GROTON, N.H. —
A 71-year-old grandmother was seriously hurt early Tuesday morning in an encounter with a bear in her home in Groton.

According to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, the woman, who was in a wheelchair, suffered serious head injuries and was transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.


Family members told WMUR that the woman is undergoing surgery.

Officials said the woman, April Rogers, was in her wheelchair when she came across the bear in her kitchen area early Tuesday morning. According to a neighbor, Rogers was known for leaving her door open, but it's unknown if the door was open Tuesday.

At some point, the door closed, trapping the bear inside the house, officials said.

Fish and Game officials said they aren't considering the incident to be a bear attack, because the bear wasn't necessarily acting aggressively.

"The home owner unknowingly walked in on the animal, and that bear did what any animal is going to do when it feels cornered. It is going to act defensively. It's going to panic in an effort to get out," Fish and Game Maj. Jim Juneau said. "And I suspect in this case, the woman was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Eventually, the bear made its way out of the house and into the woods, leaving the injured woman behind.

Fish and Game officials said they are worried the bear might be rabid, so they sent a K-9 team to the area to try to track the animal. The track was unsuccessful because heavy rain washed away the scent.

guess she will not leave the door open again....had a lady feed her cats that way too until she had 6 coons come in ..she got hurt bad too. I had to put a new door on and took 35 coon just within 5 ft of her door trapping ....

How did she walk in on the bear if she was in a wheelchair?

if the bear was 'wild' what was it doing so close to humans?? my son has these wild bear in his yard and property a lot..we have few bear here in my area, they do not run when seen. are bears this docile?

wrong place wrong time IN HER KITCHEN???

Just watched it on the local news....She lives alone and in a wheel chair ....she sometimes has a difficult times closing the front door,they said. So it was an easy entry...looking for food. Some how ,the door closed behind the bear,making it feel trapped,said fish and game. The inside of the entry door was all ripped up...from the bear trying to get out....and feeling trapped,attacked the women around the head area....she was able to call 911 before the attack,I think. She’s expected to live,and Is having surgery as we speak....said the news

Go to Virginia Pilot and search their archive for Bear Lady.

Three years ago a Las Vegas show girl from years ago was given some land in Dismal Swamp area of NC. She lived alone in a camper with no utilities. She fed dog food and peanuts to black bears until one cold January day they ate her.

If you encountered any of these bears in the wild, they will run away. Once these same bears make a conscious decision to invade your space, property, whatever, they are totally different animals and should be given a wide berth.

A somehow, somewhat habituated animal.

I don’t like that they aren’t considering this a bear attack. Just a creative way to fudge the numbers.

Lol I was thinking the same thing.

Grandma needs to leave her pies in the window so the bear don't need to come in and get them.

Hope she recovers to tell the story to her grandkids.

Bear enters house, chews on occupant, just a misunderstanding. Yep sounds like another game dept. being run by the antis.

Any wild bear, that enters an occupied human residence, should be immediately dispatched. Bears are not people and should not be protected as one.

Keith

Maybe she fell when she left from the chair to run. That would make it a fall instead of a bear attack. Bear probably didn't want anything to do with her because the smell that was coming from her undergarments.

NH, the Live Free or Die state, is being taken over by buttheads from Massachusetts. Otherwise known in northern New England as Them/Mass Hxlxs(I can't say it `cause I don't want to get the boss mad).

She fell into it's paw multiple times. Total accident.

That was NH’s policy. Until..... the Governor intervened during 2017.... Politics are taking over Wildlife management nationwide.

https://www.boston.com/news/animals/2017...r-certain-death