Massachusetts man faces charges after killing bear in backyard

Massachusetts, man is facing charges for killing a bear in his backyard. The bear was attracted to a barrel of bird feed in the man’s yard and went after him once on the property.

Norwegian warning road sign. photo/peeperman

“I didn’t have time to aim through the sights, but I aimed in the direction of the head on this thing and I pulled the trigger before it got to me,” he told WBZ-TV. “It just dropped.”

Richard Ahlstrand, age 87, says he was  re-stocking his bird feeder when the bear, weighing 300 to 400 pounds and seven feet tall, charged at him.

Ahlstrand is now charged with “illegally killing a bear, illegally baiting a bear, illegal possession of a firearm and failure to secure a firearm.”

All of these charges point to a violation that Ahlstrand didn’t make his yard completely inhospitable to animals that are rarely seen in the area, and then investigated a suspicious noise with a weapon in hand rather than hide under the bed.

“They got me set up now like I’m some kind of murderer. And then the environmental guy told me ‘You should have called me instead of shooting it,’” he continued. “What was I going to do, say ‘Mister Bear would excuse me please while I go make a phone call?’”