“Bears have some awfully funny inclinations. Back in 2004 there were all those wackynews stories about the bear who’d downed three dozen cans of beer at a campground and proceeded to pass out.

But this one takes the cake: this summer, when Vermont hiker Kris Rowley was approached by a bear and it kept following her, it proved more interested in chowing down on her iPhone.

Rowley, who serves as Vermont’s chief information security officer, tells CIO.com: “In a semi-panic, I threw the iPhone at the bear.”

The bear proceeded to ignore Rowley and started clawing at the iPhone instead, CIO.com explains. Rowley used that as her chance to make a hasty exit. She returned two days later to get her iPhone back–bringing along a baseball bat for defense–and found it still there, but chewed and scratched up to the point where she couldn’t use it anymore.

Unfortunately, the Genius Bar support team at her local Apple Store wouldn’t take “a bear ate my iPhone” as a legitimate excuse to get a new one on the house: Rowley had to pay full price for a the replacement.

Maybe that would’ve been different if she’d brought the bear along with her. Just a thought.”

You can access this story yourself by clicking HERE.

After reading the story the only thing that came to mind was, “That damn bear could have had my arm…but there is no way in hell I would have let him have my iPhone.”

What do you think?

If you asked me now, “What is the one thing you are never without?” my answer would be my iPhone.  It is never more than an arm’s length away from me at anytime.  I am addicted to multiple features on the iPhone.  I love being able to read up to date news one moment and playing a role-playing game the next.  The iPhone applications enable each owner to customize their phone to match their own personalities.  It would be fair to say that iPhones take on the identity of their owners.  Imagine how useful it would be to have an up to date listing for the stock market if you were a stockbroker.  Think how much easier it would be for a young couple to look for a new home when there are applications that will give them listings on the housing market.  This couple also is worried about moving into a nice neighborhood where their children are safe.  Maybe they use their iPhone to open an application that pinpoints their location and allows them to see all registered sex offenders living near that home.

The iPhone is by far not just a phone; it is an incredible piece of technology that gives people endless amounts of possibilities at their fingertips.