Man in no hurry to meet grizzly that attacked him

More than three years after his brush with a grizzly bear, the only visible marks on Steven Bartley’s body are a few white scars stretching across his tanned hands.

Less visible is the fear. The attack was brief, but it took months before Bartley could go camping in a tent again, even if the tent was in his own backyard.

“I still get constantly reminded,” Bartley said. “You see carved bears, baby teddy bears, Charmin toilet paper has bears on it.”

This summer’s dry weather has prevented the normal growth of vegetation, and bears have turned to breaking into homes in the Colorado Springs area to supplement their diets. No one has been injured, but the danger of the bears is real.

Bartley, who called Colorado Springs home for about 30 years and most recently lived in Oregon, first became interested in camping in conjunction with motorcycle riding. In July 2008, he and a friend were traveling to a motorcycle rally. They decided to camp for the night in a campground outside Yellowstone National Park.

Although Bartley didn’t have much knowledge of bears, he did put items such as toothpaste and deodorant in a bear box. Bartley said he didn’t cook at the campsite before he went to sleep in his tent. His friend was in a separate tent a short distance away.

It was 3 a.m. when Bartley felt something outside his tent nudge his head and then his back. He thought his friend was messing with him. Bartley unzipped the main flap of the tent, and when he began to unzip the rain flap, a 450-pound female grizzly bear bit his right hand and began to pull. Bartley thought he was going to die.

From behind the tent fabric, Bartley began to yell for help as he punched the bear with his left hand. The tent became crushed and blood-splattered as the bear bit his left hand, then his right hand again. That’s when Bartley heard the crack of his bones.

His screams alerted other campers, who made noise until the bear abandoned Bartley’s hand. It attempted to break into another abandoned tent before leaving the area.

Bartley’s recovery took several months, and he has regained use of 95 percent of his right hand. A few nerve endings in his palm below his thumb are missing.

The bear was caught three days after she attacked Bartley. She had a history of killing livestock before she was moved to Yellowstone, and is now at Washington State University’s Bear Center. Bartley has been invited to visit, but is in no hurry to lay eyes on his attacker.

“At first, I thought I could, but you know, I still have nightmares,” Bartley said. “It’s still rough.”

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Contact the writer 636-0197.

Yellowstone National Park has tips on surviving grizzly bear attacks at www.nps.gov/yell. For information about bear-proofing your home, visit the Colorado Department of Wildlife at wildlife.state.co.us and click on “education.”