What do I do if I meet a bear?
Oct 14th, 2010, 07:38 PM
#22
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With the thousands of hikers in Glacier Park this year there has NOT been an attack by a bear this year or the last four years. In fact, the leading cause of death in the park is drowning. ( Two this year ) Comes from people trying to take pictures from slippery rocks.
DON"T HIKE ALONE: MAKE NOISE
You'll be fine
DON"T HIKE ALONE: MAKE NOISE
You'll be fine
Oct 14th, 2010, 09:02 PM
#23
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Yeah, when it comes to brains...those bears are pretty stupid..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDLfTwUZy2s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDLfTwUZy2s
Oct 14th, 2010, 09:09 PM
#24
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ORcas and Sunbum1944 are talking about the same incident. It was a Bellevue man (city councilman), but he was at his vacation home on Lake Wenatchee. Early accounts say he was walking his dog, others say he went out to get the paper and was in his driveway. The bear was an adult female and it is likely she had cubs around, but I haven't read if that was determined before they killed her.
You really, really don't want to challenge a mama bear with cubs around. Making noise as you hike is the best advice of all, along with hiking in a group of 4 or more. And pay attention to your surroundings. Be careful you don't surprise a bear, and don't let one surprise you.
You really, really don't want to challenge a mama bear with cubs around. Making noise as you hike is the best advice of all, along with hiking in a group of 4 or more. And pay attention to your surroundings. Be careful you don't surprise a bear, and don't let one surprise you.
Oct 14th, 2010, 09:20 PM
#25
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yes- thats who I am talking about- I didn't hear the part about him being in Wenatchee on vacation. ( Didn't see the post from Orcas)
Anyway, I was surprised about his theory to stay upright- I thought you were supposed to play dead and cover your head.?
Anyway, I was surprised about his theory to stay upright- I thought you were supposed to play dead and cover your head.?
Oct 15th, 2010, 06:14 AM
#26
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He probably just reacted with his natural instincts. There is no way to know how it would have turned out if he had "played dead" instead. This was a black bear, and some of the advice now is to fight back for that kind of bear. I didn't read the whole story, but I believe it was his wife's intervention that persuaded the bear to stop.
The whole story gives me pause. I once tripped over a bearcub leaving work after dark, in Yosemite back when bears still raided trash bins. Mama was nearby teaching her other cub to get into the dumpster in the parking lot. fortunately baby didn't complain and she didn't notice. I backed into the building and went out a different door. . .
The whole story gives me pause. I once tripped over a bearcub leaving work after dark, in Yosemite back when bears still raided trash bins. Mama was nearby teaching her other cub to get into the dumpster in the parking lot. fortunately baby didn't complain and she didn't notice. I backed into the building and went out a different door. . .
Oct 15th, 2010, 08:12 AM
#28
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I once was camping in N Caroline and bears invaded the campground - I dont know exactly how many came for a garbage can dinner but there were many.
They did not bother our tent and we had no food in it - the people in the campsite next to us were in a pup tent with their feet sticking out the end so figured the bears would go for them first.
Finally a bear either bumped into the side of our tent or swatted it so we got up and ran to our car and stayed there the rest of the night - we could see them roaming all over the campground- it was pretty scary. And my husband worried all night that there would be a bear in our tent when we got back to it - there wasn't -
They did not bother our tent and we had no food in it - the people in the campsite next to us were in a pup tent with their feet sticking out the end so figured the bears would go for them first.
Finally a bear either bumped into the side of our tent or swatted it so we got up and ran to our car and stayed there the rest of the night - we could see them roaming all over the campground- it was pretty scary. And my husband worried all night that there would be a bear in our tent when we got back to it - there wasn't -
Oct 15th, 2010, 09:25 AM
#30
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Lateagain: I hope you were kidding about this, but... don't stay in the car!
First of all, you can definitely buy bear repellent spray (and bear bells, for that matter) at the general stores in Yellowstone. I made my first trip to Yellowstone last month, and I bought a can of bear spray for, I think, $25. But I never even took it out of its plastic packaging, because it became apparent that the probability of my ever running into a bear under dangerous circumstances was basically zero.
I was traveling alone, and although I wasn't camping, I planned to do a lot of hiking alone. I know that's not recommended, but, well, that's what I do, when I find myself alone in a beautiful place. However, I soon realized that I wouldn't be doing much hiking in Yellowstone. There's a huge abundance of amazing things to see there, from beautiful waterfalls to incredible geothermal features to the spectacular Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. To access most of these attractions, you drive to a crowded parking lot that often literally has bathrooms, and you walk along a boardwalk that's mobbed with people. Solitude, sadly, is hard to come by in such places. And I just don't think that a bear is ever going to wander out onto a boardwalk mobbed with people in the middle of the day, even if you rub huckleberries all over yourself and twirl salmon from both hands.
I would have hiked more if I was there longer, but with only a few days in the Park, I was hurrying just to see all the parking-lot-and-boardwalk stuff. I did go out on a few trails, but as they were basically the most popular ones, there were plenty of other hikers ahead of and behind me, and I really didn't feel like any bears were going to show up. Bison, of course, are another matter...
First of all, you can definitely buy bear repellent spray (and bear bells, for that matter) at the general stores in Yellowstone. I made my first trip to Yellowstone last month, and I bought a can of bear spray for, I think, $25. But I never even took it out of its plastic packaging, because it became apparent that the probability of my ever running into a bear under dangerous circumstances was basically zero.
I was traveling alone, and although I wasn't camping, I planned to do a lot of hiking alone. I know that's not recommended, but, well, that's what I do, when I find myself alone in a beautiful place. However, I soon realized that I wouldn't be doing much hiking in Yellowstone. There's a huge abundance of amazing things to see there, from beautiful waterfalls to incredible geothermal features to the spectacular Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. To access most of these attractions, you drive to a crowded parking lot that often literally has bathrooms, and you walk along a boardwalk that's mobbed with people. Solitude, sadly, is hard to come by in such places. And I just don't think that a bear is ever going to wander out onto a boardwalk mobbed with people in the middle of the day, even if you rub huckleberries all over yourself and twirl salmon from both hands.
I would have hiked more if I was there longer, but with only a few days in the Park, I was hurrying just to see all the parking-lot-and-boardwalk stuff. I did go out on a few trails, but as they were basically the most popular ones, there were plenty of other hikers ahead of and behind me, and I really didn't feel like any bears were going to show up. Bison, of course, are another matter...
Oct 15th, 2010, 04:33 PM
#31
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There is a big difference between meeting a black bear and a grizzly but that difference may not be what you think it is.
Given an equal density of bears, you are more likely to be attacked by a grizzly than a black bear. It just seems to be in their nature if surprised, provoked, or occasionally, for no reason at all. For the most part, however, these are not predatory attacks and often playing dead and covering your neck and head will leave you alive, if not completely healthy.
When a black bear attacks, however, it is most often predatory. It is looking for a meal or to destroy its percieved foe. These are the cases where the survival recommendations are to fight back with every tool at your disposal.
Having said all that gloomy stuff, however, I have been photographing both black and grizzly bears for many years and at fairly close ranges. I go to great lengths not to surprise bears, get between them and their cubs, or threaten their food sources. Their are certainly no guarantees but most people who make their living in bear territory never expereince an attack.
Given an equal density of bears, you are more likely to be attacked by a grizzly than a black bear. It just seems to be in their nature if surprised, provoked, or occasionally, for no reason at all. For the most part, however, these are not predatory attacks and often playing dead and covering your neck and head will leave you alive, if not completely healthy.
When a black bear attacks, however, it is most often predatory. It is looking for a meal or to destroy its percieved foe. These are the cases where the survival recommendations are to fight back with every tool at your disposal.
Having said all that gloomy stuff, however, I have been photographing both black and grizzly bears for many years and at fairly close ranges. I go to great lengths not to surprise bears, get between them and their cubs, or threaten their food sources. Their are certainly no guarantees but most people who make their living in bear territory never expereince an attack.
Oct 15th, 2010, 05:09 PM
#32
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The other day
I met a bear
Out in the woods
A way out there
He looked at me
I looked at him
He sized up me
I sized up him
clark- you forgot the last line of that little ditty...
And then I wet my drawers...
I met a bear
Out in the woods
A way out there
He looked at me
I looked at him
He sized up me
I sized up him
clark- you forgot the last line of that little ditty...
And then I wet my drawers...
Oct 16th, 2010, 05:32 AM
#33
My sister in law was walking in a state park in Connecticut this summer, fifteen minutes from her suburban home. She encountered a bear and did not know what to do. While they were both deciding what to do, the bear tripped and fell down a ravine, got up and walked away.
When she called the park ranger to report the incident, he said there had been lots of bear sightings, that there was a whole family of them. When she asked why the bear might have tripped and fallen, the ranger suggested it was drunk on fermented berries.
I am not making this up.
When she called the park ranger to report the incident, he said there had been lots of bear sightings, that there was a whole family of them. When she asked why the bear might have tripped and fallen, the ranger suggested it was drunk on fermented berries.
I am not making this up.
Oct 16th, 2010, 07:43 AM
#34
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Nikki- funny story- drunk bears in the woods. Ha ha!
Maybe when a person is in bear country you should carry a bottle of Scotch- if a bear comes along you can throw the Scotch at them and run like hell!
Maybe when a person is in bear country you should carry a bottle of Scotch- if a bear comes along you can throw the Scotch at them and run like hell!
Oct 16th, 2010, 12:00 PM
#35
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Hawksbill: Thanks for that, you make me feel a little more confident in walking around. The kind of walkways etc you describe will Suit me just fine as I am not a hiker as such. I will definitely now get out of the car. thanks. I am really really excited about going it is a long held wish to go to Yellowstone.
Oct 16th, 2010, 07:44 PM
#36
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Glad to hear it! I was staying out of this discussion, because obviously some people here are real bear experts, and I am most definitely not. But I did want to make the point that most Yellowstone visitors, if they're not camping or doing significant hiking, are just not going to have an issue with bears at all. You'll realize that immediately when you get there, as I did.
Enjoy Yellowstone! It's a great place, and you'll love it.
Enjoy Yellowstone! It's a great place, and you'll love it.
Oct 22nd, 2010, 11:15 AM
#37
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Hawksbill is right. The probability of coming across a bear in the heavily trodden areas of the park during the day is miniscule. If you were putting on a backpack for a day hike into the woods or heading into the backcountry for a few days of backpack camping your chances of encountering a bear would increase, but walking the trails around the touristy spots your chances are just a smidgen above NIL.
At night though, when human activity subsides, bears can get more adventurous, and the likelihood of encountering them anywhere increases.
At night though, when human activity subsides, bears can get more adventurous, and the likelihood of encountering them anywhere increases.
Oct 23rd, 2010, 02:29 AM
#38
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