We (my family and GF) were talking the other night about the fact that Utah’s wilds still have bears in them. The question came up: Should you come upon a grizzly bear, what would you do differently than if you came upon a black bear? With one of them, you’re supposed to make lots of noise and stand your ground, but with the other one you’re supposed to turn tail and run. Which is which? What’s SOP for grizzly encounters versus black bear encounters?
Elaine: “You never feel remorse.” Jerry: “Yeah, I feel bad about that.”
I believe the SOP for meeting a grizzly is to immediately make peace with your god, 'cause you’re about to become bear dinner. Of course, I’m basing my response on the film, “The Edge.”
I don’t know if there are any significant differences in what you should do or not. I do know this: Whatever you do, don’t run away in either case. Stand your ground/back slowly away. If you run away, the bear will simply chase you down and eat you.
…ebius sig. This is a moebius sig. This is a mo…
(sig line courtesy of WallyM7)
This is the same film that presents Anthony Hopkins as a veritable Cecil Adams, but can’t figure out which direction is which when their plane goes down in Alaska, with THE SUN SHINING BRIGHTLY IN THE SKY.
Fortunately, I paid only 3 to rent the movie. If I had been in a theater, I'm afraid I would have stood up and that point and yelled "Why are you messing with that f%&!@ little magnetic needle when the f%&!@ sun is shining up in the f%&!@ sky?!?"
If we’re basing anti-bear behavior on films, shouldn’t we just run away from grizzlies into our cabins, only to have the bear knock over the door and jump on us until our faithful sidekicks shoot the bear in the butt? It worked in “The Great Outdoors”!
I have heard that with at least one type of bear, you bang your pots and pans as loud as you can to scare it away. I just don’t know which kind of bear. Enquiring minds want to know!
Cabbage: Love your sig! Best wally one yet!
But I know Cecil answered this one. I just dont have all his books in front of me right now. Doesn’t anyone have the reference to it?
Nowhere near an expert but here’s my uninformed opinion (based on some experience camping while growing up).
NEVER run! EVER! This triggers almost all predators to chase you and probably kill you when they catch you. Heck…my cats do this to me at home (chase after my ankles only if my back is to them…if I hear them coming and turn around they stop immediately).
Make LOTS of noise to Black Bears. Black bears are relatively (and I stress RELATIVELY) docile. They’re aren’t much into the predator scene and if you make a nuisance of yourself they’ll usually go away.
For a Grizzly you’re in trouble. If you are far enough away to climb a big tree I think that’s ok. Black bears can climb trees but Grizzlies don’t. Grizzlies are BIG though an can knock over surprisingly large trees so it’s best to pick a big tree. Otherwise I think either backing away VERY slowly while always facing the bear OR playing dead are your best bet. I’ve heard playing dead is really the best option but I don’t know if I could hold myself together while a bear prodded me to see what’s up. Since bears can be scavengers if the bear is REALLY hungry it may still try and eat you if you play dead but I’m not sure about that either.
Many bear attacks happen when the bear and the humans surprise each other (i.e. coming around a corner on a trail). If you wear bells (bells are sold specifically for this purpose) or otherwise make noise consistently the bear will hear you long before you arrive and they will generally vacate the scene before you ever see each other. You’d probably never even know they had been there.
I’ve also heard that capsicum sprays can be pretty useful against Ursus. After all, it’s a fairly tried-and-true approach in nature, to hose down predators with noxious substances. Works for skunks and polecats, might work for humans. I even know of a company that sells 12-gauge capsicum shells, so you can fire them out of a standard flare gun. Or at least they say you can.
Black bears are smaller and easier to scare away. Grizzlies are really big and don’t scare easily.
Jeff_42, that thing about bears, there’s a joke floating around email on this topic. It talks about guys discussing bears and what to do. The guy explaining talks about the 2 kinds of bears, and about wearing bells. Then he talks about how you should look for bear droppings to be alert for bears in the area. When you find the droppings, then you can tell the two types apart. His buddy asks how. He says, if it’s grizzly droppings, it has little bells in it.
Actually, playing dead isn’t the best option, it’s often simply the only option if a grizzly gets close enough to contact you, since you probably can’t fight a grizzly. The best option with grizzlies (brown) is to climb a tree, they say.
Out here in the grizzly bear republic, I’ve of course never had to deal with anything but black bears. Making noise and standing tall scares them off, though once one came by the tent at night and I just let it tear at my backpack (the only thing it ate, believe it or not, was the attachment to the wilderness permit warning about bears).
Also note that a black bear will often bluff charge you, even if it’s not going to attack you(I’ve had this happen). This is useful for adrenaline, but if you stand your ground they’re not likely to come at you. Black bears won’t attack humans except when they’re starving, injured, or you’ve stolen their young. (that’s starving bears, not starving humans). But if they do attack, you can’t play dead nor climb a tree. In that case you have to fight, and hope you win. Playing dead doesn’t work because the bear is really hungry and will eat anything.
By the way, don’t fight grizzlies unless you want to die. If you haven’t made it to a tree before it gets to you, lie face down, cover your neck and head and spread your legs so it can’t roll you over and taste your tender abdomen.
[stupid idea]
Of course, the best option is to always make friends with the bear’s cubs. Then they’ll introduce you to their parents and you can all be friends.
[/stupid idea]
Hmmmmm…it appears that there are a few misconceptions about bears out there. Both black bears and brown bears (including grizzlies) can run faster, swim faster, and even climb trees faster than humans. Standing your ground is the proper action to take if the bear is some distance away. A bear will usually make one or more ‘bluff’ charges to see what you will do. If you stand your ground and wave your arms while making a lot of noise (a whistle is good for this), the bear will realize that you are not his normal prey and leave you alone. At least this is what all the ‘experts’ here in Alaska tell everyone. I have heard the old joke told to cheechakos about the bells and also the one about using a handgun for bear protection (file down the front sight so it won’t hurt so bad when the bear takes it away from you and shoves it up your posterior). Some success has been attributed to the various sprays available to the general public and I have heard some sourdoughs recommend household ammonia in a spray bottle or squirt gun. One important thing to keep in mind about “Bear Guard” and other pepper-type sprays is that they will usually act as a deterrant, but they will never act as a repellant. In other words, don’t spray the stuff on tents, clothing, sleeping bags, etc. When the chemicals dry, there is some evidence to suggest that it becomes a bear attractant! When I am fishing, hiking, or camping in a remote area, I take along a short-barreled shotgun loaded with slugs and triple ought buckshot - that’s the only tool short of a heavy high-powered rifle that will offer adequate protection against a life threatening charge by a big (like around ten foot tall) brown bear. Oh, and by the way, CurtC, unless you have spent a lot of time in Alaska and have observed the position of the sun in the sky during all hours of the day, I think it would be rather difficult for you to estimate time/direction. See, the farther you get away from the equator (the closer to the poles), the less ‘symmetrical’ (for want of a better word) is the apparent path of the sun in the sky. But I’m sure you already knew this. That’s why Alaska is sometimes referred to as “the land of the midnight sun.”
Pretty much yea. Panamajack explains it a bit better. Climb a tree or play dead if it’s actually on you. You may get eaten anyway but it’s your best chance. Fighting will DEFINITELY get you killed! Even a gun isn’t always enough unless you hit the Grizzly with an especially critical shot or you have a REALLY big gun. Chances are you’ll just piss it off (although if I had a gun…any gun…I’m sure I’d try and shoot the bear anyway if I thought it was after me).
Bottom line…bear BIG you small you lose everytime.
Interesting side note–
When a Possum plays ‘possum’ (pretends it’s dead) it isn’t pretending. They actually pass out…unconscious. Guess it’s natures way of making sure they don’t get spooked too soon before the predator leaves.
Good advice and I’m glad to get it from someone who knows what they’re talking about. What you didn’t mention, however, is what you do if a Grizzly approaches you (to within touching distance) despite your attempts to make it go away? (Assume you don’t have pepper spray or a cannon handy)
Also, while the joke about the bells is funny are they truly worthless? Unless an animal is deranged, starving or otherwise off-kilter I thought most animals give humans a pass given the chance. As you said, humans aren’t normally on a bears menu so if they’re fat and happy won’t they generally avoid us? (And to that end wouldn’t bells help warn them to avoid us?)
Well, I guess the discussion has boiled down to the point that it doesn’t matter what species you meet. But I thought it worth mentioning that you can’t always tell them apart.
If the bear is 12 feet tall, you know it’s the grizzly variety of the brown bear. But only because black bears don’t get that big. If it’s medium-sized, most of us couldn’t say what kind of bear we’ve encountered. Both species have about the same varieties of fur color as humans have for hair. So there are black bears that have blonde fur, and brown bears with black coats.
If you’re a zoologist or other expert, you might know how to tell them apart. But you might not remember when it’s coming toward you at 30mph.
“If you prick me, do I not…leak?” --Lt. Commander Data
Jeff_42: sorry about not addressing “Ursine Close Encounters of the Third Kind (imminent mealtime)” - popular opinion of most ‘bear experts’ is indeed to play dead. Several hikers have survived bear attacks by using this method. One woman was able to keep her cool and remain still while a grizzly tore up the backpack she was wearing! The most amazing story I know of concerning bear attack occurred recently when a man (Mr. Moe) was able to fight off a bear with a knife (!) long enough for him to reach his rifle. Talk about a tough old guy! …I mean the man, not the bear! As an aside, as mentioned by Saltire, bears come in all sizes, colors, and dispositions. My brother, who was a big-game guide up here in Alaska for years, has helped clients take blonde, cinnamon, and silvertip grizzlies. I have photos of some of these critters and they have all shades of brown from light to dark; the one thing all the photos have in common is that the bear is BIG!!! I have heard that the one distinguishing feature of a mature grizzly is the hump on their back, but the hump is not always present. I have an agreement with all bears - black, brown, grizzly, and white (polar bears): I don’t fool with them if they don’t fool with me. My brother asked me several times if I wanted to go bear hunting with him and a client and my answer was always the same: only if he get me a permit for a bazooka! I have a video of bear hunts that my brother was on that showed some of those bears being shot several (like five) times and still having lots of energy to do some damage to the surrounding environment. My brother carried a .338 Mag until a bear nearly got to him after he had to back up a client that wounded a grizzly. In the last moment the bear broke the rifle (it was that close). That afternoon, my brother called me by radio-telephone and told me to get him a .375 H&H Mag, which he carried for the rest of his guiding career.
radar ralf seems to sum it up pretty well as far as grizzlies are concerned. Luckily, I haven’t had to deal with anything that big. But it should be noted that there is the difference between black bears & grizzlies when you play dead – the black bear will most likely eat you, the grizzly probably won’t. Almost all black bear attacks (much rarer than grizzlies, who might attack for fun or profit) are for food, dead or alive. So if you have a fighting chance (i.e. some weapon, some experience, etc.) and you know it’s a black bear, and it gets that close, you might need to fight it.
If you’re not sure which kind of bear it is, you could play dead and try not to get eaten too much (let it take your legs or arms or buttocks before your internal organs or head).
and it helps a little for identification if you know the ranges of these bears. Like I mentioned, if you see a big grizzly bear on the state flag, that means they’ve been hunted to extinction there and all bears will be black. Aside from that, they do come in various colors and sizes.
As radar ralf made clear, your best option is to scare it off from a distance. This is quite effective, especially if you can make frightening noises.
pj
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