Should I be concerned about bears?

[Jowy]

Hello!

I'm hoping to hike the AT this year, NOBO starting in May.

Being from the UK I've never had to concern myself with bears before, but I understand there is occasionally some human-bear interaction in certain areas that the AT passes through.

I've read a lot of the posts on here about hanging bags, bear canisters and all the rest but I kind of get the impression there's already an assumed knowledge on bears.

I really don't know a lot about them other than don't try and run or climb to get away from a black bear. The idea of playing dead honestly scares the crap out of me but I suppose if that's the only thing to do you've gotta do it.

I just want to know whether hikers normally take precautions, like carrying pepper spray or something in case of an aggressive bear?

Thanks
Joe

[egilbe]

Black bears as a rule aren't aggressive and will usually avoid people because we hunt them and they are pretty smart. Hanging food is to save the bear, not you. A fed bear is a dead bear. You are more likely to injured from a fall, than a bear attack.

For the record, you fight off Black bears, play dead with grizzlies.

[Malto]

Bears are way down the list of what you should be worried about. There is another thread on here recently that addressed Fears on the trail. Keep in mind, bears will avoid you because you will be hiker stinky.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Bears are probably the single most overhyped fear that people have when they start hiking the A.T.

Are they large wild wild animals that should be treated with respect? Yes

Are they generally dangerous to humans? No

Most of us who have spent time on the A.T. have enountered a blackbear. The bears almost always run away. In the extremely unlikely event of dealing with an aggressive black bear, stand your ground, it is likely that it is a rare case of a younger male bluff charging. In the event of a black bear attack, do fight back with everythig you have got, the odds of fighting them off are fairly good.

Since you mentioned "playing dead" don't do this around a black bear, that is advice for dealing with the much more powerful Brown/Grizzly bear species that live in the Western USA and isn't relevant to black bear safety.

[Jowy]

Black bears as a rule aren't aggressive and will usually avoid people because we hunt them and they are pretty smart. Hanging food is to save the bear, not you. A fed bear is a dead bear. You are more likely to injured from a fall, than a bear attack.

For the record, you fight off Black bears, play dead with grizzlies.

How come a fed bear is a dead bear?

Bears are way down the list of what you should be worried about. There is another thread on here recently that addressed Fears on the trail. Keep in mind, bears will avoid you because you will be hiker stinky.

Roger that, i'll leave the soap at home

[johnnybgood]

Just remember to give bears a great deal of respect and you will be fine. Your usual bear encounter sees the backside of a bear as it is running away from you.

[MuddyWaters]

No.
If your fears are properly directed, you would worry more about being killed by lightning, falling off a cliff.

[HooKooDooKu]

How come a fed bear is a dead bear?

The bear will learn to associate humans with a source of food, will become aggressive/dangerous to humans, and the bear will then be put down to protect the humans.

[Jowy]

No.
If your fears are properly directed, you would worry more about being killed by lightning, falling off a cliff.

This is probably true, but I'm familiar with walking unforgiving trails so I know what to expect with regards to that. Snakes and bears are new to me though.

[Jowy]

The bear will learn to associate humans with a source of food, will become aggressive/dangerous to humans, and the bear will then be put down to protect the humans.

Ahh I see, so keep food out of reach of bears.

[HooKooDooKu]

Yea, it's not that the bears will start to see people AS food, but they can learn to associate people with food. When that happens, they begin to seek out humans rather than trying to avoid humans. When that happens, they become a danger to humans and the bear will then be put down.

This is also why you don't start a bear encounter by throwing food at the bear.
You can read the official "instructions" on dealing with a black bear encounter from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Web Page.

But it basically comes down to this:
If you see a bear, the moment the bear detects your presence (usually before you detect his) he will already be running away from you.
If the bear does not run away, you should start by making loud noises to try to scare the bear away.
If the bear has already learned to associate people with food and starts to approach you, try to move away, retreat to higher ground (make yourself look as large and as threatening as possible) and throw rocks at the bear.
Only if throwing rocks still has not deterred the bear and he continues to approach you, THEN you should try to separate yourself from your food.
If the bear continues to approach you, the bear might see you AS food (rare but has happened) and you will need to fight the bear with all your might. Keep in mind that you don't have to be stronger then the bear, you just have to put up enough of a fight that the bear decides you are not worth it.

Over the years, I would guess that I have had about 20 bears encounters in GSMNP. About 40% of the time, the bear was far enough away that it ignored me. About 40% of the time, the bear ran as soon as it detected my presence. Once a bear approached me while on a lunch break at a shelter. One shout was enough to scare the bear off. The only time I've encountered a bear that didn't run off with shouting, it had learned that backpacks contain food (it has stolen a back pack out of a shelter just a few nights earlier). Fortunately our packs were already hung on the bear cables provided at GSMNP shelters and camp sites, and the bear only paid attention to our packs on the bear cables and not us throwing rocks at it. Once it realized it wasn't going to get the packs from the bear cables, it left.

Given the number of bear encounters I've had, I would say there must be thousands of bear encounters in the GSMNP each year. In about the last 20 years, there's only been one death and a hand full of serious injuries in GSMNP due to bears. When you consider that is what is happening in just the National park (where you have a relatively large concentration of people and bears), you're even less likely to have a "bad" bear encounter over the rest of the trail where the density of people and bears is smaller.

[swjohnsey]

No. You will be lucky to catch a glimpse of one.

[MuddyWaters]

This is probably true, but I'm familiar with walking unforgiving trails so I know what to expect with regards to that. Snakes and bears are new to me though.

Supposing you do worry about da bears,
What you going to do about it??
Stay home?
Thats the thing, nothing you can do
Follow good practices, and trust providence.

If a bear decides to eat you on the AT, you will be immortalized as the first.

[jimmyjam]

Exercise common sense with your food. Don't eat in or near your shelter. I prefer to eat at the shelter and then camp away from the shelter. Hang your food when possible and hang it correctly. Do these things and you're more likely to have your food eaten by a fellow hiker than a bear.

[johnnybgood]

Snakes and bears are new to me though.

Regarding snakes only 2 are venomous along the AT and neither has enough toxin to kill a healthy person. There are rare instances where a freak metabolic syndrome could trigger a rapid deterioration of the cells that carry oxygen rich blood throughout the body but a HIGHLY improbable occurrence that probably rivals being struck by lightning.

Ground vibrations sent from trekking poles tips striking the ground as you hike will alert snakes in proximity of the trail of your arrival in advance.
Just be prepared to see them as the weather warms and if one pops up as you're daydreaming try not to scream too loud so others may hear you.

For what it's worth; my wife once was bitten by a copperhead while we were hiking and she has had no long term affects from the venomous bite.

[iAmKrzys]

If your fears about bear encounters don't go away easily you may want to read Stephen Herrero's book "Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance": http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-C.../dp/158574557X . I think this is the best book on the subject that I have ever read.

[Jowy]

Yea, it's not that the bears will start to see people AS food, but they can learn to associate people with food. When that happens, they begin to seek out humans rather than trying to avoid humans. When that happens, they become a danger to humans and the bear will then be put down.

This is also why you don't start a bear encounter by throwing food at the bear.
You can read the official "instructions" on dealing with a black bear encounter from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Web Page.

But it basically comes down to this:
If you see a bear, the moment the bear detects your presence (usually before you detect his) he will already be running away from you.
If the bear does not run away, you should start by making loud noises to try to scare the bear away.
If the bear has already learned to associate people with food and starts to approach you, try to move away, retreat to higher ground (make yourself look as large and as threatening as possible) and throw rocks at the bear.
Only if throwing rocks still has not deterred the bear and he continues to approach you, THEN you should try to separate yourself from your food.
If the bear continues to approach you, the bear might see you AS food (rare but has happened) and you will need to fight the bear with all your might. Keep in mind that you don't have to be stronger then the bear, you just have to put up enough of a fight that the bear decides you are not worth it.

Over the years, I would guess that I have had about 20 bears encounters in GSMNP. About 40% of the time, the bear was far enough away that it ignored me. About 40% of the time, the bear ran as soon as it detected my presence. Once a bear approached me while on a lunch break at a shelter. One shout was enough to scare the bear off. The only time I've encountered a bear that didn't run off with shouting, it had learned that backpacks contain food (it has stolen a back pack out of a shelter just a few nights earlier). Fortunately our packs were already hung on the bear cables provided at GSMNP shelters and camp sites, and the bear only paid attention to our packs on the bear cables and not us throwing rocks at it. Once it realized it wasn't going to get the packs from the bear cables, it left.

Given the number of bear encounters I've had, I would say there must be thousands of bear encounters in the GSMNP each year. In about the last 20 years, there's only been one death and a hand full of serious injuries in GSMNP due to bears. When you consider that is what is happening in just the National park (where you have a relatively large concentration of people and bears), you're even less likely to have a "bad" bear encounter over the rest of the trail where the density of people and bears is smaller.

I see, good to know what to do, even if I'll likely never have to do it.

Thanks for all the info guys!

[RockDoc]

Consider yourself lucky if you even see one bear. Tripping and falling is the sort of thing you need to worry about.

Having said that, there is a very real risk of losing your food if you are not responsible. It's difficult to do a good "hang" in most areas on the AT. Most tree limbs are too low and limber, and the bear has not trouble grabbing your bag if it's only 6 feet off the ground. The bears have seen it all before, and they know what they are doing. Look into the PCT method of hanging.

If you can't do a good hang, don't do a hang at all, because if the bears get your food you have trained them to expect food from the hikers that follow you.

In bear country, only carry food that has little if any odor, and keep it packaged in zip lock plastic bags (garbage included). More people than you think actually sleep with their food, and don't have any problems. Bears won't attack you in your bag to get food that they can barely even smell.

[garlic08]

First time I went hiking in grizzly country, I looked at bear fatality statistics in the continental US (excluding Alaska). At that time, about ten years ago, I was surprised to see the most recent fatalities were from black bears in the Eastern US, in the states the AT runs through (New Jersey and New York as I remember). Soon after that hike, I hiked the AT and kept that statistic in mind. There are only a few fatalities per decade, as I remember, hardly enough to instill fear, but it's still good to remember some basic respect for a very strong wild animal with large teeth and claws. I agree with those above who say you'll be lucky to see one--it's an awesome animal.

[lemon b]

Nothing to worry about. Have fun, leave no trace.