[jyl]

One of my friends was wounded by a black bear in the Sierras. I forget what the situation was. He is a experienced backpacker, probably has 1,000 days in the backcountry. Might have been a ''mutually surprised'' sort of thing. The bear came at him far faster than my friend could run, knocked him down, gave him a warning nip or was it a blow, I can't recall, and went off. He had to hike out, 10 miles, with a pretty significant and bloody wound rather close to his genitals. Then he had the whole rabies shot regimen. He doesn't carry a weapon, figures one attack in 50+ years in the high country isn't worth the worry.