NOTICE: 2009 Near North Symposium including Cliff on BEARS! Dec. 5
1998
BEAR UPDATE
by Cliff Jacobson
Quick! What do novice canoe campers fear most? If you said "bears", you're dead right. Drowning, getting lost, breaking a leg, being drained by blood-sucking insects or struck by lightning, rate below the fear of being mauled by a bear, or of losing food to one. I have never concluded a seminar presentation before a large audience without entertaining at least one question about bears. In my books, I suggest some unorthodox "bear procedures" that don't meet with government approval. For example: I never cache my food in trees or throw rocks at curious bears, as advised in Forest Service publications and the Boundary Waters training film, "Leave No Trace". My experiences with bears, and that of friends who spend lots of time among bears, suggest that some federal guidelines are off-target. Now, at last, I'm pleased to find some research that supports my views. If you tread where bears are, you'll want to read these books: Bear Attacks, by Stephen Herrero, 1985, and Bear Encounter Survival Guide, by James Gary Shelton. Herrero is a Canadian biologist (the Science Museum of Minnesota bear exhibit was largely based on his work) who takes an unbiased look at bear behavior and an objective look at the increasing number of predacious bear attacks. Herrero believes that bears are very smart and are conditioned to learn from past experiences. Bears live 20-30 years; they have a very good memory and an ability to figure things out. They are about as intelligent as very smart dogs.
All black bears (even adults) hook-climb trees; grizzlies hook-climb until their third or fourth year, after which, their claws straighten and they can no longer scamper up trunks. They can, however, climb by lunging or hugging the tree. The bottom line is that all bears (except polar bears) can climb trees as well or better than most people. If a bear wants what's in a tree, the bear will get it! Given this fact, why is it that BWCA campers emphatically believe that treeing a food pack will keep it safe from bears? Or, that if you climb a tree you will be safe from bears. Indeed, Shelton describes many cases where people have climbed trees to escape predacious bears (both black and grizzlies) only to discover that the bears climbed up after them! Shelton's studies show that the bear was often able to climb the tree and pull the human out of it! Human tree climbers who survived a "tree-climbing bear attack", did so by poking the bear with a stick or other object. Persistent stick-poking--not inability of the bear to climb the tree--was what saved the day. Anyone who has spent much time in the bush knows that bears are very adept at getting treed packs out of trees. The following quote is from an article entitled "Cars not safe from bears at Yosemite," by Suzanne Charle. It first appeared in the New York Times and was reprinted in the Nov. 30, 1997, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. This shows how smart bears are at figuring out locks on rigid "bear-proof" containers: "It is the second effort at bearproof locks; the first, using a spring-loaded bolt system, was figured out by the bears in two weeks. A bear would take the top bolt in its mouth and hold the bottom with its paw, apply force and have dinner. New locks require the use of opposable thumbs".
This supports my premise that treed food packs are not safe from bears: "Bears have elaborate schemes for getting food, " Thompson (a park ranger) said. "One time-honored precaution, hanging bags of food from a rope high in a tree, is now seen as useless. Local residents call the food bags "bear piñatas." "The bears chew off the rope that has been attached elsewhere, or chew off the branch that is supporting the bag," Thompson said. "If the limbs are small, they'll send the cubs out. If that doesn't work, they'll just climb up above the bags, launch themselves out of the tree and grab the bags on the way down."
Thank you, ranger Thompson. I've been preaching this for years in my books!
James Gary Shelton, author of Bear Encounter Survival Guide, is a bear hunter from British Columbia who loves and respects the animals he hunts. He is chairman of the Central Coast Grizzly Management Committee and a member of several other prestigious bear management associations. His "bear hazard safety training program" is internationally respected; many consider it the best training program of its kind in North America. Shelton says:
1. Predacious bear attacks are on the rise (like, way up!), possibly due to over-protection of bears in some areas. In nature, aggressive male bears will kill and cannibalize weaker bears (especially cubs) in areas where bear populations are at or over carrying capacity.
2. Most black bear attacks are predacious. Most grizzly attacks are defensive-aggressive (protecting cubs, food sources, etc).
3. What happens during a bear encounter depends largely on whether the bear is wild, man-wise, or habituated to humans and/or garbage.
Wild bears are not afraid of humans but they often retreat from them. Man-wise bears (hunted bears) are afraid of people and will usually run away. Habituated (BWCA bears) bears are not afraid of people. They won't always run away. Some may be quite aggressive. The rules-of-thumb for coping with an attacking bear are currently: "play dead with a grizzly, fight back with a black bear". These rules are predicated on the fact that most black bear attacks are predacious, while grizzly attacks are largely defensive-aggressive.
Shelton would like to modify the rules to read: predacious attacks (fight back!); defensive-aggressive attacks (play dead!). But, you may have just seconds to determine whether an attack is defensive or predacious, and to act accordingly. Good luck! Shelton's simplest rule-of-thumb, and best advice may be, if in doubt: "stand your ground, look at the bear, grab a weapon and prepare to fight. Don't turn away and run; it may trigger a pursuit and kill impulse. Shelton has observed that "bear mace" (cayenne pepper spray) almost always works in a defensive-aggressive (sow defending cubs, food, etc.) attack, but not always in a predatory attack. There are lots of chilling exceptions in his book. Shelton and Herrero have observed that most people killed by predatory grizzlies are camping in a park at night, while predacious black bear attacks occur mostly in daylight--and children and lone hikers are major targets. In short, there's strength in numbers. In my "Bear-proofing your camp" seminars, I suggest that night-time visits by black bears are rarely dangerous, while day-light arrivals pose real threats. Scientific studies bear this out.
A tent seems to be an important defensive device in a park, not as a physical barrier, but because it confuses bears and gives humans a chance to escape. Shelton suggests that each person in the tent have a can of bear spray, a flashlight, and a fixed-blade knife. I carry all the above. In grizzly and polar bear country I bring a gun. Procedure: once you are aware of a bear near your tent, but away from the door, one person unzips the door flap part-way and holds it open and shines the light to blind the bear. The other person sprays the bear as soon as it's in view. You can use your knife to cut your way out of the back end of the tent, if need be, or to slit the side of the tent (to spray the bear) if the bear is attacking the tent. Shelton also cites studies that suggest you should not yell at any bear that has given an aggressive signal. Doing so may cause an attack! Also, if you come upon a bear who doesn't see you, it's best to quietly fade into the distance. Sometimes, yelling at the bear will pinpoint your location and cause the bear to attack you. I had this experience along the Hood River in Canada's Northwest Territories. I was standing along the edge of a caribou herd when I saw three grizzlies in the distance. I yelled at them and they stood up to look at me. Then, they charged forward, towards me and the caribou herd. Fortunately, I quietly faded into the tundra 100 meters before the bear reached me. I think they thought I was a caribou.
Throwing rocks at a habituated bear, as suggested in the Forest Service video, "Leave no trace" is a good idea only if the bear is stalking you (predatory). Don't throw rocks at a casual camp bear that comes in the night! Doing so could precipitate an attack. If you want to learn more about bears, read the suggested books. Later, when you've digested the contents, you may agree with me that "treeing your packs, leaving tent flaps open so a curious bear can walk in and look around, and "throwing rocks at curious bears,"--as suggested in government literature--may not be the best plan.
