By Sentinel Staff
A bear killed a dog in an encounter on the Verstovia trail Saturday morning.
Police, an Alaska Wildlife Trooper and a U.S. Forest Service officer searched for the bear but did not find it.
The Forest Service posted signs today warning of aggressive bear activity at Verstovia and Thimbleberry trailheads.
Linda Behnken, owner of the shepherd-husky, related the story in an email to the Sentinel. She said she was headed down the Verstovia trail with her dog and a friend’s golden retriever when the bear came up the trail toward them.
“My dog Rascal hurled herself at it, barking and growling,” Behnken said. “The bear turned around and ran back down the trail. Rascal chased it away from me but stopped as soon as the bear went off the trail into the brush. I heard her start to come back toward me, then heard the bear crashing through the brush back up the hill. (Rascal) turned on him again, but he grabbed her.
A notice warning of an aggressive bear is posted on the Mt. Verstovia trailhead sign this morning. (Sentinel Photo)
“I heard her scream and ran at the bear yelling (and) shouting. The bear dropped her and came at me and the other dog, that never seemed to understand the danger.
“Rascal got up but then the bear went back after her. I ran back at them yelling, threw rocks, pushed a big rock down at him trying to draw him away and he went after me again — came pretty far up the trail after me that time and stood up to look us over. I guess at that point Rascal was too hurt to get away.”
Behnken called her husband, Kent Barkhau, the police, and the owner of the retriever, and texted other hikers she’d met on the trail to warn them.
Barkhau arrived first and joined Linda to find Rascal.
“We heard the bear near us but we never saw it again,” Behnken said in the email. “I am so thankful no one else was hurt, so thankful to everyone who helped and has offered their support since Saturday morning, and so anguished that I could not save my dog.
“She saved me and died doing it. She did everything right – always did. She never bothered bears as long as they stayed away from her people. She was the best.”
Fish and Game Area Biologist Steve Bethune said this morning there are no further plans to search for the bear.
