Darah Wood was approaching her 19-year-old son\u2019s room early Monday when he stormed out with blood on his face.<\/p>\n
A nosebleed, she thought. But when she peeked into his room, she saw a large black bear trying to get in through a window.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bear had reached in and clawed him,\u201d she said in a phone interview. \u201cThere were a few surface-level scratches on his stomach and chest, but he had really gotten his face.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she scared the bear away by screaming and banging a pot with a wooden spoon.<\/p>\n
Read more: California couple use hatchet, water bottle to fight off bear attack in Mammoth Lakes<\/a><\/p>\n Paramedics arrived and took her son, Kevin, who is autistic, to Loma Linda University Medical Center \u2014 a 39-minute drive from their home in Crestline, a mountain community in San Bernardino County.<\/p>\n Wood said the bear\u2019s claws had opened her son\u2019s upper-right lip and nostril, requiring stitches. She said his mouth was swollen but that he was out of the hospital and recovering Wednesday.<\/p>\n Although bear attacks are rare, the incident has rattled some residents in the small mountain community and sparked a probe by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.<\/p>\n As part of their investigation, wildlife officers took a collection of potential DNA evidence from Kevin Wood and the residence and submitted the samples to a lab, the agency said in a written statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe DNA results have come back from the lab, and CDFW wildlife officers will now be attempting to capture the offending bear,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n Read more: Grisly affair: SoCal man survives grizzly bear attack in Glacier National Park<\/a><\/p>\n Darah Wood\u2019s mother, Deena, said things could have been worse. She said she and her family have lived at the Crestline home since the late 1970s and have never experienced a bear attack.<\/p>\n The Woods said bears are known to wander into people\u2019s backyards, often drawn by gardens and ponds, but that they typically flee at the sight of humans.<\/p>\n \u201cBut this guy is a little different,\u201d Deena Wood said.<\/p>\n She believes the bear that attacked her grandson may be the same one she saw in a pond near their home less than a week ago. She said that bear wasn\u2019t easily scared.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just got out and lumbered away real slowly,\u201d she said. \u201cSo he\u2019s a little brazen, I would say.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: Woman walking her dog in Monrovia is targeted by bear<\/a><\/p>\n Wildlife experts say human-bear conflicts <\/a>are the result of people moving deeper into the wildlands, and that bears that wander into neighborhoods<\/a> are often harmless and easy to frighten.<\/p>\n But some bears, experts note, adjust to human routines such as which days trash cans are put out so they can find food. Others are unafraid and can kill livestock, damage property and pose a public safety threat.<\/p>\n The Woods said they don\u2019t wish harm on the bear but they hope that wildlife officers will be able to track it down so that it doesn\u2019t hurt anyone else.<\/p>\n