Bear basics

Woman scares off charging bear – with a courgette.

 ...a what?  That is one of these in the US and at this time of year they can get really hard and heavy!

Cucurbita pepo ovifera (Zucchini)

 Here is the story from the Guardian (UK):

A woman fended off a bear attack on her back porch today by using the first weapon she could reach – a courgette. The woman was stirred by midnight noises in her garden near Frenchtown, Montana. She went to investigate and found a 90kg (14st) black bear attacking her 12-year-old collie. She screamed to divert the bear's attention but it charged her.
"The bear growled and was very aggressive, and tried to come inside her back door," said Sheriff Lieutenant Rich Maricelli of Missoula County. "She was able to stop the pursuing bear by improvising."
The bear took a swipe at her with its paw and tore her jeans. The woman jumped back and grasped the nearest object on her kitchen counter inside the doorway – a 30cm long courgette. She threw the courgette at the bear from a distance she estimated to be about a metre, The vegetable hit the bear on the top of its head and the animal fled, Maricelli said. State wildlife officials started a search for the bear.

(Exactly why the 12 year old Collie was in the garden at midnight in bear country is not made clear but now the police are hunting down the bear?) 


On a related note(kind of) here is a photo from Joe Wilson:

Now I dont have to worry if I leave my claw clippers at home.