CHIPPEWA FALLS (AP) - Kelly Wiltrout is more forgiving than a lot of people would be. Having survived an attack by a black bear outside her Siren home, which the bear had invaded before, she's quick to defend the bear.

"Everybody is referring to it as a vicious bear and it's not," she said. "It's not a bad bear. It's a nuisance bear. It's just looking for food."

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is looking for the bear, intending to kill it as a danger to the public because it's unafraid of humans.

Wiltrout's encounter happened on June 28 when she took out some garbage.

"As I turned the corner, the bear was right there with me," she said. It was about 10 feet away.

"We startled each other."

The bear reacted by jumping and knocking down Wiltrout, who is eight months pregnant. It scratched at her, down her face and onto her shoulder, tearing her shirt.

She moved to cover her head, and the bear kept its paw on her. Then it walked away.

The bear was about 2 years old and perhaps as large as 200 pounds.

Another bear, around 300 pounds, also had been visiting the house, and Wiltrout was afraid it was around too.

"My 2-year-old was inside and my husband was at work. I was completely alone," she said.

Wiltrout quickly went back in the house after the bear walked off. She called her husband, who is a Burnett County sheriff's deputy. Help rushed to the scene.

It was not Wiltrout's only encounter with the bear. A few days earlier she was sleeping in her basement and heard footsteps above. She thought it was her husband. Then she saw the bear looking downstairs at her and realized her husband wasn't home. Her son was on the other end of the house sleeping, with the bear between Wiltrout and the child.

The bear left through a porch screen. It had entered by jumping through a screen. It knocked down a few things but did no serious damage.

The Wiltrouts had taken down their bird feeders and removed any source of food, but the bear is still coming around. Because of the home invasion, the DNR set live traps.