Nov 22, 2014 3 min read

“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!”

We all know the famous line from “The Wizard of Oz,” as Dorothy and her cohorts chant that phrase as they worriedly make their way down the yellow brick road.

And it’s pretty obvious people in this area don’t have a lot of experience being around those animals. Certainly lions and tigers are ferocious. But bears? You’ve basically got as good of a chance in Pennsylvania of being attacked by a lion or tiger than you do of being mauled by a black bear.

I bring this up because of the furor created in the Fredericktown area earlier this week over multiple black bear sightings in that area.

The police were contacted. So was the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

From the sound of it, everyone but the National Guard was called in.

Folks, I realize black bears are an uncommon sight in our little corner of the state, but in pretty much every other wooded area of Pennsylvania, they are as common as seeing a raccoon.

And how many black bear attacks do you read about in the state?

Not many if any at all.

There were more deer attacks in the past 10 years than bear attacks, and the black bear population is as great as it’s ever been since those numbers were tracked.

Growing up as I did in northern Clarion County, not far from the border of Forest and Venango counties, seeing a black bear was no big deal. Everyone knew they were around, and occasionally, one would wander across your path.

But mostly, they kept to themselves. In fact, the dozen or so times that I’ve come across one in the wild, usually the only thing I saw was a backside running the other way.

So settle down, folks. These arean’t grizzly or Kodiak bears running loose in our area.

They aren’t man eaters. They’re opportunists, more likely to attack a trash can than they are to go after an animal or human, unless directly threatened.

Don’t panic. Enjoy the chance to see one of the state’s treasures.

• Amy Smith registered her second consecutive 300 score and third of the season to lead the Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen’s to a 1,484-1,466 victory over Irwin Post 228 last week in a Pittsburgh & Suburban Rifle League match between a pair of one-loss teams.

Smith posted 300s in three of the past four weeks, a PSRL Ladies’ record. She’s been the hottest shooter in the league this season.

Dan Francis, Dean Trew, Tom Gerner and Rick Janoski were all solid behind Smith for Dormont-Mt. Lebanon (5-1), with all four firing 296.

Brandon Meier led Irwin (4-2) with a 296.

Frazier-Simplex also improved to 5-1, firing a 1,482 to beat Allegheny.

Zac Szabo and John Husk both shot 299, while Sylvia Drystadt and Christopher Thomas checked in with 296s and Jim Mounts with a 292.

Dan Eichenlaub led Allegheny with a 293.

The league is off the next two weeks for Thanksgiving and the opening of deer season with a beg matchup waiting between Dormont-Mt. Lebanon and Frazier-Simplex Dec. 10.

The meeting between the two Washington County teams will be the second. Dormont-Mt. Lebanon won the first meeting, 1,478-1,473 in Week 2.

Outdoors Editor F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.