Fourteen-year-old high school freshman Ben Davis is well known at Littleton High School for his performances in theater, participation in band, and being attacked by a bear in Moab, Utah. In the summer of 2019, Davis was camping on The Dulie Bridge Campground in Moab, Utah, along the Colorado River and was spending his last night camping in Moab underneath the stars. At around five in the morning, what Davis thought was his dog Mason licking his face, was in reality, a female bear ripping his ear off. Davis played dead as the bear took off his ear and a patch of skin on his face. The thought of “ I am going to die” constantly raced through his head, he said.
“Then, she didn’t go away so then I turned to my friend and was like, what should I do? And he said, don’t move so I didn’t move and eventually she walked down to my legs to drag me away,” Davis said.
Davis sat there in silence until he got the courage to jump away from the bear and call out for help. After alerting his fellow campers and counselors, the entire camp began packing their things together. Then, the camp began the hour-long walk to the hospital where Davis was there treated by doctors for his injuries
“They had to sew my ear back on and then had to give me some plastic surgery to fix my forehead but other than that it was good,” said Davis.
After the park rangers hunted Nora, Davis’ bear, down they concluded that the reasoning for his attack was due to her hunger. Usually, this bear had the luxury of getting food from a local crabapple farm, however, at the time park rangers thought this bear was looking for a snack which invoked her decision to attack Davis.
In the end, Davis recovered from all of his injuries. Most likely, last year you saw a very tall kid walking through the halls with bandages wrapped around his head, yes, that was him. Davis says that the advantage of his attack was that it made him very popular, he even gave an interview to Scholastic. He has become a local celebrity.
