Dad’s Compound Bow Saves Toddler After Backyard Black Bear Attack 🏹

As we continue to slowly but surely inch back towards the weekend, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and get into what this beautiful Tuesday has to offer.

Here's what's worth reading about so far this week:

RESPONDING LIKE ANY FATHER SHOULD
DAD’S COMPOUND BOW SAVES TODDLER AFTER BACKYARD BLACK BEAR ATTACK

A British Columbia father is being heralded as a hero after fighting off a black bear that had its sights set on his 3-year-old daughter on Sunday. 

According to reports, it was around 11:30 a.m. on Sunday morning when three-year-old Anaiyah Lekei was playing on the backyard deck of her family’s home in Maple Ridge (just outside Vancouver) when suddenly an adult black bear approached her and mounted an attack.

“She just started screaming, just screaming like I’ve never heard her scream before,” the girl’s mother Andrea Lekei said.

Responding as any father should, Andrea said her husband was immediately in the mix amid the blood curdling screams…

🐻 Black Bear That Drove Two Women From Bighorn Camp and Shredded Their Tents Killed by Game and Fish. And speaking of bear attack resolutions, we’ve got some closure on one coming out of Wyoming as officials announced last week that they got their man.

According to Game and Fish, lab results confirmed that the bear they killed was indeed the one that aggressively entered two women’s occupied tents in early July, driving them from their camp and shredding their equipment. The women, Shonna Kaye Dehl of Lovell and Maggie Bassett of Powell, had been camping off Forest System Road 178 near Fool Creek when the large adult bear tried to get into their tents late on the evening of July 5th. The bear later continued visiting other camps in the area through July, showing little fear of people, prompting officials to take lethal action.

🧑‍⚖️ Center for Biological Diversity Sues Arizona Game and Fish Over Mountain Lion Hunting Quotas. The pesky and always persistent Center for Biological Diversity is at it again, this time hurling a lawsuit in the direction of the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Commission. In an effort to, once again, impose their will upon biologically-based hunting seasons, the group is seeking to suspend mountain lion hunting permits until they are satisfied with the state’s population levels.

The suit, which was launched just weeks ahead of the August 21st season start date, cites data showing that 1,937 mountain lions were killed by hunters between 2018 and 2024, with 54% of those being kittens or pre-reproductive juveniles (under two years old) and 41% being females.

The group argues the current quotas, including the 340 permits for the upcoming season, are unsustainable and violate the state’s public-trust duty to manage wildlife based on science rather than hunter and rancher interests.

As of right now, hunting groups have yet to clap back on the allegations. But let’s not forget that in late 2024/early 2025, when CBD and allies petitioned to ban dog packs for mountain lions and bears, the Sportsmen’s Alliance (among others) called them out as “animal-extremist” and accused them of making false claims, which led the Game and Fish Commission to unanimously rejected that petition.

Expect similar organized responses in the coming weeks.

🦌 Despite Extremely Low Survival Rate, Alaska Will Move More Deer to Kenai Peninsula This Fall. In an effort to bring back a new reproducing population, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game relocated 19 Sitka black-tailed deer from Sitkinak Island (near Kodiak) to the southern Kenai Peninsula just last fall.

Of the 19 new residents, officials believe that at least 13 of those transplants died during their first year on the peninsula. Suffering from drownings, disease, coyote attacks and various other causes, the amount of transplanted deer that are still believed to have a heart beat is down to five.

Despite losing nearly 70% of the transplanted deer, Fish and Game is moving forward with plans to add another 15-20 deer this fall in an effort to supplement the five survivors. Officials say that the losses are largely due to the unusually severe winter and maintain that the habitat is suitable and believe that a sustainable (and huntable) population can be established over the coming years.

🐰 This bunny’s got beef, bro. In what is some of the craziest footage I’ve ever seen, this bunny just keeps getting after this snake - even when it retreats!

Here’s to hoping he drove that snake right out of town…

Oh, and one more thing…