What do you know about Bears?

[recycled sixtie]

Originally Posted by john70t

Grizzly Mother Bear Chases Down Elk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBBmdays-c4

Thanks for that John.

[varmint]

black bears are the devil. relentless as raccoons, only three hundred pounds.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by craigster59

I've had run ins with a few bears. Black bears (which also are brown, cinnamon, etc.) are basically harmful unless you get between a mother and her cubs.

Usually yelling or banging pots and pans will scare them off. They're just looking for food, keep food put away and locked up tight. They can and will find a way to get at it if it's open and available.

I'm guessing you meant to say harmless?

I have camped it bear country in a tent & sleeping bag where the bears came through the campground almost every night, trust me if bear ate people I would be bear poo by now {Of course bears are wild animals and have the ability to kill you so caution should be taken}
As said keep all food locked up tight (when camping in bear country we had to "tree" all of our food every night. Stinky food is very attractive to them (bacon, fish, etc)
NEVER come between the cubs and mom!!!
Don't leave your dogs unattended!

Originally Posted by craigster59

Oh and another thing. They don't like to be petted so don't even try.

Oh, but they do love to dance!

[Evans, Marv]

Good advice about the food. Just like any other animals you don't want to encourage, keep what they're interested in unavailable to them. I've come face to face with several bears that have always run away. That doesn't mean they will always do that. I've seen where they've bent back the doors of VW campers to gain access. Once I was hiking in the Sierras and passed a tree, heard a noise and looked up. There was a pair of bear cubs. My first reaction was to think how cute they were. My second was OMG, mother must be close by. I just continued walking as if nothing had happened. Once I came face to face at the corner of my cabin with a bear that lived around our living quarters and raided trash cans at night. She was big, and we called her Matilda. We both had a look of "Oh Schit!" on our faces and ran the other way.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by MRM

Black bears are not dangerous to humans unless trapped or provoked. Don't leave food out and don't get between momma and the babies and you'll be fine. Google bear attacks and you'll see how rare they are. Use a bell or whistle or something to make noise to warm them away. Don't approach them and don't play with them but they aren't a danger to you if they're just climbing trees around you. Lock all items that have a smell to them (candy, all food, toiletries, etc.) in a tight box or inside the house. Keep your trash inside. They won't bother you unless you leave stuff out that they want to check out for food.

Tinker Bell, are those bells on your toes?

[flatbutt]

in my yard




taken from inside my truck.

[scottmandue]

I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure the pics are of black/brown bears not grizzlies.

I'm also a big sissy city boy and we did not set out to camp with bears but they (or it... it came through camp at night and I didn't go out of the tent to investigate) we just went to go fishing.

This was at Sequoia National park.

My brother moved to the hills up behind Brookings OR. and had regular visits from dear and bear but never any trouble, however that may have been because the bear were more interested in the salmon that ran in the river on his property.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

in my yard




taken from inside my truck.

I'd be needing to get the smell out of my truck...and shorts .

[billybek]

I came pretty much face to face with a decent size black bear boar this past summer. The berry crop in the West Kootenays was very thin due to a very dry spring season, but the fruit trees had tons of bear food just hanging there by the middle of August.
I had walked out of the house to my truck and looked over to my left and the bear was maybe 10 feet away from me. I herded my mother in law back into the house and closed all the doors in the back of the house.
The bear went through the neighbors yard and was walking up to our house through the back yard. The border collie went absolutely insane when she saw the bear and in the other neighbors back yard there was another cinnamon coloured sow.
My in laws did very little hiking during their stay....

[wdfifteen]

Had a talk with a neighbor. He says black bears come through here daily. Too many people around, and in the past there were a lot of opportunities for them to scavage garbage. Human discipline is better now, but these bears are habituated to scouting the area. There is a hefty fine for leaving trash of any kind out. It may take several generations for them to get the human habit out of their system. Interesting.

[jyl]

Black bears are not a threat to humans who aren't provoking or threatening them . . . But there are exceptions. A friend of mine was backpacking with his wife in the Sierras, they encountered a bear on the trail, they didn't do anything provoking (very experienced outdoors people), the bear came at my friend and swiped at his crotch, leaving a large, deep and profusely bloody wound just south of his testicles. He had to hike out 10 miles, his wife had to carry both packs.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

in my yard




taken from inside my truck.

Awwww, he just wants a hug!

I don't have to tell you what kind of hug... right?

Just offer him a picnic basket and everything will be cool.

[Jeff Higgins]

Lots of great advice here already, with the best being to simply give them a wide berth and no reason to investigate you or your stuff. They are clearly not afraid of you, which I too find worrisome.

I have found, in a lifetime of woods bumming, backpacking, and hunting (mainly in my native Pacific Northwest) that the most often expressed generalities about any given animal need to be accompanied by a big huge caveat of "it depends...". They are, individually, as unpredictable as we are. Even the exact same animal may react completely differently to identical situations on different days, just like we do. They have personalities and emotions too.

Is getting between mama and her cubs a certain recipe for disaster? I've done it three times, and all three times mama ran away, leaving her cubs at my mercy. Is surprising or cornering one going to make it attack? I dunno, I had one knock me flat on my back one time in its zeal to escape my back packing partner, myself, and our two dogs. Pure "flight" with no thoughts of "fight".

Then again, one of my old hunting partners made local news (and earned about a month's stay in intensive care) when he was attacked from behind by a mama. He remembers a cub watching as mama actually removed a couple of ribs from his back, before he blacked out. His twelve year old boy managed to run to their truck and drive it a mile into town for help. He still has no idea why this time was different. Difficult day with the kid, and she was going to take it out on the next thing she saw? Who knows.

Anyway, point is, they are unpredictable. Even a 50 pound youngster can tear you a new one - they don't have to be big. As a matter of fact, bigger is probably better - older, wiser, calmer - again, just like us. Nothing left to prove...

Oh, and forget the bells on the backpack b.s. In most bear country with heavy people traffic and a high likelihood of encounter, these bells are apparently becoming "dinner bells". Bears ain't stupid. They are rather quick studies, as a matter of fact. The brighter ones have now figured out that if they step out and say "boo", that backpackers will follow that other oft quoted axiom of bear country - just drop the pack and let them have it so you can walk away. Not too many have to do that before even your average bear has an "aha" moment.

[manbridge 74]

Locals here are quite bear wise. So much so that an encounter like the OPs would be viewed quite harshly. Bears are always learning and this one just had an encounter with a person where nothing bad happened to him. He is now further conditioned that people are nothing to be feared of. He will be more bold the next time.

Bears don't show themselves in day light here much except when they are putting on weight right before winter. This one would've got a brick right in the flank from me or anyone else here in town. A wax or wooden slug out of a 12 gauge even better.

Camped here many times with no tent, just a bag on a thermorest. Never had an encounter or a worry as long as we had no food with us and we didn't smell of cooked food (this mistake has gotten a few tourists in trouble).

[SoCal911T]

[creaturecat]

i have often come across them while on a mtn bike. black bears. stealthiness is not a good thing.
it's all fun and games until you get one in your campsite. while you are lying down. in a tent. on the cold cold ground. in the dark. i always have a hatchet and bear spray in the tent. handguns not allowed here, or i would have one in the tent. no food nearby, obviously.
having women-folks around, during certain times of the month is not a great idea, either. fwiw.

[manbridge 74]

Yep.

We had a 30 yard roll-off dumpster and they would pull out the trash bags with women's waste first if someone forgot to latch it.

[john70t]

Just a thought:
Just wondering if a row of no-fuse small firecrackers would stop the first curious advances.
Followed by M80s/+ extended high hz sonic/+ stink grenades.
Followed by salt/chem shot. But intent might not be swayed at that point. Or the first. .357 and up.

[manbridge 74]

The DOW (department of wildlife) would issue us a few shotgun shells that contained a loud firecracker that would go off when it contacted something hard. Not that useful as they usually returned later. They need to feel some pain to move on.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by manbridge 74

Locals here are quite bear wise. So much so that an encounter like the OPs would be viewed quite harshly.

I would hope they'd cut me a little slack. We'd been here all of 30 minutes after driving 6 1/2 hours to get here. All we were thinking about was, "At last - a week off." All I had to throw at him was a camera and a martini glass. Not sure he would be impressed. There was a small table on the deck but I doubt the owners would appreciate me chucking their furniture off the deck into the ravine.
Thanks for the advice. We cached some sticks of firewood next to the door to chuck at them if they wander through again.