Previously, we covered that California recently had its first confirmed black bear death. Well, apparently the animal stalked her for months before her death.
71-year-old Pactice Miller reported that a black bear harassed her for months. The animal ended up breaking into her California home and killing her. Officers found her remains partially eaten last November. At first, they believed she may have died first, and the bear may have been attracted to the scent of her decomposing body.
However, neighbors said that Miller complained about the bear for months. They said that she called it "Big B—ard" and said it kept coming to her house. The woman reportedly lived in fear of the animal. She eventually installed steel bars in her windows to keep the bear out. However, it ended up breaking her door down. Miller was the first death by black bear in California history.
"It appeared that the bear had probably been there several days and had been feeding on the remains," Sierra County Sheriff Mike Fisher said. Officers found Miller's remains as well as a broken door. They also found bear feces in her living room as well as blood and paw prints. It all painted a picture of a horrible fate for the woman.
Black Bear Kills Woman
According to the coroner's report, they theorize that the bear pulled Miller from her bed into the living room where it killed her. So why harass the woman for months? Well, one resident had a theory. "[The small town is] right in the middle of where bears like to be," Catilin Roddy of California Fish and Wildlife's North-Central region.
After Miller went missing, her friends became worried that something may have happened to her. Cassie Koch asked officers to perform a welfare check on her when she hadn't heard from her. Koch said, "When I was a kid, you never saw a bear in town. Now, they're all over, making their rounds. It's easy pickins for them." Miller ultimately failed to act due to her compassion. According to Koch, Miller didn't want the bear to get hurt even though she wanted the bear gone.
Why Miller? Well, Koch theorized that Miller had a vegetable garden and compost. She also didn't always dispose of her trash in a timely manner. Koch believes that this attracted one of the bears in the area to her house. Ultimately, officials found and euthanized the bear after the death.
