Help Emerson's Farm After Bear Tragedy

Hello Everyone,

A true tragedy struck Emerson’s Eggs Backyard Farm. If you are not familiar with Emerson’s Eggs, we are a small family of two young children and have a house with goats and chickens.

With heavy hearts, we would like to announce the death of our beloved two goats, Oreo and Spark. Both were bottle fed and raised by my husband and I. Oreo was approximately one and a half years old, while Spark being as young as 10 weeks old. Oreo and Spark were killed by a bear in the early morning prior to dawn.

At approximately 0355 hours, Nathan (my husband) woke up to the sound of screaming goats. Upon looking at the cameras, he noticed unusual behavior in Taylor (10 week old buckling). Taylor was screaming and running frantically. No other goats could be seen on the cameras. Monday, June 30th Nathan and I saw a bear cub in our neighbors yard. With this prior knowledge, Nathan trusted his instincts and went outside to assess the commotion. Unfortunately, Oreo and Spark had sustained injuries incapable with life. Nathan found himself approximately 10 feet away from the bear, as it was still in the goat pen, and with great bravery scared the bear away.

At approximately 0405 hours, I woke up and Nathan demanded I should not go outside. I saw the look on his face and immediately started getting dressed. That’s when I was informed of the attack and casualties of our goats. At this time, all I knew we had two deceased, two alive, and one was missing. Upon exiting our house, our doe, Snickers (who escaped the pen during the attack) was in our front yard. I used goat treats to lure her into the garage for safety. Snickers was unharmed. Taylor, Spark’s brother, was unharmed. Thunder, Oreo’s brother, was injured consistent with a bear’s bite. Nathan and I cleaned Thunders wounds and sealed it with spray until it could be examined by a vet.

Hess McWilliams Veterinary Service was called at 0630 hours when they opened. A doctor came out and assessed each goat that survived the incident. Snickers and Taylor were completely unharmed. Thunder was found to have puncture wounds presumably from a bear’s bite above his front shoulders. The vet stapled one puncture hole and placed a surgical drain into the other wound due to the wound’s depth and possibly puncturing his thoracic cavity. Thunder is on medications and has follow up appointments. If Thunder injuries are deemed to hinder his quality of life or should worsen, we will be forced to euthanize him.

Oreo and Spark will be buried tonight and we will honor their lives. Although their lives were short, they had a huge impact on our family and friends. Oreo and Spark will be dearly missed.