Wildlife investigator works a bloody beat

Brian Sommers warned the 90-plus people crammed into a stuffy room Monday night that his presentation included graphic images of victims of wildlife attacks.

Sommers, a criminal investigator for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, focused his presentation primarily on his work with the Wildlife Human Attack Response Team.

He shared numerous photos of people who had been mauled by bears or mountain lions. And the often gory evidence of the work of claws and teeth elicited occasional gasps from the crowd.

Sommers said black bears and mountain lions tend to focus on a victim’s head and there were vivid images onscreen to support that observation, including pulped scalps and a severed ear.

Finally, about 30 minutes into the presentation, a woman slumped in her chair. A man near her announced loudly that she had fainted. Sommers suspended his talk until she rallied and was able to exit with assistance.

He said Monday night’s presentation included material used to train people in Wildlife Human Attack Response, a specialty that combines backcountry know-how, wildlife expertise, forensics knowledge, crime-scene preservation, support for those who survive attacks and more.

Sommers said a key starting question when investigating wildlife human attacks is whether the animal’s attack was defensive, predatory or provoked by surprise. The answer can inform how wildlife agencies respond to the attack and to the animal believed to be involved.

Investigators try to collect DNA evidence at the scene from an animal’s hair, blood or saliva, he said, noting that saliva can be an especially useful source for DNA and that hair with root bulbs attached can be better than blood.

“We’ve spent hours crawling around on the ground looking for hair,” he said.

DNA evidence can sometimes lead to convictions in cases where a person has shot a buck deer, a bull elk or moose and cut off their heads for the mount and left the carcasses, he said.

Sommers’ presentation was sponsored by Glacier National Park Volunteer Associates and held at the Museum at Central School in Kalispell. He has been a game warden or wildlife investigator for 34 years.

He projected images of grizzly and black bears in the wild in various postures, including images of bears that were clearly stressed and therefore dangerous.

Sommers said his experience investigating attacks by bears, including interviews with mauling victims, has convinced him that playing dead in the midst of an attack is better than fighting back.

“The minute you start going after that bear, the attack gets worse,” he said.

He said wildlife investigators around the country have seen an increase in reports from people who have falsely claimed to be victims of a wildlife attack.

And Facebook has been helpful in some investigations when a person’s own postings have led to their arrest and conviction on poaching, non-resident hunting or wildlife baiting charges.

Sommers said investigations sometimes determine that bodies found in remote areas, and sometimes fed upon, have died from causes other than attacks by four-legged animals.

He said he has worked six suicides during his career, for example. And a death in British Columbia first attributed to a wildlife attack was found to be the result of murder with an ice pick.

Sommers said the team that investigates a wildlife attack on a human includes a member who provides support for the victim if there is a survivor.

He said the goal is to never leave a survivor alone in the immediate aftermath of an attack.

Reporter Duncan Adams may be reached at dadams@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4407.