One dead two injured in bear attack in MT Campground

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SAR-EMT40

SAR-EMT40

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HELENA, Mont. – At least one bear rampaged through a campground near Yellowstone National Park before dawn Wednesday, killing one person and injuring two others before campers sought shelter in their cars, wildlife officials said.


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Oh my! I am leaving for Cooke City, MT this Saturday morning. I'll be within 1 mile of the Soda Butte campground! I better get some bear spray. I am sorry to hear about the loss of life.
 
I heard an interview with one of the women who was bitten. When she screamed the bear bit harder. She reminded herself to "play dead", did and was surprised at how quickly the bear released her and moved on. Strange attack. I wonder if the weather and fires are affecting their food and attitude.
 
Chip said:
I heard an interview with one of the women who was bitten. When she screamed the bear bit harder. She reminded herself to "play dead", did and was surprised at how quickly the bear released her and moved on. Strange attack. I wonder if the weather and fires are affecting their food and attitude.
Click to expand...
The reports have stated that the type of bear is so far unknown. This behavior is more typical of grizzly bears than of black bears.

(Playing dead is a recommended defense against a grizzly but not against a black bear.)

Doug
 
A woman at work (who has never been anywhere near a bear) made a very insightful comment. She said "If the campers were sleeping, why would "playing dead" help ? They were already "playing dead" when they were attacked." All I could come up with was perhaps they smelled like food and that maybe some bear, like people, are just nuts. So common sense precautions should help, but are no guarantee.
 
cyohman said:
Bear Deterrent is $39.96 at the North Conway EMS, if the 20% sale is still going on. Bear Bells are about $5. Of course, common sense is free. Observe from a distance, don't get between a mother and her cubs, play dead if attacked, etc.
Click to expand...
Some informal experiments have suggested that grizzly bears do not respond to bells. (IIRC, reported in Backpacker Magazine.) The same bear reacted instantly to a snapped twig...

Bear spray is not allowed on commercial aircraft, so you will have to buy it at your destination if flying. (It would be nice if you could "rent" it so you wouldn't face the problem of disposing of it before your return flight.)

The play dead strategy applies to grizzlies, but not generally to black bears. The general advice is to bluff (act big, make noise, etc) a black bear and if it attacks, fight back--black bears will generally avoid you but if they attack, it is likely to be predatory. (However, Herrero reports one case where a black bear mother with cubs attacked and only stopped when they played dead.)

Ref:
"Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance, Revised Edition", by Stephen Herrero. IMO, should be required reading for anyone going into bear territory. http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280424415&sr=8-1

Doug
 
Chip said:
A woman at work (who has never been anywhere near a bear) made a very insightful comment. She said "If the campers were sleeping, why would "playing dead" help ? They were already "playing dead" when they were attacked." All I could come up with was perhaps they smelled like food and that maybe some bear, like people, are just nuts. So common sense precautions should help, but are no guarantee.
Click to expand...
The campers were also in tents, so the bear would not have been able to see them playing dead. (Sleeping in a tent is generally safer (with respect to bears) than sleeping out in the open.)

Jay H's link states that it was a mother grizzly with 3 cubs. Moms, particularly with 3 cubs, are nervous and some grizzlies are aggressive. The article doesn't say if it was habituated to humans, but the fact that it came back suggests that it may have been.

Doug
 
:eek:

Yikes, indeed. What a terrifying experience!

We spent a few days in this exact area last summer while climbing Granite Peak, Montana's high point, from the south. Beautiful, wild country.

(Good luck out there, Pudgy Groundhog!!)
 
DougPaul said:
The play dead strategy applies to grizzlies, but not generally to black bears. The general advice is to bluff (act big, make noise, etc) a black bear and if it attacks, fight back--black bears will generally avoid you but if they attack, it is likely to be predatory. (However, Herrero reports one case where a black bear mother with cubs attacked and only stopped when they played dead.)

Ref:
"Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance, Revised Edition", by Stephen Herrero. IMO, should be required reading for anyone going into bear territory. http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280424415&sr=8-1

Doug
Click to expand...

I entirely agree, FWIW. Exactly correct from what I have read also. With grizzlies, play dead, you don't stand a snowballs chance anyway. If he is going to kill and eat you, it's gonna happen no matter what you do, short of a gun and possibly OC spray. Most likely he is attacking as a warning. As long as he thinks you are a threat he is going to toss and chew on you. If a Black bear makes contact fight for your life, it is most likely a predatory attack. And yes, you can bluff a black bear. A grizzly on the other hand, like a polar bear knows he is the baddest thing out there so bluffing, in my opinion would likely appear to a grizzly as a challenge. A challenge, I might add, you are woefully incapable of backing up.

Keith
 
SAR-EMT40 said:
I entirely agree, FWIW. Exactly correct from what I have read also. With grizzlies, play dead, you don't stand a snowballs chance anyway. If he is going to kill and eat you, it's gonna happen no matter what you do, short of a gun and possibly OC spray. Most likely he is attacking as a warning. As long as he thinks you are a threat he is going to toss and chew on you. If a Black bear makes contact fight for your life, it is most likely a predatory attack. And yes, you can bluff a black bear. A grizzly on the other hand, like a polar bear knows he is the baddest thing out there so bluffing, in my opinion would likely appear to a grizzly as a challenge. A challenge, I might add, you are woefully incapable of backing up.
Click to expand...
Grizzlies evolved largely above timberline, so there was no place to hide if they were threatened. Thus, an aggressive attack was the best defense. The play dead defense tells them that you are not a threat and can be ignored. (Stay "dead" until they wander away--moving too soon could precipitate a new attack.)

Black bears, on the other hand, mostly evolved in forests where they could climb trees or run and hide if threatened. So if you act threatening, they will generally leave the scene. However, as Keith noted above, occasionally they may decide you might be food and make a predatory attack for which your best defense is to fight back.

All bets are off if the bears have become habituated to humans thus losing their fear of humans and/or have learned to associate us with food. (Human food is much richer and easier to obtain than most of their natural food.)

Doug
 
Holy smokes, what a frightening experience. Stealth, middle-of-the-night attack-yikes. Anybody know how long the campground had been established?? The article says an attack also took place there in 2008 -- just pondering if its a relatively new campground they could have been territorial attacks? Frightening to think that they were predatory.
 
We drove the campground loop a mere 3 days before the events to find it full. It wasn't looking like a KOA campground mess with loads of food left on picnic tables...I remarked that the campground was near jellystone and that I'd rather sleep somewhere else, to which my girlfriend replied I was a sissy :eek:
 
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