I love your way of saying “I told you so!” The proof is in the diatomaceous pudding.
You’re a biologist, so I have a question for you: How do you outsmart a fox?
My own answer is: Unsuccessfully.
One short bit of bear warning: They can learn to distinguish between their favorite snack brand package and those of others. No sht, this is what rangers at Big Bend NP had observed. People who had thoughtlessly left, say, FritoLays bags visible in their cars vs those who left similar products of a different brand got selective destruction of windows.
It’s the same for leaving valuables in cars—out of sight is out of (raiders’) minds.
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I have come to believe that animals , mammals in particular, are much smarter than we give them credit for.
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Depends what they are up to!
We have a fox pair who den on the property here and it took quite a bit to keep them from stealing chickens. One of their kits dug under the wire fence last summer, hoping for a chicken dinner. My current rooster, Sgt. Speckles, beat the stuffing out of the beastie and I’ve had no further invasions. Of course I also repaired the fence!
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Bears are really smart. They learn to open cars and houses easily. Don’t give them a chance. Lock everything. It really helps to hide coolers and grub boxes under a tarp in a closed up vehicle.
It is possible to get a fine of $50 in Yosemite NP for improper food storage, if you leave a cooler in a vehicle that is locked but in plain sight.
I came across a You Tube post, but couldn’t figure out how to link it here:
Sking with a Bear. The long version is 9 minutes. I.believe its a grizzly that wandered on the ski trail. He got by it and taunted it to chased him. Then he stopped several times to keep it chasing. The chase was unbelievable. I can’t imagine what will happen when the next skier comes by.
Probably a dead bear.
I think I recognize this old video. The man doing the taunting was a ski instructor who was trying to get the bear away from his students.
Yeah, that’s it. I knew bears have stamina, but Jiminy Chricket. What bothered me is how that bear reacts to other skiers who have nowhere to go. I like the conversation people have with bears following them. Wonder if that bear even understands English. I tell.my kids if you see a besr. Just say “Hi bear”! That way they know you see them and are just hanging out a while and won’t stick around.
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What I’ve never understood is the whole raise your hands above your head, fingers spread wide. I really don’t think it makes me look that much bigger or badass. Maybe holding your backpack over your head might, but your hands? What am I supposed to be, a deer?
Talking calmly? Now that communicates “human” to any animal.
We’re so quick to assume any encounter with another predator is going to end badly. But i think reading body language is a good gauge. When I did a lot of cycling, I learnt that the big dogs would chase you just to see you need a change of shorts. It was the little dogs that would jump up and grab your ankle!
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Just say, “Hi dog” like you know them. Works for bears, “Hi bear.” No lie, I saw a video where somebody did that.
Try it and video tape it. So we can see how it works out if you can’t get back to us. Live stream on YouTube could capture huge audience if your hands look small to Smokey.
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I havent been seen any bears. The ones in the zoo knod and wag their head, like they understand.
My daughter’s two black labs run and bring back their favorite toy when I say, “Hi dawg”, but I taught them that!
Reading body language, if you can, helps. Some dogs like to bluff “just in case” you’re an intruder…and then sometimes they either retreat after you pass or stand there looking like, “Oh, they might’ve been someone who would play with me…” with drooping tails.
If they’re charging you with bared teeth or raised hackles, it’s time to go apeshit on them. Yell, countercharge, throw rocks, you name it. I bought a stun gun for these kinds of overly territorial dogs. Works great; don’t even need to let the dog get close enough to contact. They seem to view it as if it is a small lightning bolt.
Bears that are minding their own business and not staring at me, I just keep a good distance from without doing any talking, yelling, gesturing. Bears that are IN the act of doing something bad—like the one that was whacking our porch—I yell at and yes, I do wave my arms as if I am a bear whacking at IT. (It did run away.)
However, I’ve never encountered an aggressive bear in the wildlands. If rangers report recent bear presence at campsites or I see signs of them hanging around a spot, I’m not gonna camp there.
The one I have doubts about is wearing bear bells. I once saw and heard a hiker walking along wearing bells and regularly chanting, “Hey, bear. Hey, bear.” Constantly. If it worries me that much, I’ll hike another place.
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I read that you can identify grizzly scat by the bear bells in it.
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And it smells like peppers
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I live in Northern RI and while I never encountered bears while day paddling but have seen bear behind my house, tracks around the neighborhood in snow or mud and on the power lines nearby mountain biking them.
I also encountered a black bear twice last year once in early March and another on Christmas day while mountain biking. I guess I outran my scent and the animal doesn’t recognize a bicycle sound. Anyway it runs away like a terrified rabbit, looking like a morbidly obese dog with its butt wiggling this way and that. That’s the bear’s natural reaction, they are supposed to be more scared of you then you of them.
I carry pepper spray and a pistol but end up using the former VERY frequently mostly against neighborhood dogs that come running after me, growling and bearing their teeth. IT’s highly effective, basically one toot across the face or snout and it’s like someone kicked them in the nuts and the creature goes staggering off. 6 houses in my area alone have put electric fences since I Started spraying their dogs kept outside and loose. People are truly stupid. So back to bears yes they get aggressive when people feed them because they lose their fear of humans that way. Animal problems = people problems and that is why God gave us guns and especially pepper spray. OC all the way.
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It is amazing to me how the neighborhood breeders of Rottweilers quit turning their dogs loose when I started walking my dogs with a cattle prod.
Bear spray is a great idea. Firearms should be a distant last resort.
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Any one that takes bears lightly, even black bears is just showing their lack of experience. I worked around them every day in Alaska. The big coastal browns were no trouble. Some black bears followed us around for hours and always showed up on our 6 (behind us).