View Full Version : Bears! Are they going to kill you?
I just spent much of a day researching out the odds of being a bear fatality (http://bucktrack.blogspot.com/2011/02/bears-should-you-be-afraid.html). My conclusion: it doesn't pay to worry. There are a lot of statistics to back up that conclusion along with some stats on lightning, snake bite, hypothermia, and falls.
Please check out the article on my blog, and if you're a Facebooker and like it, may I kindly ask you to hit the "Like" at the end of the article. I invite comments both here and on my blog.
There are a lot of statistics to back up that conclusion along with some stats on lightning, snake bite, hypothermia, and falls.
Thanks. I'll rest easy knowing that I'm more likely to be struck by a 50,000 degree bolt of electricity than being killed by a bear.
LoneRidgeRunner
02-05-2011, 14:08
I just spent much of a day researching out the odds of being a bear fatality (http://bucktrack.blogspot.com/2011/02/bears-should-you-be-afraid.html). My conclusion: it doesn't pay to worry. There are a lot of statistics to back up that conclusion along with some stats on lightning, snake bite, hypothermia, and falls.
Please check out the article on my blog, and if you're a Facebooker and like it, may I kindly ask you to hit the "Like" at the end of the article. I invite comments both here and on my blog.
I read the article and commented on it and shared it on my FB page. It just verified what I already knew. "There is no need to fear bears, only treat them with respect."
SouthMark
02-05-2011, 14:17
Check out www.bear.org:
http://www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/why-we-fear-bears.html
Bear fear is created by the movies, media, etc. Exaggerated horror tales sell.
I added your link to my blog post.
canoehead
02-05-2011, 14:41
"respecting bears is smart, fearing them is unnecessary."
I would say most folks respect the bear out of fear of what it can do.
Common sense, education and awareness is the best way to deal with or avoid an animal in its own habitat.
The fear part just keeps you honest and potentially alive.
When you come face to face with the highest critter on the food chain out there it tends to make you think and act with a little more cautiously.
Have ya ever been treed by coyotes same thing applies.
That said get out and enjoy life and all that comes with it.
its hard to find a bear when you are looking for them
wrongway_08
02-05-2011, 14:59
Yup, same goes for snakes, wolfs and other things that go growl late at night. Just gotta worry about other people. Nothing has changed for the past 2,198,547 years.
Wise Old Owl
02-05-2011, 15:07
I am under the impression that to avoid bear confrontations - avoid bright colors, bears will travel a mile to investigate a bright tent. Avoid food smells as best as one can. They follow their nose. use a bear bell in the deep back woods... but that's my guess. my encounters with black bears are low.
hikerboy57
02-05-2011, 15:09
ticks are a much bigger threat than bears.Most bears I've come across over 30 years of hiking have run away as soon as they saw me. Use common sense, be wary when you see cubs around, stay away.
ticks are a much bigger threat than bears...
Absolutely. The tick/Lyme disease threat on the AT is highly under-rated, and that of bears highly over-rated, in my opinion.
Yeah, they mostly just want to scare you, like this one:
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa67/Colinbear/scary-bear.jpg
SouthMark
02-05-2011, 17:37
Another thing that contributes to peoples fear of bears is the use of wolf growl sound effects for bear sounds in movies. Since bears do not actually growl, movie makers dub in wolf growls to make the bears sound more frightening.
Far more AT hikers are sidelined by tick borne disease (or issues with sanitation) than by bears. There's a fair amount of anecdotal evidence (is that an oxymoron?) that several long-distance hikers every season crash in southern New England from Lyme or similar ailments.
A "bad" bear encounter might be some loss of sleep or perhaps loss of food, but it won't put you off the trail.
Cosmo
TallShark
02-05-2011, 18:32
avoid bright colors, bears will travel a mile to investigate a bright tent..
:eek: ....for reals? My new tent is like blaze orange.
hikerboy57
02-05-2011, 18:42
Although bears can see as well as humans, and can distinguish color, I find it hard to believe one would be interested in an orange tent a mile away unless it smelled like food.Otherwise hunters wearing orange wouldnt be a very good idea.
Blissful
02-05-2011, 18:51
Take care of your food + be smart = no issue
swjohnsey
02-05-2011, 18:56
Although bears can see as well as humans, and can distinguish color, I find it hard to believe one would be interested in an orange tent a mile away unless it smelled like food.Otherwise hunters wearing orange wouldnt be a very good idea.
They have been trained to associate that color with a food source. I always root for the bear.
Trailbender
02-05-2011, 19:11
Thanks. I'll rest easy knowing that I'm more likely to be struck by a 50,000 degree bolt of electricity than being killed by a bear.
Well, technically, it is the current that kills you, not the voltage.
LoneRidgeRunner
02-05-2011, 19:38
Although bears can see as well as humans, and can distinguish color, I find it hard to believe one would be interested in an orange tent a mile away unless it smelled like food.Otherwise hunters wearing orange wouldnt be a very good idea.
I agree ..My Trango 2 is Apricot (may as well say orange) and some dark color because when I bought it that was the only choice...but when I used to deer hunt and back pack /camp to do so and there were no trails to follow back to camp it was easy to spot from a long ways off after dark for me, but not once did I ever catch a bear there checking it out. I think it was because I never cooked, ate or stored food in it ....I just can't believe they are attracted to bright, pretty colors..never had one follow me around when I was wearing my blaze orange either...I think they associate the smell of food with food...not an orange tent...of course I was always armed for bear while deer hunting..maybe they knew that and stayed away from my orange tent..lol..
:eek: ....for reals? My new tent is like blaze orange.
Don't worry about it. I've never heard the "don't use bright tents" theory in my life. Fighting fires in Alaska we used bright yellow tents for years. In grizzly country, usually unarmed.
LoneRidgeRunner
02-05-2011, 19:42
Yeah, they mostly just want to scare you, like this one:
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa67/Colinbear/scary-bear.jpg
That's a Grizzly..and probably a shot from one of those movies that made all bears out to be savage, blood thirsty, murderous devils who hunt people down and kill em just for sport....Bears are really cool people though
Hikerhead
02-05-2011, 20:00
Although bears can see as well as humans, and can distinguish color, I find it hard to believe one would be interested in an orange tent a mile away unless it smelled like food.Otherwise hunters wearing orange wouldnt be a very good idea.
That's the best post...clap clap:clap:clap:clap:clap:clap
Speakeasy TN
02-06-2011, 05:23
Wonder what hiker knockes out the poor Griz's right top canine? Bet it's in a blaze orange tent somewhere!
I got attacked by a bear. It kept running away from me but I eventually got its attention by hitting it with a rock. Then I ran at it and beat it in the face with a T-Bone on a stick. when I finally kicked it in the nards it ripped my face off.
LoneRidgeRunner
02-08-2011, 09:47
I got attacked by a bear. It kept running away from me but I eventually got its attention by hitting it with a rock. Then I ran at it and beat it in the face with a T-Bone on a stick. when I finally kicked it in the nards it ripped my face off.
Hilarious! :D:banana
Bear Cables
02-08-2011, 11:57
I am under the impression that to avoid bear confrontations - avoid bright colors, bears will travel a mile to investigate a bright tent. Avoid food smells as best as one can. They follow their nose. use a bear bell in the deep back woods... but that's my guess. my encounters with black bears are low.
I highly recommend reading up on the black bear behavior research at bear.org. They have been documenting and researching black bears for over 40 years.
canoehead
02-08-2011, 12:04
It's all fun & games till he's in front of you and your wife sniff'n, snort'n and poppin his lips at you. And all you can do is say ,,,, Whoa bear, nice bear while your backing up the trail and make yourself look big. That said education and luck are you friends.
Happy trails
Yeah, it really doesn't pay to worry about them. From the couple of encounters I've had with bears, not much happened except them briefly staring at me before running away. They're more scared of us. There are much more important things to be cautious about- such as giardia and ticks...
TallShark
02-08-2011, 13:22
^ Well I agree that you shouldn't be overly worried and let it be the only thing on your mind during your trip, that would ruin the experience. But I can also say don't be naive because my last bear encounter the bear wasn't even kind of scared of us and actually followed some other hikers so... Bottom line is don’t be paranoid but also don’t think all bears are going to just run away from humans. It's incredibly circumstantial.
SunnyWalker
02-09-2011, 23:52
I have a fear of them alright! What I mean is a respect for bears. They are a wild animal and as that unpredictable in the main. I don't go thru my hike worrying about them nor am I pre-occupied about them. I use a bear bag and ect. But never worry about them??!? No, that's why I use a bear bag, I do know they are out there and I could have an encounter that could turn out negative. Things I really think about are what has been mentioned-personal sanitation, ticks, and where am i going to sleep tonight?! (AND what am I going to eat???!?!?!??)
Wise Old Owl
02-10-2011, 00:09
My comments about bears attracted to bright colors is from a detailed study in Alaska that was featured on Animal Planet. They like to investigate bear spray after its been used.... I have done enough reading on the subject... Bears don't bother me. I don't smell like chicken.
http://www.trailquest.net/bears.html#colors
I already know that I am going to die due to a bear attack, it has been foretold, so I just don't worry about it anymore.
Every time I see a bear (well, both times I guess) I think "I bet this is the one that gets me", but so far they haven't.
TallShark
02-10-2011, 11:41
^ hahaha.... That's funny. Oh and to the previous poster about them investigating bear spray i wonder if they investigate the smell of .44 mags too?
hikerboy57
02-10-2011, 11:44
they love the smell of napalm in the am
Sickmont
02-10-2011, 11:50
I already know that I am going to die due to a bear attack, it has been foretold, so I just don't worry about it anymore.
Every time I see a bear (well, both times I guess) I think "I bet this is the one that gets me", but so far they haven't.
You ever see "Legends of the Fall"?
I did, but it was a long time ago. Is there something like that in the movie?
I think that's the value of real-world numbers. Often our ideas of risk are way off. Even if you see a bear, the odds of it killing you (http://bucktrack.blogspot.com/2011/02/bears-should-you-be-afraid.html) are about one out of a million. Other stats from that blog pos (http://bucktrack.blogspot.com/2011/02/bears-should-you-be-afraid.html)t:
About 1 out of 20,000 people is a murder in a year.
About 1 out of 200,000 bears kills a person during a year.
All those numbers are very rough, of course, but they are in the ball-park.
So why are we so scared of bears? We shouldn't be. Be smart (http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/forest_facts/safety/bearfacts.htm) and there is no need to worry.
I work beach patrol every summer. Several times a day people ask me about being bit by a shark. Its actually never happened on the northern portion of the east coast. But here is a list of things that actually kill people on the beach. Drugs, not taking drugs so they can drink, dehydration, drowning, lightning, lacrosse balls, broken glass + blood infection, military explosives washing up, jelly fish, j walking, drunk driving, motorcycles, riding a bike against traffic with head phones on, picking a fight, and NOT sharks, swimming after life guards leave, not sharks, swimming in storms, murders, and the most common way to die that the beach.....holes in the sand. Not sharks.
I work beach patrol every summer. Several times a day people ask me about being bit by a shark. Its actually never happened on the northern portion of the east coast. ... holes in the sand. Not sharks.
Wrong, don't forget the famous Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Shore_shark_attacks_of_1916
Sickmont
02-10-2011, 12:29
I did, but it was a long time ago. Is there something like that in the movie?
At the very end. Its how Brad Pitt dies. And it was foretold towards the beginning of the movie.
TallShark
02-10-2011, 12:29
^ whoah, so i need to worry about military explosives washing up when I'm at the beach and bears that like my tent color in the mountains. Lacrosse balls too?
I hiked over 3000 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. In all that time, I saw only 9 bears and 3 rattlesnakes. The other day I went for a walk in my small city. In two hours I had close calls with 7 cars. Tell me why bears are such a big scary topic again?
its the media fault, the evil media
At the very end. Its how Brad Pitt dies. And it was foretold towards the beginning of the movie.
Interesting, I'll have to watch that movie again. And tell my wife I have something in common with Brad Pitt!