An 8-year-old boy hiking with his father in the Smoky Mountains was attacked by a black bear. The boy now regrets hiking with pocketfuls of salmon.
Evan Pala was cut, scratched and bitten. His father, John Pala of Boca Raton, also was cut before driving off the bear with rocks and sticks. They were both treated and released from a nearby hospital a few hours after the attack late Monday.
The boy was playing in a creek near a popular trail “and the bear just came and pounced on him for no apparent reason,” park spokeswoman Nancy Gray said.