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[at-l] More on Bears



Below is one of the articles on Bears posted at the url below, I think you
will find it interesting and informative and educational, Coosa

http://www.geocities.com/attrailchat/index.html


*****What I Know About Bears*****

Submitted By RainmakerAT97
My first bear encounter came when I was 9 years old. My aunt had taken me to
Mt. LeConte Lodge in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Back in those
days, the lodge had a garbage pit behind the dining area, and they dumped
their food scraps there. The idea was that the guests could watch the bears
during dinner. Times have changed. Anyway, not knowing any better, I tried
to sneak up on a bear to get its picture. Things went pretty well for a
while; I got to within about 30 feet of a medium size black bear before I
snapped the shutter. The sound of the shutter startled it, and it jumped.
The bear's sudden movement startled me, too, and we ended up running in
opposite directions. But I got the photo.

Since then, I have had a kind of fascination with bears, and I've noticed
that if we are in the same area, usually we will find each other. I've spent
hundreds of nights camped in both grizzly and black bear country, and I've
lived in prime bear habitat for the last 11 years. During berry season, they
frequently take "shortcuts" across my property, which is located in a
national forest, only a short distance from a federal wilderness area.

I'm no bear expert, but I'd like to pass along some of the things I've
observed, and some of the things that I've learned "the hard way" (okay; the
first thing I learned was NOT to try to sneak up on bears to get photos).

I've noticed that people tend to stereotype bears, and I think that's a
mistake. Bears are individuals, just like people. Most bears are "Woody
Allen" and "Mother Teresa" bears, but there are a few "Clint Eastwood" and
"John Wayne" make-my-day bears out there, too. It seems to have nothing to
do with age, size or sex. I've seen some scrappy little yearlings, and I've
seen some 300 and 400 pounders that would run at the sound of a tent zipper
being opened.

Bears are not born with the knowledge that humans carry delicious food, and
their mothers do not teach them that humans are something that they should
eat. They don't think of humans as being a part of their diet. In addition,
they don't know that hikers carry food unless the hikers get careless. Bears
basically do only three things; they sleep, look for food and make little
bears. If a bear is awake, it is hungry and looking for something to eat.
Once they learn about the hiker / trail food connection, their life
expectancy generally is less than a year. A fed bear is indeed a dead bear.

Concerning injuries to humans caused by black bears, the incidents usually
involve one of four reasons:

1 - The bear was protecting its food

2 - The bear wanted the person's food

3 - The bear was protecting its cubs

4 - The bear was startled, and reacted instinctively

If you find yourself up close and personal with a bear, the worst possible
thing that you could do is run. Think of it this way; the bear is the cat,
and you are the mouse. Ever see a cat pounce on a mouse that tried to run
from it? Basically, its the same thing. If you run, you are "prey". You
stand a much better chance of avoiding physical contact with the bear if you
slowly back away.

I'm convinced that bears take direct eye contact as a challenge. Ever see
two dogs get ready to fight? They get nose to nose, and stare at each other.
Its probably best to turn your head away, so the bear doesn't think you are
challenging it.

Bears have an uncanny sense of smell. The Native Americans say that if a
leaf falls in the forest, the eagle will see it, the deer will hear it, and
the bear will smell it. You can't be too careful with food odors in the back
country. Especially in areas where bear activity has been heavy, its best to
keep nothing in your tent at night that could possibly attract them. This
includes not only food, but deodorant, tooth paste, hand lotion, talcum
powder, perfume, body lotion and anything else that could possibly smell
unnaturally good to a bear.

Ray Jardine, the self-styled "guru" of the PCT, developed a technique he
calls "stealth camping". Basically, when he is in bear country, he stops to
cook the evening meal late in the afternoon. Then he packs up and hikes
several more miles before getting well off the trail and finding a campsite
that is not used on a regular basis. I think its a good idea. If a bear has
made the association between food and people, it will go where the people
are. In my opinion, stealth camping will greatly reduce your chances of
having a bear encounter. In fact, I believe it will just about eliminate it.

Bear canisters are probably the future concerning safeguarding food while
hiking. The western black bears around Yosemite National Park have already
figured out ways to defeat all systems that involve hanging food, and its
just a matter of time until the rest of the bear population gets "educated",
too. For now, hanging food in trees is still popular in the eastern US, but
I expect that to change in a few years.

In my opinion, bears have a kind of "street mugger" mentality. If they have
made the hiker / food connection, they may want what you have, but they
don't want any hassles getting it. If a bear comes any closer than 10 - 15
feet, I think its time to let it know that I not going to be an easy mark.
Its time to start shouting, waving arms, and throwing rocks and sticks. I
would make exceptions only for a female with cubs, or if a bear was
preparing to defend its food. In both cases, I would slowly back off. In the
highly unlikely event that a black bear actually makes physical contact with
you, you basically have two choices. You can roll up in the fetal position
with your arms clasped around your neck with your back to the bear and play
dead. Or, you can fight back. The choice is yours, but personally, I'd fight
back. However, with a grizzly, fighting back would probably be futile; no
one really knows for sure.

One other point, if a bear gets your food, the bear feels that it is no
longer your food; it is his. If you make any attempt to retrieve it, the
bear will defend the food just like it had been his from the beginning.

I've had 3 rather "serious" encounters. I was bluff charged by a female with
3 cubs in the Smokies about 10 years ago. It is truly amazing how fast they
can move. In 1993, a grizzly and I surprised each other from a distance of
50 feet near the banks of the McKinley River in Denali National Park. I tell
folks that I was the most scared, but the bear jumped the highest. It
"woofed" at me twice, took a few steps in my direction, then turned and ran
away. If I had run from it, there is no doubt in my mind that it would have
come after me. In 1999, while section hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in
Yosemite National Park, a large black bear came up to my tent door sniffing
around in the middle of the night . I managed to scare it away, while being
pretty darn scared myself.

In addition, at my present home, I've had bears on both my front and back
porches. The one on the front porch apparently wanted only a drink of water
from my dog's water dish. However, my dog, a large Black Lab named
Stonewall, didn't wish to share. The resulting fracus was something between
a Keystone Cops movie and a Three Stooges episode. However, there were no
injuries, and to Stonewall's credit, the bear didn't get any of his water.
The incident concerning the bear on the back porch was not so funny. It was
after catfood, and did about $200 in damage to the screens and the porch
contents when the catfood ran out. I was away on a trip at the time, but I
learned my lesson about bears and keeping food outside.

When hiking or walking in bear country, be aware of wind direction. If the
wind is at your back, your chances of surprising a bear are pretty small.
However, if the wind is in your face, making some noise would be a good
idea. I used to wear small bells, until I heard a Blackfoot Indian near
Glacier National Park refer to them as "dinner bells". Now, I just sing or
whistle. I have never carried or used pepper spray, but it may be a good
idea to carry it. However, in my opinion, if you ever have to use pepper
spray, the critter you use it on will probably have 2 legs, not four.

We all know not to come between a mother bear and her cubs, however, on
occasion, I have seen mother bears do nothing except send their cubs up
trees and run away when they know humans are around. Probably an equally
dangerous situation is unintentionally getting close to a bear's cached food
supply. For instance, if you ever come upon a rancid dead animal half buried
in leaves and dirt, I'd leave the area immediately. Bears will defend their
food with just as much vigor as they will protect their cubs; maybe more.

In my opinion, education and respect are the keys to traveling safely in
bear habitat. Bears think they "own" their turf, and if they live in a
national park, they have never had any reason to fear anything, including
humans. In their mind, we are "trespassers" who must be tolerated. However,
the wilderness is a very safe place. You are 180 times more likely to be
killed by a bee than a bear, and thousands of times more likely to die in a
traffic accident. Most likely, your only bear "encounter" will be seeing the
rear end of a rapidly departing bear in the brush someday. However, its best
to know what to do, and what to expect. They are truly magnificent
creatures, and they deserve our respect.



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