Expert Advice On Dealing With Black Bears
June 23, 2007
I’ve provided some links and comments to several bear encounter stories, many of them being recent. The most recent was the story of Samuel Ives being dragged out of his tent by a black bear while camping in Utah.
When incidents like this happen, all too often in my opinion officials downplay the seriousness of the potential dangers all of us face while being out in bear country. Should we stay inside and let fear stop us from enjoying being outside? Of course not. We just need to be better educated in how to deal with bears and share the same woods.
Just the other day, a dad killed a bear with a stick of firewood after it attacked one of his kids. In that case, officials say the bear was lured to the campsite because of improper handling, care and storage of food. The father received a $75 fine for not adhering to the rules.
With these stories making headlines all across the country, many media outlets have decided to go find their sources of “experts” who are willing to give some advice. John Holyoke, outdoor writer for the Bangor Daily News, went and talked with Randy Cross, Maine’s field expert on black bear management for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
You can read Holyoke’s article here which includes information about black bear habits and things you can do to reduce the chances of encountering a bear in the woods, while camping or in your own back yard.
I will have to take issue with one comment that Cross makes about the frequency of bear attacks in the U.S.
“I think it’s remote out there [in Utah] as well,” he said. “It’s not like it happens five times a year or even five times in a decade. We’re talking about something that happens less than five times in a century … almost anywhere you want to go.”
From the information I have read, there have been 49 recorded incidents of death resulting from the attack of just black bears in North America. 29 of those deaths have been since 1990. This is far more than 5 in a century, unless of course Cross was referring only to Maine of which I am not sure.
Regardless, bear attacks resulting in death are not real common but they do happen and are happening more frequently these days. So, spend some time and learn a bit more or refresh your knowledge about bears and how to deal with them.
Tom Remington
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Tom, another great article.
Did you not have an online source for your bear attack statistics or did you inadvertently leave them out?
It would be helpful to see what we are talking about here.
Is anyone planning to get the source of Randy Cross’s numbers – big difference between his numbers and yours. Holyoke should have questioned him and Randy should have offered them up regardless of whether it was requested.
Incidentally, I grew up in western Maine 6 decades ago. Spent lots of time outdoors and it was rare to see bear sign and even more unlikely to see a bear away from the local dump. Now my wife and I – both retired – frequently roam, hunt and hike Somerset and northern Oxford Counties and it is now rare to not see seasonally fresh sign. Enough sign so I always carry a loaded .44 mag revolver. Never thought it would come to that.
Hopefully – probably I will never have to use it, but… my wife always asks if I have my gun before we leave the truck.
Yes, it was my intention to provide some links to the data that I had compiled to show I didn’t just pull it out my….ear. This link, http://www.southeasternoutdoors.com/wildlife/mammals/black-bear-attacks-fatal.html
says there have been 52 known fatal attacks by black bears in North America in the last 100 years.
Here’s another from the Cooperative Extension of the University of Washington – http://ext.nrs.wsu.edu/publications/Blackbears1.htm – that states that 45 recorded deaths have resulted in North America since 1900. That was written in 2002.
You can visit any of the pro bear websites and those of animal rights organizations and read how your chances are greater to get killed by a bee sting that by a black bear.
Once anyone spends time on any and all of these sites, it becomes very clear that the information on these websites should be updated as things have changed and people need to be told that those odds, whatever they are, have increased and probably will continue to increase so long as states keep banning hunting and trapping of bears.
This is the whole point of my articles. It’s time to change the talking points about bear attacks.
Sorry, Richard for missing the links to some of the sources where I got my info. I’m glad someone is keeping an eye on me! Ha Ha!
It is not as much bans on hunting as it is urban sprawl that has led to increased human-wild animal contacts. As people push father out into “the woods”, the less space there is for wildlife.
The fact that there have been more attacks recently doesn’t mean anything unless you look at urban sprawl and what has happened to the number of national park visitors. I do not know if there are more people visiting national parks or not, but until someone can demonstrate that there has not been a significant change in other factors there can be no positive link between number of bear attacks and hunting bans.
There has to be some link to reduced hunting of bears and increased human/bear encounters. I agree that encroachment is the number one reason for the increases but you have to realize too that along with this encroachment often times comes the closure of hunting opportunities for people. New Jersey is such an example. Just yesterday New Jersey announced that human/bear encounter reports hit an all time high and New Jersey refuses to allow any kind of bear hunt in that state.
I don’t have the statistics in front of me but I think it would be reasonable to assume that visits to National Parks, etc. is on the rise. It would stand to reason because according to the latest report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wildlife viewing has increased significantly over the past decade.
With that further encroachment whether through development or visits to the woods PLUS and increase in bear population, the end result is more encounters.
Hunting is the best known and most reliable means of game animal population control. Without it, too many animals competing for the same habitat. This often forces these animals out into “our” territory.
I think the “positive” link can surely be made.
[...] that of 11-year old Samuel Ives in Utah while camping with family. One particular article, “Expert Advice On Dealing With Black Bears“, relates to an article written in the Bangor Daily News by John Holyoke about how to deal [...]
[...] that of 11-year old Samuel Ives in Utah while camping with family. One particular article, “Expert Advice On Dealing With Black Bears“, relates to an article written in the Bangor Daily News by John Holyoke about how to deal [...]
One of the reasons I stopped camping at NY State forest preserve campgrounds is because they have made you a prisoner in your own campsites. Rather then dealing harshly with errant bears and teaching them a lesson, or removing bold bears from the gene pool entirely, we have to decamp literally between every meal. Can’t have a snack in your tent, or so much as leave a cooking spoon out it ALL has to be packed away into a secure place (usually, your car) between every meal. That’s not fun to me.
There is a genetic factor in behavior as well. Thru history, bears who thought humans might be tasty didn’t last long or spread their genes very successfully. Humans would respond with anger and revenge at heart if a bear killed one of their friends or children. This is why (in general) a grizzly bear will run away from a human. But modern society is doing a very good job at bringing back bold bruins of every size who are responding more and more by running TOWARD human settlements and less by running away from them.