On Wednesday afternoon, a black bear attacked a man in Franklin County. The bear was "in the process of attacking him" when Patton's son showed up to check on him and started throwing rocks at it, Stephens said. "It was a pretty severe attack," Stephens said. ""We don't have records back that far," Stephens said, but "there's some news articles that talk about bear attacks in the 1850s. "As to what may have caused the attack, Stephens said that his game wardens are investigating.