Three high school basketball players went for a hike outside Seattle on Tuesday and walked straight into the oldest conflict in nature: a mother bear, her cubs, and some humans who had absolutely no idea what they were walking into. One teenager came home with scratches and a story. Another twisted his ankle fleeing the scene. The bear, for her part, was just doing her job.
What Actually Happened Up That Mountain
According to The Guardian, the three teens from Thomas Jefferson High School were about 2.7 miles up the Mount Si trail in the Mount Si Natural Resources Conservation Area when they crossed paths with a black bear and her cubs just before 1pm on Tuesday. The conservation area sits roughly 35 miles southeast of Seattle, a sprawling stretch of four mountain peaks that is absolutely gorgeous and also, it turns out, full of bears.
The mother bear did what mother bears do. She charged. She swiped at one of the teenagers, tossed him around a bit, and left him with scratches. A second teen injured his ankle bolting in the opposite direction. Both outcomes, all things considered, could have been considerably worse.
King County Sheriff's Deputy Peter Linde told NBC affiliate KING of Seattle that the injured teen's wounds were minor. "He was of course terrified. The bear tossed him around a little bit, but nothing serious. He's on his way to the hospital right now to be checked out, get the wounds clean, and maybe get some antibiotics." The kid was released by 9pm the same day.
First-Time Hikers, Surprisingly Not Idiots
Here is where this story takes a small but meaningful turn. These were first-time hikers. Three basketball players from a high school who, by all accounts, had never done this before. And somehow, they did more things right than a lot of experienced outdoors people manage.
Sara Autio, information officer with King County Search and Rescue, said in a statement that the group hiked together, carried communication devices, called 911, and cooperated with emergency responders. "I'm sure they didn't expect this to be the way their day unfolded," Autio said, which is doing some heavy lifting as understatements go.
Credit where it's due. A lot of adults with hundred-dollar hiking poles and moisture-wicking everything still hike alone, leave their phones in the car, and wouldn't know what to do if something charged them. These kids handled a genuine wildlife emergency better than the average weekend warrior probably would.
There Was Also a Second Bear. Different Bear.
Because one bear attack is apparently not enough for one Tuesday in Washington, The Guardian also reports that a second group of hikers on the same trail said a black bear followed them for several miles. Not a quick encounter. Followed them. For miles.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials closed the trail after both incidents and began searching for the bear. In a detail that is grim but predictable, officials stated they would be forced to kill the bear if found, with relocation described as the least harmful possible outcome.
To be clear: this bear was defending her cubs on a trail in a mountain conservation area. She was doing exactly what bears are supposed to do. Whether she survives this week is now in the hands of state wildlife officials.
How Rare Is This, Actually?
Very rare. The Guardian notes that the only recorded human fatality from a black bear in Washington state happened in 1974. Since 1970, state officials have documented just 20 black bear encounters that resulted in injury, with the most recent prior case occurring in 2022. Washington is home to an estimated 22,000 black bears.
That is a lot of bears, and 20 injuries over more than five decades is a remarkably small number. Black bears are not what most people think they are. They are not grizzlies. They are not waiting to attack you. They are, mostly, trying to find food and keep their cubs alive, which is more than you can say for plenty of things that won't make the evening news.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recommends making noise while hiking, keeping pets leashed, carrying accessible bear spray, and if a bear approaches you: stand tall, wave your arms, speak in a low voice, back away slowly, and for the love of everything do not run. Running is how you get a twisted ankle. Running is also how you become prey.
The Dingo Take
The media instinct here is to frame this as a terrifying attack, a dangerous animal, a warning about the wild. And sure, a teenager got scratched by a bear on a hiking trail. That is genuinely scary, and nobody is pretending otherwise. But let's hold the full picture for a second: a mother bear encountered a group of strangers near her cubs and did the absolute minimum necessary to make them go away. Her cubs are fine. The teen is fine. He was at the hospital and home before 9pm.
The part of this story that should actually make you uncomfortable is the part where wildlife officials may have to kill a bear for behaving like a bear, on a mountain, in a conservation area built for wildlife. That is the quiet absurdity buried under the breathless local TV coverage. We built our hiking trails through their territory, posted some signs about bear spray, and then act surprised when the bears show up.
Say what you want about the bear. She didn't follow anyone home.
