Russian Woman Uses
Knife To Kill Bear

MOSCOW — An elderly Russian woman came out on top in a showdown with a bear recently, dispatching the attacking beast with a knife, said a Russian news agency Tuesday.

She’s luckier than she thinks; if that had happened in the United States, the poor woman would be facing a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fine for defending herself, and Rep. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., would seize upon the incident to launch an attack on the irresponsible private ownership of "assault knives."

Nina Bogdanova, a retired post office manager from the village of Bobrovets in western Russia, went to the woods one day earlier this month to cut tree branches to use as fishing rods, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Little did she know that she was approaching the lair of a female bear and its four cubs. Suddenly, she felt a blow to the back of her head, dealt by the charging animal.

The bear broke and bit through the woman's left hand, ITAR-Tass said. But Bogdanova — who is slight and of a small height — managed to use her other hand to stab the bear with a knife she used for cutting branches, the report said.

After walking to a village doctor, Bogdanova was hospitalized and treated for her wounds, ITAR-Tass said.

The bear's four cubs have been taken to a regional nature preserve, where they will be kept until they grow up and then released, it said.