report of a hiker killed by a black bear in NJ

[Chip]

http://www.newstimes.com/news/scien...und-in-New-Jersey-nature-preserve-5771460.php

I'm sure many more hikers are harmed by allergies and car accidents, so I'm not saying Black Bear are dangerous.
But this can happen, obviously. My only analysis is that they probably should have grouped up instead of running.

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

This is very sad.

They should not have split up or run. Even if the bear was attacking, their odds were better in a group. But I can say that from the comfort of my desk. Even if you know what you are supposed to do in a situation, when the time comes sometimes you just react and fight or flight is a strong instinct.

 

[Breeze]

A friend of mine in Whitefield NH was mauled this summer by a black bear. She heard a ruckus at her chicken coop and tried to scare the bear away. Bear knocked her down and delivered some severe claw wounds. Friend has in her resume Registered Maine Guide, has lived long term in wilderness settings, she is no city slicker faking it with country living.

It is rare to see this/hear of this. The unpredictability of natural threats has tons of statistical evidence, but statistics are of no value when human life is lost.


Currently in Maine, there is a huge argument over a referendum banning bear -baiting.

The closest I can come to making any sense of the referendum is what I have been told for years and years....... a fed bear is a dead bear. When bear associate humans with food, bad things happen, and usually it is the bear that pays the price.

Usually is not always.

 

[Chip]

Baiting is an allowed hunting method where populations need to be reduced. That area of New Jersey has had too many bear for a long time.

 

[Stan]

Bear populations seem on the upswing in parts of many Northeastern states and kept under control, in Maine, by the hunting methods the referendum in Maine seeks to ban. Ironically, the strongest anti-hunting sentiment comes from those areas where population density precludes hunting but that is where bears (and other wild game such as coyotes and deer) have or will become nuisances and even health and safety hazards as such wildlife seek new territory. Populated areas offer a surprising new sources of food, household pets for predators, gardens and landscaping for deer. Interfere with that for deer and you only scare them away temporarily and the risk is Lyme disease. Interfere with that for predators and you may risk a dangerous encounter.

Call a trapper or a hunter with dogs or bait. Denser populated areas may limit the options to a bow hunt.

I usually hike with pepper spray out west and never thought it was necessary in the east though I'm beginning to wonder if it may soon be adviseable, perhaps more appropriately near populated areas where bears are more apt to be acclimated to human presence or identify humans as a source of food. I'm not saying they will see a person as prey but equally dangerous is if they attack to get food or protect their territory.

p.s. as you can see from my avatar, I'm very fond of bears.

 

[Peakbagr]

In the Catskills, the DEC program to increase the bear population over the last 20 years has been overly successful. From people reporting an occasional sighting, the bear population is now hovering somewhere near 3,300-3,500. Residents, vacationers, hikers, and campers are seeing them everywhere. Of course when they come out of hibernation or other times when food supplies are scarce the bear head down to or closer to population and agricultural areas. Bee hives, bird feeders, garbage cans, dumpsters, and gardens. Human - bear interactions have risen dramatically. DEC just instituted an early bear season, before the 'regular' season. They had formerly moved the opening date of bear season to a later date to assure that pregnant females would be denned up before the bullets started flying. With the earlier season, DEC hopes that the pregnant females will have the same mortality rate as the others, reducing the size of the population. Given the overly large population, its been fortunate that people haven't been killed or injured.

 

[sardog1]

I usually hike with pepper spray out west and never thought it was necessary in the east though I'm beginning to wonder if it may soon be adviseable, perhaps more appropriately near populated areas where bears are more apt to be acclimated to human presence or identify humans as a source of food. I'm not saying they will see a person as prey but equally dangerous is if they attack to get food or protect their territory.

p.s. as you can see from my avatar, I'm very fond of bears.

+1 on the revision in my attitude toward carrying my spray here in New England. I've been watching this small trend in behavior for some time. I am solo 99.99% of the time I'm in the woods, apart from dog walks with my wife. And if you came here and noticed the bear pictures on the walls and the bear books on the shelves, you would see that I am very fond of bears as well.

 

[hikerbrian]

+1 on the revision in my attitude toward carrying my spray here in New England. I've been watching this small trend in behavior for some time.

Make that +2.

I don't like to confuse anecdote with reliable data, but I grew up in NH, and I've seen more bears in the past 2 years in my visits to the state than I saw in the first 22 years of my life living there. It's trivial to strap bear spray to the hip belt on my pack, and I think that's my new policy. I often hike either solo or with my 2 very young boys (ages 3 and 5), and you can believe I'll take a safety-focused approach when they're with me.

 

[Tuck]

When should you use bear spray? As a last resort when the bear is charging? or some time before? Thanks

Tuck

 

[peakbagger]

While section hiking the AT the most bear problems by far were New Jersey. High Point State Park had particularly aggressive bears. At the time there was no bear hunting and the AT tends to be a strip of green on a ridge surrounded by houses on either side so the majority of the bears are "fed bears" habituated to humans.

 

[sardog1]

Directions for using the spray are here: Bear Spray Demonstration

Knowing when to use it depends on your ability to read bear behavior. If the bear is coming fast and low and quiet, hit it with the spray as soon as it is in effective range of the spray. It is intent on doing you harm.

If it comes bouncing in, pounding the ground and making all kinds of noise, you can possibly wait to see what happens. This could be a bluff charge, in which case the bear will back off, maybe with some growling and huffing as it does.

Under no circumstances turn your back on any bear, and if you run, expect to get caught and bitten, if not eaten. You might have just flipped a switch.

One important note: Do not wait on any brown/grizzly that is in range and showing any aggression towards you. Hit it with the spray. It is far less susceptible to turning back than a black bear, although it is known to happen on rare occasions.

 

[rup]

W Milford has more bears than dogs, and 30 air miles from the GW bridge. Part of the issue is that NYers have moved from the city to the NJ rural burbs in past 20 years. Then they discover that bears are really in their town, and actually walk thru their yards. So, they put 'goodies' on the deck, and pull the couch up to the picture window to watch nature up close (with a few brews and whatever). Next, there's the 'let's pet the bear - he's so cute' phase. But not so cute when confronted in the yard - ie, on the same side of the picture window. Don't laugh. I've seen it, and so have the newspapers which have told this story several times.

NJ has had a 'cull the herd' program in late fall for a few years. Great stories about hunters getting stuck in mud bogs while stalking the prey.

 

[Daniel Eagan]

Part of the issue is that NYers have moved from the city to the NJ rural burbs in past 20 years.

NYers don't have a monopoly on stupid. I've seen people leave food out to attract "wildlife" in the Poconos, in Keene Valley, in Woburn, and many other places.

 

[Raven]

Baiting is an allowed hunting method where populations need to be reduced. That area of New Jersey has had too many bear for a long time.

That area of Jersey has been over developed for a long time driving bears out of the woods.

 

[Chip]

That area of Jersey has been over developed for a long time driving bears out of the woods.

I think there are species and areas where that's the case, like cougar in California or Woodcock here.
I don't believe it's a valid argument in most of the northeast with bear, cougar, eastern coyote and deer as these were virtually extirpated (or non-existent) 100 years ago.
I believe a lack of farming, clear cutting and hunting have created nearly ideal habitat in these communities for those animals and their populations have grown and spread dramatically.

 

[sardog1]

Black bears took to the trees as an evolutionary adaptation a long time ago, to protect their cubs from predators and to avoid conflicts with larger bear species. As a result, if you have lots of large trees and reliable food sources, you probably have black bears living near you. People in some apparently very urbanized areas would be shocked to discover the nighttime visitors that pass by their houses while they sleep. The disappearance of forest-clearing agriculture from the Northeast has been a boon to bears.

 

[Raven]

I think there are species and areas where that's the case, like cougar in California or Woodcock here.
I don't believe it's a valid argument in most of the northeast with bear, cougar, eastern coyote and deer as these were virtually extirpated (or non-existent) 100 years ago.
I believe a lack of farming, clear cutting and hunting have created nearly ideal habitat in these communities for those animals and their populations have grown and spread dramatically.

I agree with what you are saying about 100 years ago. A lot of animal populations in this country were driven to near extinction and the bears are spreading again. However, by starting from further back, historically speaking, their habitat has been reduced by more than half.

If you go back 200-300 years, a little further, about the time the white man came, those bear populations were not far from from today's numbers. This was before industrial farms, clear cutting, and over hunting existed. The black bear population has come back but one of the big factors that is very different from the past is that the bears have lost of substantial amount of habitat. Where they once had the entire country to range (the equivalent of 49 states, not HI), they are now limited to less than half of that range, so they have become more concentrated.

Anecdotal evidence: people hiking the Appalachian Trail see more bear along the stretch in Jersey where the habitat has been narrowed as compared to Maine where there are far more black bears (and far more habitat as the most forested state in the country).

For comparison, there were somewhere on the order of 300,000 people in the US in 1700. There are now over 300,000,000. That's an increase from 300 thousand to 300 million. As humans are the single most invasive species on the planet, it is hard to separate other population's trends from the effects of our own. The bears seem to be coming back in spite of that.

I also agree with what you said that in general, people should be more worried about other things such as the flu, with all due respect to the family of the victim and not to minimize that tragic event.

It's a shame black bears don't eat woodchucks Chip. I've got one of my own to deal with.

 

[sardog1]

It's a shame black bears don't eat woodchucks Chip. I've got one of my own to deal with.

They do have a fondness for beavers – saw one trying its best a few years back. And a brown/grizzly will excavate a very large hole, flinging big rocks to the side, just to get hold hold of a single ground squirrel. I figure the squirrels must be the ursine equivalent of crack, given the negative energy balance involved.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Black bears took to the trees as an evolutionary adaptation a long time ago, to protect their cubs from predators and to avoid conflicts with larger bear species. As a result, if you have lots of large trees and reliable food sources, you probably have black bears living near you. People in some apparently very urbanized areas would be shocked to discover the nighttime visitors that pass by their houses while they sleep. The disappearance of forest-clearing agriculture from the Northeast has been a boon to bears.

2011

2010

Tim

 

[sardog1]

Well, this is mildly amusing. I just went up our driveway to the mailbox and discovered fresh bear scat in THE DRIVEWAY, replete with an acorn and some white pine nuts.

The bear is apparently on the smallish size, might be the same one I saw in our driveway a few weeks back. Scat picture to follow when I have time to arrange that.