Sharing the woods with black bears

[sardog1]

Herrero's original edition cites four cases where people were injured (six people in all) by female black bears with cubs. Does he report more later?

FWIW, to my knowledge this is the closest the hilariously nicknamed Mr. Grylls has ever come to a bear in the wild:

Latest TV fake scenes - 'Grizzly attack' on survival show was man in fancy-dress bear costume

 

[DougPaul]

The risk of harm from a charging black bear mother has been ahown to be negligible.

I believe this is still the current wisdom.

This is from an earlier edition of Herrero's work. Maybe Doug or someone else can provide the updated reference.

"Sudden encounters with black bears, even mothers with cubs, almost never lead to injury - further evidence of the bears' tolerance for human beings. In a sudden encounter the black bear's behavior is different from the grizzly's. When a wild black bear suddenly encounters a person, it will frequently charge toward the person, swatting the ground with a front paw or making loud, blowing noises. Although such actions may make your palms sweat and your legs shake, they are rarely followed by an attack."

This paragraph can be found in both the original (1985, pg 98-99) and revised (2002, pg 84) editions.

To my knowledge, it has not been refuted since the original publication.

Mine as well.

Doug

 

[sardog1]

This article from 2011 pretty much sums up the state of things:

Study of Black Bears Finds It’s Not the Mamas That Should Be Feared the Most

 

[Tom Rankin]

Sample set of 1 - was 'charged' by female black bear (who had 3 cubs) on Hunter Mountain. Hair on her back was up. Bear almost immediately broke off the attack and went back to her cubs. No other threatening behavior detected.

 

[Raven]

I'll point out that the last time anyone was killed by a black bear (in NH anyway) was 230 years ago.

As far as dangers in the Northeast mountains are concerned, they are a pretty low priority. That's not to suggest anyone be careless around bears, but you are more likely to die from hitting a moose on the roads on the drive to the trailhead than from being attacked by a bear.

Just to keep it in perspective.

 

[summitseeker]

Herrero's original edition cites four cases where people were injured (six people in all) by female black bears with cubs. Does he report more later?

FWIW, to my knowledge this is the closest the hilariously nicknamed Mr. Grylls has ever come to a bear in the wild:

Latest TV fake scenes - 'Grizzly attack' on survival show was man in fancy-dress bear costume

Thank you sharing that. It is hysterical and pretty disappointing all at the same time. I have to chuckle when I see people hiking with the cheasy "Bear Grylls Ultimate Survival Knives". Gerber really sold out with those blades.

Be well and thank you for the sources as well (you too, Dougpaul),

Z

 

[sardog1]

My wife just walked in reading this quote from one of our favorite authors:

"Black bears rarely attack. But here’s the thing. Sometimes they do. All bears are agile, cunning and immensely strong, and they are always hungry. If they want to kill you and eat you, they can, and pretty much whenever they want. That doesn’t happen often, but—and here is the absolutely salient point—once would be enough.”

– Coming soon (sic) to a theatre near you (if Redford and Nolte live long enough to finish the movie …)

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

In thirteen years of hiking in NE I had only three bear encounters--one in Vermont and two in NH. In the past year in Georgia I've had four bear encounters. In all cases except one the bear took off running when he heard me. The one exception was going up Cabot when we surprised a bear on the trail ahead of us and it turned and stood facing us. Lauky snarled and lunged at it and it ran off. Lauky was on a leash and couldn't follow. Much worse than that was a very close encounter this past winter with a herd of wild boar in a remote wilderness area in Tennessee. Lauky and I were alone and the boar were much too close for comfort. Fortunately the leaders of the pack didn't see us and continued across the trail. Some of the followers did see us but continued to follow the leaders. Lauky for his part for some reason did not give voice as he normally would and we came out unscathed. That encounter did shake me up a bit and the first thing I did after returning home was to go out and buy pepper spray which I now carry on the belt of my backpack.

 

[sardog1]

A sound approach to the boars. They are nothing to fool around with.

 

[TJsName]

I'll point out that the last time anyone was killed by a black bear (in NH anyway) was 230 years ago.

As far as dangers in the Northeast mountains are concerned, they are a pretty low priority. That's not to suggest anyone be careless around bears, but you are more likely to die from hitting a moose on the roads on the drive to the trailhead than from being attacked by a bear.

Just to keep it in perspective.

I suppose if I were killed by a bear I wouldn't mind. If I were horribly maimed, then I'd have to live with that. When was the last maiming?

 

[jniehof]

In thirteen years of hiking in NE I had only three bear encounters--one in Vermont and two in NH.

I'm racking my brain and trying to think if I've ever seen a bear while out in the woods. Can't think of a single time in NM, CO, NH, MA, ME, VT, MN. And I can't count the number of times we had bears come through the backyard in Thunder Bay. Probably a dozen or more over five years. They liked the gooseberry bush but they really liked the trash can. Fortunately the cat was inside every time. Never saw one hiking or camping in ON, mind.

Another variant on "the most dangerous part of the hike is the drive home."

(Oh, and the sheep/goats on Wheeler, oy, that was scary.)

 

[Tuck]

My wife AKA Squirrel has me sing Grateful Dead songs (out of tune of course) if we are hiking at dusk or in the dark. No Bears yet so it must be working Jerry would be proud. Would be interested in any advice about Backpacking and bears. Started to do some solo camping, any thoughts on Bear visits to a tent?

Tuck

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

No food, perfume or anything else that smells enticing in the tent and....a whistle, good lungs anything that makes a noise, and pepper spray.

 

[BISCUT]

There are plenty of them in the Catskills. I saw one in Platte Clove area in August 2014 early am just a bit west of Platte Clove Road South of Big Indian trailhead that leaves the falls area there. Looked to be a male probably 250lb range and not fully mature. He was bounding about and seemed to be happy.....bot they can disappear in the woods when they want to real quick.