Another Fatal Bear attack in Yellowstone

[somers515]

http://news.yahoo.com/grizzly-killing-report-yellowstone-hikers-taking-risks-192950531.html;_ylt=AwrC2Q5H35ZWHS8ATz7QtDMD;_ylu= X3oDMTBybGY3bmpvBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYw Nzcg--

Sad story. And then I read internet comments underneath the article like this and it just makes me mad.

"Your typical sheltered American idiot! He is so into the nature he lost his common sense. Boy what a way to die, alone, in the forest, eaten alive by a bear! It's horrible and was not necessary, and now the bear dies for it. What exactly does this hiker looking to achieve? A invigorating walk? Well the penalty for his idiotic behavior is death, a horrible death. I don't feel sorry for him, only for his family I feel sorry that his guy is such an idiot"

Yes let's call the hiker an idiot because he dared to take a walk in nature instead of staying safe in his car and his house 24/7.

[tflaris]

Dead bear, orphaned Cubs and a hiker not going home. Sad news all the way around.


"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed that is the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead, Anthropologist

[Feral Bill]

All of us make bad choices at times. The difference for this man is his luck ran out. Of course, better choices buy luck.

[Colter]

It's not another fatal attack, as you probably know. It believe it was back in August and the SINGLE fatal attack in the United States in 2015. Those are Powerball odds.

I completely agree with your point that hiking alone doesn't make you an idiot. Hiking alone isn't nearly as risky as staying home and getting fat and bored and not living your life.

[burger]

Old story. Yawn. Why do people feel the need to fearmonger every time someone is attacked by a bear?

How about someone post something here every time someone hikes in bear country without getting hurt. That would outnumber the attacks by tens of thousand to one.

[Traveler]

With the "Revenant" winning awards (curious if the bear got any spiffs for its performance), I suspect we will be gripped in bear scare fever for a few months.

[somers515]

It's not another fatal attack, as you probably know. It believe it was back in August and the SINGLE fatal attack in the United States in 2015. Those are Powerball odds.

I completely agree with your point that hiking alone doesn't make you an idiot. Hiking alone isn't nearly as risky as staying home and getting fat and bored and not living your life.

Ugh I'm sorry I misread the article. You are right of course it was about the August bear attack. If I could edit the title of my post I would.

And also thank you for agreeing with my main point of my post - you said it much better than I did. I just don't understand why so many non-hikers feel the hiker was an idiot. The comment I quoted was hardly unique - I might even say it was the majority opinion.

[Pedaling Fool]

Hiking in a group didn't help the poor guy in NJ that was killed by a black bear. I'll continue hiking alone.

BTW, all the grizzlies are in a deep sleep right now;)

[nsherry61]

. . . I just don't understand why so many non-hikers feel the hiker was an idiot. The comment I quoted was hardly unique - I might even say it was the majority opinion.
Most of us have things to do that make us happy, like hiking solo in the back-country. There is a small segment of our society that hasn't figured out how to use their time to enjoy life, so they sit in front of a computer and hope rationalize their miserable existence by tearing down other peoples' choices and actions. I like to imagine that it is just an uninformed, uninspired, vocal miserable minority, not a majority opinion.

[garlic08]

Let's just say some of us are more risk-averse than others. And some have no idea of the risks involved in taking no risks at all. Imagine a society, or just a single life, where nobody took any risks.

[Coffee]

Whenever something like this happens, the media sensation probably reduces outdoor activity for people who don't understand the real risks, leading to a statistically higher incidence of heart attacks from sedentary behavior, but of course no one will talk about the quiet deaths of thousands of people who could have led a healthier existence by doing "risky" thinks like solo hiking.

[TexasBob]

Hiking alone in grizzly bear country is sometimes not an option.

33258

[Traveler]

[QUOTE=TexasBob;2032799]Hiking alone in grizzly bear country is sometimes not an option.

33258[/UOTE]

I've not run across these signs in the lower 48, though I've not been everywhere certainly. The philosophy of tight group lends well to several things like walking in cadence so you don't trip over the guy in front of you and provides the bear a variety selection.

https://sp.yimg.com/xj/th?id=OIP.Mb26b47a0e3c21fe31c2ab4dafec299ceo0&pid=15.1&P=0&w=301&h=190

[Coffee]

Hiking alone in grizzly bear country is sometimes not an option.

33258

Canada, right? There were signs like that when I visited Banff & Jasper many years ago.

[squeezebox]

Well there are obvious reasons that Yellowstone makes certain suggestions. He took a risk and lost.
Still probably less of a risk than getting into your car any day.
Bear spray & groups sound easy enough to do.

[TexasBob]

Canada, right? There were signs like that when I visited Banff & Jasper many years ago.

The trail to Consolation Lake from Moraine Lake in Banff NP 2 years ago. There were also cougar warning signs up at the far end of Lake Louise for the Plain of Six Glaciers trail. A cougar had been stalking people but nobody got eaten! I went to Yellowstone a few years ago on a geology field trip and we camped at Pebble Creek campground. Black bears and buffalo would wander through the campground. Rangers came by several times daily to encourage the buffalo to move along by shooting them in the rump with a slingshot and ball bearings. We were told to carry bear spray at all times, have nothing but water in our tents and the rangers ticketed people who had food outside the bear boxes.

[Coffee]

I remember the Plain of the Six Glaciers Trail well. At the time I think that they had signs advising people to hike in groups but it wasn't required. I was solo and went up to the teahouse. All very civilized.

[saltysack]

I wish a damn black bear would maul a solo thru hiker on the JMT...it would make getting a permit easier!!! Thin out the faint of heart. Not sure why it's not mandatory to carry bear spray in certain areas of grizz country as is required to carry a bear can in certain places. Issue a fat ticket if caught on trail without one. Sad for the bear and poor Cubs stuck at a zoo.


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[TexasBob]

I remember the Plain of the Six Glaciers Trail well. At the time I think that they had signs advising people to hike in groups but it wasn't required. I was solo and went up to the teahouse. All very civilized.

You could hike solo but there were so many people you were in group anyway! Did you stop at the teahouse or go to the end of the trail?

[Coffee]

You could hike solo but there were so many people you were in group anyway! Did you stop at the teahouse or go to the end of the trail?
If I recall correctly I went past the teahouse but not sure if I went to the end of the trail. It was pretty crowded.

[gpburdelljr]

Here is the link to the thread started back in August when this attack occurred,

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/113278-Hiker-Killed-in-Yellowstone?highlight=bear+killed

[August W.]

Old story. Yawn. Why do people feel the need to fearmonger every time someone is attacked by a bear?

grizzlytimes.org

[Feral Bill]

I'm waiting for the headline "Solo hiker travels Yellowstone backcountry! Bears brazenly ignore her!"

[Lone Wolf]

why is this still in the AT forums?

[August W.]

why is this still in the AT forums?

Maybe because there isn't enough of the original wildlife remaining near the AT to warrant a dedicated 'Wildlife Along The AT' forum section, and what little wildlife does remain along the AT is rather tame and benign compared to the critters that remain west of the AT. Skittish black bears, diminishing rattle snakes, and wild ponies OH MY!!!

[Traveler]

why is this still in the AT forums?

Seems to be appropriately placed, if not a few months old story. People are still commenting about Largay and Jurek, why not this too.

[Lone Wolf]

Seems to be appropriately placed, if not a few months old story. People are still commenting about Largay and Jurek, why not this too.

this is an AT wildlife forum. ain't no grizzlies on the AT

[MuddyWaters]

Maybe because there isn't enough of the original wildlife remaining near the AT to warrant a dedicated 'Wildlife Along The AT' forum section, and what little wildlife does remain along the AT is rather tame and benign compared to the critters that remain west of the AT. Skittish black bears, diminishing rattle snakes, and wild ponies OH MY!!!

As a rule. Theres nothing in the eastern US thats going to hurt you, except other people. The cougars were hunted almost to extinction.

150 yrs ago there were jaguars roaming the southeast woodlands . 8 ft from nose to end tail. Extirpated today, reside in mexico. Early settlers called them the american tiger.

[Pedaling Fool]

Interesting story on the jaguar, it seems to be making a comeback in the states. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2014/jaguar-03-04-2014.html


TUCSON, Ariz.— In response to a lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today finalized (https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/jaguar/pdfs/jaguar_critical_habitat_final_rule_3-2014.pdf) protection for 764,207 acres, or 1,194 square miles, of habitat for endangered jaguars (https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/jaguar/index.html) in southern Arizona and New Mexico. The historic “critical habitat” designation to help the great cats recover comes five years after a federal court rejected the Service’s argument that jaguars are too rare in the United States to merit habitat protection, and almost 17 years after the Service first protected jaguars under the Endangered Species Act in response to another court case brought by the Center.

“Welcome home, American jaguar,” said the Center’s Michael Robinson. “I’m hopeful that decades from now we’ll look back on this historic decision and see it as the first on-the-ground action that eventually led to the return of a thriving population of these beautiful big cats to this country.”

The critical habitat designation prohibits federal agencies from destroying or “adversely modifying” the habitat, such as by granting permits for mining or other commercial activities that would render the habitat unsuitable for jaguars. There is currently a jaguar living on U.S. Forest Service land in the Santa Rita Mountains outside Tucson in the footprint of the proposed Rosemont Copper Mine. Today’s designation will make it illegal for the Forest Service or the Fish and Wildlife Service to fund or authorize activities that would harm jaguar habitat.

The critical habitat designation consists of six units, each containing one or more mountain ranges in which jaguars have been recorded in recent years or through which they are thought to have traveled. The designation includes the Baboquivari, Pajarito, Atascosa, Tumacacori, Patagonia, Santa Rita and Huachuca mountain ranges in Arizona; the Peloncillo Mountains that straddle the Arizona/New Mexico border; and the northern tip of the San Luis Mountains in New Mexico’s “bootheel” region.

Missing from the designation are the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona and vast stretches of the high, forested Mogollon Rim, including its easternmost terminus in New Mexico’s Gila National Forest. These areas were historically occupied by jaguars and still have suitable habitat for recovery today.

“While we’re disappointed that the protection omits the best U.S. habitat for jaguars — the rugged Gila headwaters in New Mexico and the pine-clad Mogollon Rim in Arizona — this decision is a milestone that protects much of the borderlands that the first generation of returning jaguars is exploring and inhabiting,” said Robinson.

Peer-reviewed research shows that species with designated critical habitat are twice as likely to be making progress toward recovery as those without. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s next step is the release of a draft jaguar recovery plan this spring.

Background

Jaguars are the third-largest cat in the world, after tigers and lions. Paleontological remains show that jaguars evolved in North America before colonizing the jungle habitats of South America. Jaguars were historically reported on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, the mountains of Southern California, along grassland rivers in northeastern New Mexico and the Texas panhandle, and in the forests of Louisiana, Kentucky and North Carolina.

Jaguars disappeared from their U.S. range due to clearing of forests and draining of wetlands and killing to protect livestock. The last female jaguar in the United States was shot by a hunter in 1963 in Arizona’s Mogollon Rim. Although jaguars in Mexico are declining as well, dispersing male jaguars thought to emanate from the now-protected Northern Jaguar Reserve, 130 miles south of the border, have periodically established ranges in the United States. A jaguar repeatedly spotted in the Santa Rita Mountains in recent years is the first of the big cats documented in the country since 2009, when the Arizona Game and Fish Department injured (in an illegal capture operation) and later euthanized a jaguar that had lived at least 16 years in the Atascosa and Pajarito mountains.

[August W.]

As a rule. Theres nothing in the eastern US thats going to hurt you, except other people. The cougars were hunted almost to extinction.

150 yrs ago there were jaguars roaming the southeast woodlands . 8 ft from nose to end tail. Extirpated today, reside in mexico. Early settlers called them the american tiger.

Yep, folks in the eastern US have proven their disdain cougars and wilderness. Perhaps the chupacabra will replace the cougar in the eastern food chain. Seems they have been spotted as far north as Maine. If only they preferred deer blood over goat blood!

[Traveler]

Soon I'll bet someone comes up with the notion Chupacabra follow Big Foot, thus Big Foot are nomads.

[Mountain Dog]

More pedestrians hit by cars in any one year here in Pensacola Florida than bear related deaths in any 5 year period. Stupid pedestrians. They need to stay home and watch reality TV. No need to go out into the real world to experience reality is there.

[squeezebox]

Maybe restrict it to old bears and old drivers!!

[WILLIAM HAYES]

the guy that was killed by a black bear in NJ was running from the bear not a good thing to do

[August W.]

the guy that was killed by a black bear in NJ was running from the bear not a good thing to do

Unless you feel like playing some intense Follow the Leader.