Mama Grizley does it again...lost hiker
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43661957...s-environment/
Sad to see another incident like this happen. Stumbling onto a mama with her cubs is a very dangerous position to be in.
2013 AT NOBO - 03/13/13 to 08/14/13
tough situation, wrong place at the wrong time doing everything right. Sad...
Condolences go out to the man's family for their loss , but lets not destroy the bear for she was acting on instincts ; ie protecting her cubs from a perceived threat.
There are unfortunate incidents such as this where we can only hope the family understands the bear is in it's natural habitat and we are the ones encroaching on their soil.
Getting lost is a way to find yourself.
Walking into a mom griz with her cubs is the last thing you want to do. It must have been awful for the wife to witness.
Dang, that's a bad one.
Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.
Scary item. My son is working in Yellowstone and hiking there this summer.
"It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss
I have plans to camp/hike/visit Yellowstone and the surrounding area including MT. Should I carry bear spray?? I never carried it on the AT.
I don't think bear spray is going to deter a charging mom-grizzly in the act of protecting her young, but that's just speculation.
I'm not a fan of shotguns, but I know most rangers in grizzly areas carry a 12 gauge with slugs. Be heavy as hell, but worth carrying for something like that, where you knew they were around.
In my 22 vistis to Yellowstone, I've seen one ranger 'carrying' a shotgun/rifle once. And that weapon wasn't so much 'carried' as contained in a saddle scabbard. But, in my observation, most Park rangers have bear spray at hand...virtually all rangers heading to the back country.
FB
"All persons are born free and have certain inalienable rights. They include the right to a clean and healthful environment..."
Article II, Section 3
The Constitution of the State of Montana
Any details coming out about this incident? Like, was it a case of the hiker wanting to get closer for a picture, etc.? What did the couple do upon first seeing the bear? Did they stop and slowly retreat or try to walk by?
Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.
This story is indeed sad. I came across a bear with a cub hiking just the other day and it is a scary situation. Luckily I was in NJ and the bear was a black bear. This is why I am going to get my pistol permit. I know that the bear was just acting on instincts and is not to blame, but if I was put in this situation with the people I loved I would want to have a gun to defend them. Plus a warning shot in the air might let both parties leave the scene unharmed.
More people are attacked and killed by BLACK bears than grizzlies, I wasn't aware of this fact until the other day. At least that's what I heard on a news channel?????????Originally Posted by trainhopper
Don't Die Before You've Had A Chance To Live!
I never carry pepper spray in black bear areas, but I always do in grizzly country.
This seems like a case of very bad luck.
There are a LOT more black bears in the U. S. than grizzlies, and they live next to (and sometimes inside) areas of human population. It's much more likely that they will encounter people. Grizzlies are much more isolated, only in the Absaroka region of Wyoming/Montana/Idaho and Alaska for the most part, with almost no exposure to populated areas.
Also, a hungry black bear will attack small humans for food. Lone children and small women have been targeted here in the southeast, usually in late May/early June before berries have begun to bear fruit. It's still an extremely rare incident, but it has happenned. There are virtually no incidents of grizzlies attacking humans as a food source. They typically make due with fish until elk begin dropping calves, their preferred food source in early summer. Hiking in a group seems to substantially reduce chances of being attacked, at least statistically.
If people spent less time being offended and more time actually living, we'd all be a whole lot happier!
Before you go off and get a gun for protection, learn how to use it with your eyes closed and one hand behind your back. A gun is incredibly dangerous in the hands of a scared, untrained person. I carry bear spray on almost any hike I go on. Makes the family feel better about me being out by myself.
The magic number for Griz seems to be 4. I do not recall any group of 4 or more being attacked. Every attack I can recall is either a solo or couple. When we camped in Alaska we tented closer than we would on the AT.
Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.
According to the news reports today: 1) they were not lost. 2) they saw the bear about 100 yds up the trail, backed away very slowly, and then turned and tried to walk away slowly and quietly. They looked back over their shoulders and the bear was in full charge. The husband yelled for his wife to run and she managed to get in behind some bushes. The bear killed her husband and then came after her. She played dead, it picked her up and dropped her and left. So....they did nothing like try to get closer, take pictures, interfere with cubs (which the wife said they never saw), or do anything else to anger the bear other just be living and breathing.
Wow. That would seem to indicate that this wasn't just momma protecting cubs, if she had to charge that distance at retreating "threats".
If that story is the truth they gotta kill Momma. Again, IF.
IMO, that is way too aggressive to be allowed to live. I know I wouldn't feel comfortable hiking there IF that story is true and they left it.
Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.
The same news report talked about 2 other griz attacks in Yellowstone in the past year. One came into a campground at night, everyone in their tents, no one out threatening the "poor bears" and the griz dragged people out of their tents and killed them. Another went out of the gates of the park and pursued people to kill them. The whole "animals before people" crowd will stop their moaning when it's their loved ones who are mauled. Or maybe not. Maybe they'll stand back, say "it's the bear's land" and just let it happen. Wouldn't want to be related to them.
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