# Can this horrific news story be true?\[edited title-eaten by bear while talking.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 22, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647 "2011-08-22T12:41:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/1 "2011-08-22T12:41:45Z")
I found this story about a teenager being eaten by bears very disturbing.
[http://www.news.com.au/world/help-mum-the-bear-is-eating-me-teens-desperate-000-call/story-e6frfkyi-1226117176758](http://www.news.com.au/world/help-mum-the-bear-is-eating-me-teens-desperate-000-call/story-e6frfkyi-1226117176758)
On further thought it seems ridiculous. It doesn’t seem very likely that you could make a phone call when 3 bears are snacking on you. And I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t still be alive after an hour to make a final call.
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### Author:  [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2011, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/2 "2011-08-22T13:11:50Z")
I saw that story linked on Reddit, and yeah- I’m more than a little dubious.
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### Author:  [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/3 "2011-08-22T13:18:56Z")
I dont know, back when I was visiting San Francisco, I was attacked by a bear and his three cubs. They were ravenous.
I didnt feel like calling my mother at the same time, for some reason, though.
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/4 "2011-08-22T13:22:36Z")
I’m also dubious.
I remember reading about the “bear man” attack - the guy who was eaten alive (and his GF) while the audio ran.
Apparently, the audio was never released to the public, but various faked versions were circulated on youtube. An expert commentator stated that one way you could tell they were fakes, was that the fakers had put “growling noises” on the tape - while Grizzlies (Brown Bears) do not, in fact, growl when they kill and eat (they are mostly silent).
This phone call as well is supposed to feature “growling”.
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/5 "2011-08-22T13:24:04Z")
In Russia, you eat bear!
Yeah, that’s all I’ve got.
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### Author:  [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/6 "2011-08-22T13:31:09Z")
Unless her “mum” was a world class bear hunter, I think I’d have called 911 instead.
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/7 "2011-08-22T14:23:55Z")
I must be less distrustful than I thought because this sounds very plausible to me. Remember in 1977 when USGS geologist Cynthia Dusel-Bacon sent a message out on her radio: _“Come quick! I’m being eaten by a bear!”_ Working alone in Alaska, she was attacked by a starving black bear and maintained consciousness while the bear ate both her arms. (Mmmmm, Bacon.) Eventually help arrived and she lived to tell the tale and even returned to field work after recuperating. I don’t remember exactly but I think she had to lean on her radio to key it or something since she no longer had… well, any hands.
Maybe this one’s a hoax but for now I’m giving it a pass.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/8 "2011-08-22T14:30:35Z")
> [@tdn](#):
>
> In Russia, you eat bear!
>
> Yeah, that’s all I’ve got.
No, in Russia, bear eat you. Same as anywhere else in the world.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/9 "2011-08-22T14:34:05Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to General Questions.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/10 "2011-08-22T14:51:08Z")
> [@PlainJain](#):
>
> Unless her “mum” was a world class bear hunter, I think I’d have called 911 instead.
On the off chance anyone reading this thread is also eaten by bears in Russia, the number for emergency services there (and in most countries not in the Americas) is 112, which is the international emergency number for GSM networks.
Anyway, no matter how good a bear hunter my mother was, I’m pretty sure I’d be using my apparently still-functioning hand and arm _to fight off the bear that was fucking eating me._
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### Author:  [@Dufus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dufus)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/11 "2011-08-22T15:18:15Z")
At the first of this thread I thought the victim was male. Absolutely no, he would not talk on the cellphone while being eaten by bears.
As the thread progressed, I discovered the victim was female. Absolutely yes, she would talk on cellphone while being eaten by bears. And if the bear happened to swallow the cellphone, there’s a possibility she’s STILL talking on the damn cellphone!
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### Author:  [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2011, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/12 "2011-08-23T11:44:52Z")
> [@lieu](#):
>
> I must be less distrustful than I thought because this sounds very plausible to me. Remember in 1977 when USGS geologist Cynthia Dusel-Bacon sent a message out on her radio: _“Come quick! I’m being eaten by a bear!”_ Working alone in Alaska, she was attacked by a starving black bear and maintained consciousness while the bear ate both her arms. (Mmmmm, Bacon.) Eventually help arrived and she lived to tell the tale and even returned to field work after recuperating. I don’t remember exactly but I think she had to lean on her radio to key it or something since she no longer had… well, any hands.
>
> Maybe this one’s a hoax but for now I’m giving it a pass.
But this Russian girl apparently called 3 times with the last call an hour after the first.
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### Author:  [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/13 "2011-08-23T13:04:05Z")
Sounds entirely plausible to me. It’s important to note that the story doesn’t claim she called and had a leisurely conversation with her mother while the bear was eating her. The bear attacked, left, and returned with her cubs at least once. So there were breaks in the violence during which it seems reasonable that a panicked young girl would call her mother. She was terribly injured, terrified, and called her mother when the bears left her alone for a while.
As for the “I’m being eaten by a bear!” quote, note that Cynthia Dusel-Bacon said nearly the same thing in her call for help and she explained that in her mind she truly understood that the bear was eating her and not just attacking her. There probably was an element of shock in this, when she realized, “Oh my god, it’s not just attacking me. It’s EATING me!” and so that would be the fact you’d scream out to someone.
Also, I’d take the quotation with a grain of salt. Did the mother report the precise words to the reporter? Did the reporter embellish the quote a bit to make it sound more dramatic? Is the translation from Russian accurate? Did the UK reporter embellish the translated quote? It’s more likely that the girl was able to say more to the mother – that she was being attacked by bears, that she was hurt really bad, that she needed help, they’re actually eating me, please send someone. That one sentence – however it actually was phrased – is just the one that’s most sensational.
And why are you pretty sure the victim wouldn’t be alive after an hour to make a final phone call? Unless the bear does something that will cause immediate death, hanging on for an hour while the bear bites you, leaves, bites again, leaves, bites again, etc. is quite believable. People have survived severe trauma longer than that.
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/14 "2011-08-23T18:20:33Z")
> [@Dingbang](#):
>
> And why are you pretty sure the victim wouldn’t be alive after an hour to make a final phone call? Unless the bear does something that will cause immediate death, hanging on for an hour while the bear bites you, leaves, bites again, leaves, bites again, etc. is quite believable. People have survived severe trauma longer than that.
I could see the mama bear ripping off a muscle like the calf of a leg, or part of an arm and taking to the cubs and coming back for more. Many animals eat by tearing off a part and finishing it before coming back for more.
I know that some smaller carnivores prefer to eat the gut accessible organs first, don’t know if bears are like that or not.
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### Author:  [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/15 "2011-08-24T03:12:43Z")
Bears! I’ve been telling you people all along! They are godless killing machines. Bears are such a menace that they are no longer content to savagely kill and eat people in reality, they are doing it in fiction now too! It’s only a matter of time before we are all imaginarily eaten.
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### Author:  [@WhyWhyWhy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyWhyWhy)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2011, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/16 "2011-08-24T08:20:14Z")
Yeah, but what was the per minute rate for her cell plan?
Can you rear me now (being eaten by a bear)?
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### Author:  [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2011, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/17 "2011-08-24T09:35:40Z")
The town where this girl lived seems to be very rural and mountainous. Presumably she would have used a cell phone to make the call. I’m skeptical the service is that good.
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### Author:  [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2011, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/18 "2011-08-24T11:31:33Z")
> [@Dingbang](#):
>
> Sounds entirely plausible to me. It’s important to note that the story doesn’t claim she called and had a leisurely conversation with her mother while the bear was eating her. The bear attacked, left, and returned with her cubs at least once. So there were breaks in the violence during which it seems reasonable that a panicked young girl would call her mother. She was terribly injured, terrified, and called her mother when the bears left her alone for a while.
>
> As for the “I’m being eaten by a bear!” quote, note that Cynthia Dusel-Bacon said nearly the same thing in her call for help and she explained that in her mind she truly understood that the bear was eating her and not just attacking her. There probably was an element of shock in this, when she realized, “Oh my god, it’s not just attacking me. It’s EATING me!” and so that would be the fact you’d scream out to someone.
>
> Also, I’d take the quotation with a grain of salt. Did the mother report the precise words to the reporter? Did the reporter embellish the quote a bit to make it sound more dramatic? Is the translation from Russian accurate? Did the UK reporter embellish the translated quote? It’s more likely that the girl was able to say more to the mother – that she was being attacked by bears, that she was hurt really bad, that she needed help, they’re actually eating me, please send someone. That one sentence – however it actually was phrased – is just the one that’s most sensational.
>
> And why are you pretty sure the victim wouldn’t be alive after an hour to make a final phone call? Unless the bear does something that will cause immediate death, hanging on for an hour while the bear bites you, leaves, bites again, leaves, bites again, etc. is quite believable. People have survived severe trauma longer than that.
After reading Cynthia Dusel-Bacon’s story I’m not so skeptical. I was hoping this was a hoax story.
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### Author:  [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/19 "2011-08-24T14:52:35Z")
I totally think this story is fake, but there are people out there who in a panic situation, call someone other than 911/emergency services. My wife for one - twice she’s called me in a bad situation (both turned OK) when any rational person would have called 911. No idea why. Telling her to hang up and call 911 was worse than useless.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/20 "2011-08-24T15:03:56Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#):
>
> My wife…when any rational person…
She doesn’t read the 'Dope, does she?
🙂
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