Bears, Bears Everywhere Bears
Posted by Tom Remington on September 13, 2007
It seems that we are hearing more and more about bear and human encounters. Is this a higher than normal number of bear encounters? Probably. Is there a reason for it? Yes!
There are actually several reasons and many of those reasons are focused regionally. I’ll focus on two. The western U.S. has had an unusually warm and dry summer. The natural forage for bears is low. This is the time of year that bears consume as many as 25,000 calories a day. That means they are on the move and searching for food. If natural mast crops, etc. are lacking, the bears will resort to whatever means necessary to find food. That often leads them to areas populated by people. They smell food in your house, they get into your garbage or who knows what else.
The other factor that cannot be overlooked is the fact that we humans are doing a better job of managing our game and wildlife and in this case bears. With growing populations, that means more animals competing for the same food. Contrary to what some people want to believe, animals self-regulating themselves to control populations isn’t as simple as “they will only reproduce according to the available habitat”. Even if that was true, you still are faced with events like this summer’s weather.
On Tuesday, I posted a photo and short article from information I received from reader Erik in Idaho. This started a mini debate about bears in general but also the discussions touched on the always heated topic of man and wildlife co-existing.
The basis of Erik sending me the info was as much to bring light to the fact that people need to be made aware that, as in this case, grizzly bears are showing up in places where people aren’t accustomed to seeing them. Yesterday, he sent me a couple newspaper clippings of articles from areas around Idaho where there have been bear encounters. Some of those encounters I have already covered here at the Black Bear.
To the right is a photo of the scanned newspaper articles. If you click on the thumbnail photo, it will enlarge and you can then read the articles if you wish.
One article is about a hunter who was attacked by a grizzly bear. He was able to repel the bear with mace. A second part of that same article is about a camper’s tent that was ripped into by a black bear. There was food in the tent, a real no no.
Another article features a Yellowstone Park employee who was attacked by a grizzly bear while hunting just north of Yellowstone. I made reference to this incident in a previous article about bears. You can read about Ken Meyer’s ordeal with the bear here.
Everywhere you go, you will find stories of human bear encounters. For the reason’s I’ve already stated, people should be reminded that they need be aware that bears are abundant and are looking for food. If hungry enough, you’ll will serve up just fine for table fare.
When heading out on your outdoor adventure, whether taking a walk, an extended hike or a hunt, be bear aware. It could save your life.
Tom Remington
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