His reaction is understandable. After all, he said, the grizzly tried to rip his shoulder off.
Shanun Rammel, who was mauled by a grizzly last month, isn’t happy Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP) officials haven’t killed that bear yet.
It doesn’t appear to be the agency’s fault, however. It’s just that the grizzly has completely disappeared — like a ghost.
As you may recall, Rammel, the father of 10 who runs a firewood business, got a tip from a neighbor that a grizzly might be near his home.
Like a teenager in a slasher movie (or Geico commercial), he decided to check an abandoned shed near his property. When Rammel opened the door, all hell broke loose.
The startled bear did what startled bears do, which is never a good thing if you’re next to that bear.
Now, it’s not as though Montana’s FWP hasn’t been doing anything.
According to Montana TV station KRTV, the agency had been searching for the bear for 12 straight days using helicopters, fixed-wing planes, infrared cameras, and ground patrols but came up empty.
So they discontinued the search.
That didn’t sit well with Rammel. He thinks the offending grizzly is still in his area.
“We’ve got tracks of the grizzly right next to the ponds,” Rammel told the TV station. “And my neighbors have got pictures.”
To be fair, Rammel isn’t recommending FWP carpet-bomb the entire state of Montana, he just thinks it could do more.
The agency, instead of continuing the search for the bear, put up an electric fence around Rammel’s property — something that he’s not a big fan of.
Remember, Rammel has 10 children. Many of whom, he says, don’t understand what an electric fence is.
“I have a three-year-old, a five-year-old, and a six-year-old that don’t have a clue what it is,” Rammel’s wife Jamie said. “They say it shocks really hard, so I worry.”
In the meantime, if you’d like to help the Rammel family, a GoFundMe page has been set up here.
