Black bear kills 13 year old in Utah

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070619/ap_on_re_us/bear_attack;_ylt=AudoT_tyTAVVaBGgxbLt3hxH2ocA

 

[ALGonquin Bob]

What a horrible thing to happen on Fathers' Day weekend, or anytime. I've never even thought that a thing like that could happen in the NorthEast, but of course, it could.

 

[una_dogger]

Holy crap! Incidents like this one make me nervous.

How tragic for the family.

 

[KMartman]

Believed to be the first in Utah history. They can't talk about it more on the news here. Some are angry park wasnt closed or new campers warned that this bear apparently took a swipe at some other campers the night before.

Tragic in any event.

M

 

[HAMTERO]

People should learn how to protect themselves. That is not the Forest Service's job.

 

[Maddy]

People should learn how to protect themselves. That is not the Forest Service's job.

This is a terrible tragedy. That said, I would love to know more about this bear's history. Was he/she being fed scraps by people thinking he was cute. How many people left food scraps near their tent sites when they moved on or did not keep clean camp sites?
It's possible but I have grave doubts that this bear came out of the woodwork, walked over to a tent, and dragged a young boy off in the night to kill him. I suspect that he had been lurking about for very good "bear" reasons.
My only experience with serious bear education and warnings was in the Smoky Mts. In spite of this, during out brief stay there, I saw at least a half dozen people, disregard the rules, feed the bears and approach cubs.
The ranger told me that one visitor was at the base of a tree with a cub up top. He was reluctant to move along because he would miss his photo op. I screamed at a woman who gave her partially eaten grinder to a cub whose mother was standing feet away from him, quite close to visitors on the road at Cade' Cove. I think she thought I was a ranger, because she took off like a speeding bullet in her vehicle. The $5000 fine for this transgression was probably not very appealing to her at that moment.
We had a bear come right up to our car in a main parking lot, climb on the hood, and try to break through the window to get our subs. This bear was so acclimated to people that he was a real accident waiting to happen. The encounter lasted at least 5-10 min as he walked the top of our car and kept trying to come through the front windshield. For whatever reason, he finally gave up and walked into the woods.
I reported the incident immediately and the rangers said they would relocate him but they also commented that people just keep feeding these bears. In fact, every person I told the story to replied "why didn't you just give him your subs?"
Black bears are very aversive to people but if we invite them into our dining rooms and break bread with them, offer them leftovers, go to sleep wearing "essence of fish and bacon", they will all too soon push the envelope and something like this horror story will happen. These folks might have have a very clean camp, and did everything right, but this bear was getting way to comfortable with people, and this poor kid paid the price and so did the bear.
Even when the Forest Service does their very best to try to "protect people" ...some just keep doing as they please, endangering everyone else.

 

[hazelfiverbbery]

People should learn how to protect themselves. That is not the Forest Service's job.

How does one protect themselves from such a thing...
I thought of bringing one of those really loud air horns to ward bears off..

 

[Chip]

As an example, in Yellowstone the odds are approx 1 in 2 million of being attacked and 1 in 10 million of being killed, so other dangers like lightning, snakes and falls are more likely to "get cha".

How does one protect themselves from such a thing.....

There are different strategies for Grizzlies and Black Bear. This is a good "How To" article re Grizzlies and Black bears.
If by "protect" anyone thinks a gun is a good idea, they need to do more research. (PS: I'm not anti-gun; I'm licensed for concealed carry in CT and would not think of carrying as a bear defense.)

I thought of bringing one of those really loud air horns to ward bears off..

I believe that's a good, practical approach, if you're concerned. Blasting 3 times would scare the bear and send a distress signal at the same time.

I'm a little more concerned than I would be normally as we are heading to the Tetons and Yellowstone next week and there has been a recent attack with injuries and some trail closings in the Tetons. I wouldn't sweat it around here.

 

[Maddy]

Here are a few things that come to mind for black bears.
Grizzlies are another story. Some of these would apply but they have a different set of rules for encounters.
1. Wear bear bells on pack
2. Carry bear pepper deterrent spray.
3. Avoid camping at sites where you know that others are
not abiding the "clean camp" rules.
4 Cook away from your camp. Do not wear the same
clothes to bed that you wore to cook and eat.
5. Don't leave garbage bags or dog food laying about.
6. Avoid using anything with odors and flavor toothpaste.
6. Use bear cannisters or hang your food away from camp.
7. Check with rangers about bear activity in area.
8. Make noise when you are hiking. Talk to your
pals,sing, whatever it takes. Bears don't like
surprises.
9. Keep your dog under control. "Dog chases bear or cub,
bear turns and chases dog, dog runs to you and hides
behind you."
10.If you see a bear coming toward you, back away
slowly,raise arms over head,make as much noise as
you can.
11. When approaching a berry patch, check for any bears
who might be feeding before you sit at their table.
They don't like to share!
12. This is advice from ranger in Smokies. He told me
when he hikes he carries only Power Bars, nothing
smelly. He double bags them and after he eats them
he double bags the wrappers and places them in his
pack.
13. It's probably not a great idea to go fishing, and
cook up a fish feast for supper, then take a nap in
bear country.
14. I have heard that women having their menses can
be a problem. Burn the products if you can, or make
sure they are very well bagged.

 

[Maddy]

How does one protect themselves from such a thing...
I thought of bringing one of those really loud air horns to ward bears off..

Sequel to last post:
This is an excellent book on bear attacks.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781585745579&itm=1

 

[DougPaul]

The standard reference is "Bear Attacks, Their Causes and Avoidance", By Stephen Herrero. (Referenced in the previous post.)

From the above: black bears are usually shy and will move away if you warn them that you are coming (ie make noise). Habituated (ie accustomed to humans and their food) bears can be far more dangerous. Also "trained" bears (found in the high DAKs and Sierras) require extra measures for protecting one's food.

Mostly habituated bears just want your food. Bear's noses will put a bloodhound to shame--if you have food, they can smell it.

2. Carry bear pepper deterrent spray.

Generally overkill. Rarely done for black bears. Only useful at short range during an attack.

14. I have heard that women having their menses can
be a problem. Burn the products if you can, or make
sure they are very well bagged.

Zoo bears exposed to used menstral paraphernalia have shown no interest. Probably not an issue.

Black bears make very rare predatory attacks on humans (ie decide you are food). Mothers with cubs can also become aggressive. (Avoid getting between mom and the cubs or near the cubs.)

If you are concerned, I highly recommend that you get the book.

Doug

 

[Gris]

Tragic

Probably the only thing predictable about bears is their unpredictability. When we were wandering around Katmai last summer we were always near grizzlies, sometimes only 50 feet or so away. At first we were pretrified, then after a few days we ignored them. But every once in a while I would think about the grizzly guy and his girlfriend who were mauled just a few miles from where we were. The third generation bush pilot with us who grew up there just said, "there are good bears and bad bears, best hope you don't ever meet up with a bad one...." He didn't carry a gun, said it would be more or less useless unless it was a high powered rifle and you shot every bear you saw from a long distance - before it was really a threat at all. He didn't believe in the habituation threat. He said years ago the owner of a remote lodge up there tamed/raised a grizz and it was not a threat but like a playful puppy, until shot by some hunters by mistake. By the same token he said there were bears up there that are totally unhabituated who are "very bad bears" and rattled off several very gruesome stories. He likened them to dogs, good ones and bad ones. Fortunately more of the former.

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

1. Wear bear bells on pack

I've heard from multiple park rangers when we were in the Canadian Rockies that this is not effective. They said the most effective thing is talking and similar noises. For certain trails in the parks, they require a six group minimum and the group has to stay together. Besides size of a group being a possible deterrent to a bear, the main reason is that a group that large is going to make a lot of noise and avoid surprising a bear.

I thought I saw in one of the new reports that it was a really dry season where the attack occurred so food might have been scarce.

Since it was a campground, I wouldn't surprised if the bear was used to finding food there (left either intentionally or unintentionally). Even though I believe people need to be responsible for themselves, I think the park should've at least posted a notice of known or increased bear activity to warn people.

Additionally, it's possible the family of the boy who was attacked had done everything correctly with their food storage and were unlucky victims because previous campers had been careless.

 

[Maddy]

Zoo bears exposed to used menstral paraphernalia have shown no interest. Probably not an issue.

Doug

This is very interesting because I read a report (can't remember now where it happened) but a young woman, who had her menses, was hauled out of her tent her by a black bear. When they reviewed the possible causes for the bear attack, they indicated that this was the probable cause.
I would love to have more data on this subject because so many young women do hike and backpack in bear country. I suppose it there is even a chance that this might aggravate a bear, it would be best to take precautions.
Last week, I met a really neat lady who lives alone in No. VT and does a lot of hiking in the "Kingdom". She mentioned to me that she does carry bear repellent, just in case, but true to form, she has never had a bear encounter.
This is a wonderful site for info on black bears. A Lynn Rogers special!
http://www.bear.org/Black/Black_Bear_Mini_Course.html

 

[Neil]

I've heard from multiple park rangers when we were in the Canadian Rockies that this is not effective. They said the most effective thing is talking and similar noises.

When in the CDN Rockies I like a re-chargeable air horn.

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

When in the CDN Rockies I like a re-chargeable air horn.

We did see people in the Rockies that had similar air horns. We met an Australian couple who had been working in the Yukon, or some place in the boonies that has a lot of bear activity (I can't remember exactly where). They said the locals swore by the air horns and they figured they knew best, so were carrying one as well.

 

[Neil]

Sans air horn, I've had 3 bear encounters in the CDN Rockies, one black, two griz. With air horn, in prime griz country, none. DougPaul will remind us that this is anecdotal evidence and pretty scanty to boot but it's good enough for me.

 

[Dugan]

This is very interesting because I read a report (can't remember now where it happened) but a young woman, who had her menses, was hauled out of her tent her by a black bear. When they reviewed the possible causes for the bear attack, they indicated that this was the probable cause.

I read a study a year or to ago regarding women, menstrual cycles, and - how to phrase this delicately - the "attractiveness" of used internal protection. The study concluded that the only bear attracted to them were polar bears, and then not very often. Blacks bears and grizzlies were also included. I tried a quick google but couldn't find the study.

 

[DougPaul]

This is very interesting because I read a report (can't remember now where it happened) but a young woman, who had her menses, was hauled out of her tent her by a black bear. When they reviewed the possible causes for the bear attack, they indicated that this was the probable cause.
I would love to have more data on this subject because so many young women do hike and backpack in bear country. I suppose it there is even a chance that this might aggravate a bear, it would be best to take precautions.

I suspect that this theory is put forth any time a woman known (or speculated) to be in mensus is attacked by a bear.

If we assume that a woman is in menses 5-10% of the time (this is a pure guess), then one would expect 5-10% of women attacked by bears to be in menses if it is ignored by bears, more if the menstrual odors attract bears, and less if the odors repel the bears.

I am not aware of anyone taking the statistics (and using the correct percentages or polling all hiking women for their menstrual status). The only meaningful tests that I am aware of is the tests with the zoo bears. (This study is reported in Herrero*.)

So the best data that we have to date is no effect for blacks and grizzlys and small for polar. (And with polar bears, humans are always on the menu. High-powered rifles are standard equipment for hiking in their territory.)

Doug

* Cushing, Bruce. 1983. Responses of polar bears to human menstrual odors. Pages 275-280 in E Charles Meslow (ed.) Fifth international conference on bear research and management. International Association of Bear Research and Management, publishers.

 

[blacklab2020]

I had heard of another pair of campers (just south of Tucson in Madera Canyon) who were camping outside of a tent and a bear started to maul one of them on the neck in their bags at night... the other person got up and kicked the bear with bare feet until he left, put his friend on top of his SUV and called for help as he drove out... I heard the helicopter/paramedics met him on his way out and the friend was in critical condition but later recovered from a hole the size of a fist in his neck.

So the first time I went to the adirondacks and saw people throwing rocks at bears without any regard for irritating a bear... hmmm