Re: [pct-l] Re: Bears

[HkrTrash@aol.com]

In a message dated 1/19/99 6:52:48 PM Central Standard Time, reynolds@ilan.com
writes:

<<  If you took a look at what black bears do to cars, you'd
 know that you are wrong. The bear has the capability of making hamburger
 out of me--no sweat. >>

Certainly a black bear has the ABILITY to make hamburger out of all of us, but
whether it has the INCLINATION to is another matter.  Black bears are by
nature very shy and easily frightened.  I know, bears that are familiar with
hikers and the goodies they carry are harder to scare away than others, but
they will leave you alone rather than fight you for your food.  In this
century there have been only 35 documented cases of people being killed by
black bears.  Most of these killings have been unprovoked attacks of
predation, and none of them were by black bears that were habitualized to
humans. You stand a greater chance of being attacked if you are a child or a
woman of small stature.  Black bears will almost never attack an adult human.
The 650,000 black bears of North America kill fewer than one person per 3
years, on the average, despite hundreds of thousands of encounters. To put
this in perspective, for each death from a black bear across North America,
there are approximately 17 deaths from spiders, 25 deaths from snakes, 67
deaths from dogs, 150 deaths from tornadoes, 180 deaths from bees and wasps,
374 deaths from lightning, and 90,000 homicides in the United States alone
(data from the National Center for Health Statistics, 1980-1983).  In the rare
event of one of these attacks, the best defense is to fight with fists, feet,
rocks, or anything at hand.  Unlike with grizzlies, playing dead is the worst
thing you can do with a black bear.

For more info on black bears, try this site:  http://www.bear.org/
It is strictly about the black bear in America, gives the facts, and debunks
the myths.

Good Hiking,
Jim
"Earth gives life and seeks the man who walks gently upon it."
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