I've been told that grizzes simply aren't looking at people as food all that often because of what they do eat, which is stuff like insects, berries, ground squirrels, etc. Rarely they'll attack a sleeping person, but it seems to be more like they're investigating a smell or an object, and the person wakes up and freaks out, and the bear, usually a mamma, them goes into kick ass mode.

I think black bears are more prone to predatory hunting, like they're looking for hiding deer fawns or carcasses. They'll stalk people at times. I suppose if they find you asleep on the ground, they figure it is an easy get.

That's why you're suppose to fight a black bear with all you've got, and play dead with a griz and cover your head and neck and vitals.

Exceptions to every rule I imagine.

Turns out the lady who survived the attack, the one in all the t.v. interviews, is a relative of my wife. This actually makes for a good conversation topic when the subject of guns comes up, since that family hasnt embraced guns (they arent really anti-gun, they just dont have any of their own).

I still dont understand why anyone would tent camp in bear country without a freakin big ass gun.

I have a few times sans gun or spray. One time I at least had two big dogs with me that would have created a problem for the bear: 4 vs 1 is tough, even when you're big. The other time it was just me and the wife. I slept with a hatchet in one hand and a big heavy machete in the other thanks to our candy ass national park rules and my lack of faith in the weak ass bear sprays available at the time.

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I still dont understand why anyone would tent camp in bear country without a freakin big ass gun.

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Never bothered me after the first year as a backcountry ranger. I carried a 6 inch bowie knife with me along with bear spray.

Mouth gave an excellent explanation on the brown vs. black bear deal.

It's never bothered me to stay in a tent in bear country. Keep in mind, from inside the tent, it's night time, very SUDDEN (most victims are already being pulled out of the tent when they realize what is happening), and you probably won't have a chance to grab the gun anyway. With that in mind, follow common sense rules.

Random attacks certainly occur, but I can almost guarantee that there were some type of attractant. It doesn't always have to be food. Examples----someone left trash in the campsite within the previous week but bear cleans it up so campsite appears clean (main factor in 2 of my attacks--always look under rocks and logs for hidden trash, check any bear scat for human based trash), the person isolated their tent in some capacity, they are sleeping in the same clothes they wore that day (BIG one in one of my attacks--you could see the chocolate stain on the shirt), are into winter camping and cook in the vestibule portion of the tent then take said tent into bear country (contributing factor in a couple Canadian attacks), using strawberry scented shampoo before going to bed (got a scalp removed), brushing your teeth right before jumping in the sleeping bag (dude woke up to bear sniffing face just prior to getting face bit), having a contact lense case with saline solution sitting next to your head (the LOVE salt), drunks that have puked on their sleeping bags and half a--ed cleaned it (I've used puke for bait, not kidding), and I'm sure you will love this--flavored lubricants (was a factor in a minor attack in a NP a couple years ago)---Citronella insect repellent is a favorite curiosity instigator----applying raspberry chapstick before going to sleep (another factor in one of my attacks.---burning the trash thinking you got rid of the smell

Usually, these types of things may pop up in the eventual final report, but you will rarely see it get reported. Since food is the most obvious, and the biggest reward to insure future problems, those are the first mentioned.

So it doesn't bother me, but I am really picky. Quite frankly, when I look at many campgrounds, it freaks me out some times. Most folks think of food (which of course is probably the best reward), but there are so many other things that can get their attention (love chewing on a roll of duct tape for example).

I would love to see diagrams of the campsites (layout, relationship to other campsites, relationship of sleeping area to where food was stored), and photos from around the campsites.

[This message has been edited by ursusguy (edited 7/30/2010 11:30p).]

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MouthBQ98
posted 4:00p, 07/30/10



I've been told that grizzes simply aren't looking at people as food all that often because of what they do eat, which is stuff like insects, berries, ground squirrels, etc. Rarely they'll attack a sleeping person, but it seems to be more like they're investigating a smell or an object, and the person wakes up and freaks out, and the bear, usually a mamma, them goes into kick ass mode.

I think black bears are more prone to predatory hunting, like they're looking for hiding deer fawns or carcasses. They'll stalk people at times. I suppose if they find you asleep on the ground, they figure it is an easy get.

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Is it just me, or is this completely backwards? I've always considered black's to be more of a gathering species, while the brown's are more of a hunting species including humans.

Black: http://www.greatbear.org/nablackbear.htm

Brown: http://www.greatbear.org/brownbear.htm

Actually, he has it correct. In your inland brown bear populations, the brown bears are borderline herbivores most of their active seasons.

Black bears are more likely to carry out a predatory attack (why you fight them), and defensive attacks are pretty rare. Browns are much more likely to initiate a defensive attack, and less likely to initiate a predatory attack (why this case is interesting).

This is a pretty common misconception with these bears.

[This message has been edited by ursusguy (edited 7/31/2010 11:09a).]

I heard of a girl that got her foot bit because she used peppermint foot lotion. City folk don't think.

so they put the momma bear down and shipped her cubs off to a zoo. Is this normal?

Can't have a bear learning that killing people is an option...especially when it attacks multiple people in different locations.

Yes, it is normal procedure for the reason Mouth mentioned. There is a very distinct possibility that the cubs participated, or even initiated the situation.

Women get attacked in tents at night more than men because they're camping at the wrong time of month. Bears are drawn to the smell of blood and can smell it from a long way off. Common sense safety needs to be applied.

seems the bear was just being a bear, and that the outcome is a known possibility or risk of camping in bear territory. Will they really "learn" and then seek out humans to prey on after one attack? Is there research that proves this? Or is it all just precautionary?