman near OurayAug 10: Ouray woman was killed by bear she fedAug 8: Bear blamed in killing north of OurayIn the evenings, Donna Munson liked to sit in front of her picture window and watch the bears amble toward her Ouray County log cabin for dinner.

The 74-year-old woman — who stocked her backyard with dog food, fruit and yogurt — was found dead outside her home Friday, being eaten by a bear.

It was still unknown Saturday whether a bear killed Munson or whether one or more animals consumed part of her body after her death. But people who knew her said she was an eccentric wildlife lover who had been feeding bears, elk, skunks and raccoons for years.

Munson, who rented half of her home in southwestern Colorado to several people over the years, told one of them that "when the time came, she wanted to go out with the bears."

"She was a very sweet lady," said Tammy York of Paonia, who rented part of Munson's house several years ago. "She just loved nature. She probably shouldn't have been alone out there in her state."

Colorado Division of Wildlife agents had asked Munson so many times over the past decade to stop feeding bears that she quit taking their phone calls or accepting their certified letters and tried to ban them from her property.

Neighbors complained about a growing number of bears in the hills, ransacking trash cans and even trying to break into houses this summer. Still, Munson kept feeding the bears.

Two of the bruins were shot and killed by Ouray County sheriff's deputies Friday while they investigated Munson's death. Deputies said the animals were threatening and had no fear of people.

Two other bears were captured and euthanized in July after a caretaker at Munson's cabin complained they were too aggressive. Division of Wildlife authorities caught them both the first day they set traps.

"We tried to do everything possible to gain her cooperation," said Tyler Baskfield, DOW spokesman. "Obviously, this is a situation that everybody feels bad about, but it illustrates what can happen."

Bears fed by humans lose their instinct to fear people and "they expect that food source to continue," he said.

"Not only are you putting yourself at risk, you're putting anyone else who may come in contact with that animal at risk because they are expecting a handout," Baskfield said.

The night before her death, Munson planned to feed an injured baby bear hard-boiled eggs and yogurt, another former tenant said. And she had planned to swat a large bear that was bothering the baby bear with a broom.

"She didn't have a chance in hell," said Connie Barnes, who lived with Munson for five years and never went outside after dark without a spotlight, her husband and his BB gun.

Munson lived in the cabin, which bordered federal land, with her husband, "Ridgway Jack," until his death about 14 years ago, Barnes said. Jack Munson adopted a baby elk and made their home into an animal sanctuary, even letting a fawn sleep in his bed, Barnes said.

Donna Munson continued caring for animals after her husband's death, leaving a tub of cat food on her picnic table for critters and tossing food in the backyard and out her windows for bears. The elderly woman, who used a walker, bought giant bags of Ol' Roy dog food for the bears and had pallets of grain delivered for elk and deer, Barnes said.

"She had skunks that came in her house," Barnes said. "It sounds ridiculous to people, but you had to know her. She was a very loving woman, so much into animals."

Two women who cleaned Munson's home found her being eaten by a bear Friday, Barnes said.

A necropsy performed on a 250-pound male bear was inconclusive. A necropsy on the other bear killed Friday is ongoing. The Montrose County coroner is performing an autopsy on Munson.

Folks in Ouray and Ridgway, two towns near Munson's house, were upset about the bear deaths and the public safety risk caused by Munson.

"These bears are now not going to be fed and they are going to go to other houses looking for food," said Kate Singer, owner of Kate's Place, a cafe in downtown Ridgway. "More bears are going to be killed because of what this woman did. It's a bad situation, and people are not happy about it."

Munson had enclosed her porch with wire fencing for protection. York, her former tenant, said Munson had the fence installed when York and her two children, ages 1 and 4 at the time, moved in with her.

The bears would come within 6 feet of the porch and peer in the windows.

"We were in the zoo," she recalled, saying she moved out after about a year because the animals — especially the skunks — "got to be too much." While she lived there, a bear busted York's car window and left bite marks in her seat trying to get some leftover french fries.

Munson would be devastated by the bears' deaths, York said.

"That's the worst part," she said. "That would be horrible for her if she knew what her death had meant to the bears."

Jennifer Brown: 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com

Submitted on 08/26/2009

Submitted by: Paul Mangan
Reference: Denver Post

Copyright © 2009 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
Thanks, Paul, but we received this story numerous times back when the incident was first reported. Please be sure to check both the slush and reject piles for duplicates before submitting stories. Anything that makes the news and is more than a day or two old is very likely to have already been submitted.


Candi said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
What Bruce said.


The Darwin Awards Gift Shop

The Darwin Awards Condom

Keep yourself out of the gene pool!
A condom in a matchbook, useful for emergency contraception, bachelor parties, frat parties, and important rites of passage. LOADED inside and out with funny quotes and stories. Everyone loves this item!
Friends don't let friends reproduce!
$13 for Pack of 4

 

 

Slush Pile
Slush Pile Rejects

HomeRulesFAQsAwardsSlushSite Map
DarwinAward | HonorableMention | PersonalAccount | UrbanLegend