Sometimes, Richard Hines Sr. gets the bear. But last week, the bear got him.

The Hardy County man tangled with a 150-pound black bear outside his house and came away with 12 puncture wounds from a bite to his leg. He also needed stitches on his head and ear after he fell trying to get away from the animal.

"He was only about six feet from me and he was coming at me at a dead run. I was scared and I thought maybe that was it, I was done," Hines said.

Hines, 70, started having bear problems last summer at his home near Moorefield. He shot a bear there last October, and he thinks he saw last week's intruder in his yard the weekend before the attack.

"Thirty-some years and I never saw a bear from my house until last year," he said.

At about 2:30 a.m. on May 14, Hines tried to scare the bear from behind a sliding window, but the bear walked to the other side of the house and Hines opened the basement door to see which way it went. Hines said the bear turned and came at him and he fell as he tried to get back into the house. He managed to kick the bear away and shut the door, as it snapped at his legs and feet.

The Division of Natural Resources placed a bear trap on Hines' property, but did not catch the animal.

"They're very docile animals," said Chris Ryan, a bear biologist for the state Division of Natural Resources. "We've never had human injuries where someone got bitten like this. This bear had probably grown accustomed to people and the guy may have startled it."

Local authorities and wildlife experts said they had never heard of a bear attack like the one Hines described. But West Virginia's black bear population is increasing and so are the complaints about the animals around the state.

Allan Niederberger, a wildlife biologist who oversees the Eastern Panhandle for the DNR, said he has logged 12 bear complaints since the beginning of May.

Sometimes, Richard Hines Sr. gets the bear. But last week, the bear got him.

The Hardy County man tangled with a 150-pound black bear outside his house and came away with 12 puncture wounds from a bite to his leg. He also needed stitches on his head and ear after he fell trying to get away from the animal.

"He was only about six feet from me and he was coming at me at a dead run. I was scared and I thought maybe that was it, I was done," Hines said.

Hines, 70, started having bear problems last summer at his home near Moorefield. He shot a bear there last October, and he thinks he saw last week's intruder in his yard the weekend before the attack.

"Thirty-some years and I never saw a bear from my house until last year," he said.

At about 2:30 a.m. on May 14, Hines tried to scare the bear from behind a sliding window, but the bear walked to the other side of the house and Hines opened the basement door to see which way it went. Hines said the bear turned and came at him and he fell as he tried to get back into the house. He managed to kick the bear away and shut the door, as it snapped at his legs and feet.

The Division of Natural Resources placed a bear trap on Hines' property, but did not catch the animal.

"They're very docile animals," said Chris Ryan, a bear biologist for the state Division of Natural Resources. "We've never had human injuries where someone got bitten like this. This bear had probably grown accustomed to people and the guy may have startled it."

Local authorities and wildlife experts said they had never heard of a bear attack like the one Hines described. But West Virginia's black bear population is increasing and so are the complaints about the animals around the state.

Allan Niederberger, a wildlife biologist who oversees the Eastern Panhandle for the DNR, said he has logged 12 bear complaints since the beginning of May.

"We're having a very serious nuisance problem," Niederberger said. "As bears get more and more used to humans, they're losing their respect and fear of humans."

West Virginia's bears caused $188,004 in reported damages last year, a 92 percent increase in dollars from 2006, according the division's annual big game report. Residents also filed a record 1,598 nuisance complaints in 2007. The division estimates that there are between 10,000 and 12,000 black bears in the state, but the goal population will vary by county, Ryan said.

People tempt bears with garbage cans, pet food and bird feeders as the population grows and their habitats overlap. This constant exposure means bears are less timid and people can get caught between an animal and its next meal.

"They're feeding the wildlife intentionally and unintentionally," Niederberger said. The best solution is to keep pet food and birdfeeders inside at night and to put out the trash close to the pickup time.

The bear population is on the rise because the December hunting season protects female bears, which are already in their dens for the winter. This year, biologists hope to start pruning the population by allowing days of late September hunting in the state's southern and eastern counties.

This should curb the population in two ways, Niederberger said. More female bears could be killed early in the season before they have a chance to reproduce. Also, the problem bears will be active around people while food is scarce.

"Once the acorns fall, bears go back to being bears again. The September season may put the nuisance bears in the sights of hunters," he said.

Until then, Hines said he plans to keep an eye out for more nighttime visitors and to keep up with the rabies shots he is getting as a precaution.

"If a bear comes back and gets in my trash again, I'll try to shoot him. But I won't open the door this time," Hines said.

To contact staff writer Kellen Henry, use e-mail or call 348-5179.