BUTTE (AP)
A Butte man had to use an improvised flame-thrower to scare a black bear off the roof of his camper. "It's was probably the most scared I've ever been in my life," said Bruce Hemphill. Bruce and Pat Hemphill were camping in the Lowland Campground about eight miles north of Butte when they awakened early on Aug. 5 to the camper shaking violently. "It felt like an earthquake or something. Everything was shaking," Bruce Hemphill said. The bruin had climbed up on the hood of the truck onto the top of his camper. He saw the animal through the roof vent, which he had left open before going to bed. He tried to close the vent, but the bear struck it with his claw, easily bending it. Hemphill hollered at the bear, but it kept trying to claw its way into the camper. "It was the first time I ever went camping without my gun," he said. "I'll never do that again." Thinking quickly, Hemphill grabbed an aerosol can of bug spray and a lighter and improvised a flame thrower. He sprayed fire in the bear's face, which forced the animal to flee. Hemphill said he saw the bear a little while later, apparently unharmed, going through a nearby trash can. The couple spent the rest of the night in the cab of their truck. Hemphill said he believes the bear was attracted to the camper by the scent of steaks the couple had cooked for dinner in the camper. They did not have a campfire because of the burning restrictions. At least two black bear encounters were reported in the area recently where the animals wandered into houses. Melissa Frost, information manager for District 3 of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department, said the number of bear encounters this summer don't appear to be different from previous summers.
