Border crossing- Bear spray?

FYI. Not withstanding the picture on the can, when in danger 9 out of 10 people claim to have use ANYTHING at their disposal- even when the attacker was of the 2 legged variety.

Services for the other 1 out of 10 is to be held on Thursday! :W

Pepper spray takes a few moments to take effect. If you are sprayed, DO NOT BLINK OR RUB YOUR EYES!

If you need to remain situationally aware, hold your eyes wide open afterwards and do not blink. Your eyes will water plenty enough and blinking will only put more irritant in your eyes.

Do not scream or take big deep breaths. Suck air between gritted teeth with your lips wide like you are baring your teeth like an angry animal.

Stay calm and remember it WILL hurt and you WILL live (from the spray, can't promise the 'bear' part!)

The downside is you never know when you're going to run into a Cajun Bear. They like their food extra spicy! :D

Sea'scape wrote:
.....By the way, bears can climb trees.

AND:
Play dead in front of a Grizzly.....you might survive.
Play dead in front of a Florida Black Bear? He will kill you, drag you away and eat you!

This one will just take your pic-i-nic basket!

Old joke. When travelling in the woods you carry bear spray, and wear bells. You can tell the difference between black bears and grizzly by the scat. Black bears scat smells like pepper. Grizzly has bells in it.

I carry bear bangers and a small air horn. Never had to use either. I've bumped into black bears in the bush ten feet away. Just quietly kept walking and did nothing to startle them. They will be I thresher if they think you have food, or get between them and the cubs. If it is food, give it to them. With bear bangers, make sure it goes off between you and the bear. If it lands behind him, he will vote toward you much faster.

I do worry about indiscriminate use of bear spray. Bears have a memory, and I would hate to run into one angry because he had been sprayed.

No experience with grizzlies. I wonder if the spray would be enough to stop an angry one.

By the way, bears can climb trees.

rjsurfer wrote:
I questioned a ranger at Yellowstone why he carried bear spray and a 9mm handgun. He said the bear spray was to show the tourists they were politically and humanely correct but the 9mm was reality.

Ron W.

That's funny but true.....:B The 9mm was for the 2 legged critters.

Wow, I only hope the people I am camping around can tell the difference between a Grizzly and a Black Bear and what state they are camping in. :B

The Texan wrote:

crabbin cabin wrote:
Well I spent my entire 40+years career working in the woods - survey party in N. BC; Banff nat'l. Park as a seasonal Warden, research with Canadian Forest Service and the final 25 years chasing bugs etc. throughout Colorado. BUT - I never used any animal deterent (chemical or firearm etc) and never felt that I needed any! Learn the rules for traveling in bear /cougar etc country and use your common sense!

BIG difference between you a forest wise person and the city slicker that has no idea how to tell the difference between a brown bear, black bear and a grizzly bear. Those folks have NO interest in learning the way to travel in bear country, all they want is their own personal picture of that cute cuddly teddy bear.

Too old to be cuddly, but not yet old enough to survive, but very active. http://wildlifecenter.org/critter-corner/critter-cam-landing Choose your webcam for these wildlife hospital patients & view 8 of them at a time.

:C

crabbin cabin wrote:
Well I spent my entire 40+years career working in the woods - survey party in N. BC; Banff nat'l. Park as a seasonal Warden, research with Canadian Forest Service and the final 25 years chasing bugs etc. throughout Colorado. BUT - I never used any animal deterent (chemical or firearm etc) and never felt that I needed any! Learn the rules for traveling in bear /cougar etc country and use your common sense!

BIG difference between you a forest wise person and the city slicker that has no idea how to tell the difference between a brown bear, black bear and a grizzly bear. Those folks have NO interest in learning the way to travel in bear country, all they want is their own personal picture of that cute cuddly teddy bear.

I read up on all what you should do and what you shouldn't do provided by the Fish and Game Dept.

BUT, when you are fishing and a very large bear shows up on the other side of the canal and in seconds hits that water and is on your side...........the don't run rule goes right out the window! AND what the 'bear' will do or not do didn't follow ANY of the provided information. Trust me they are not docile, don't care about humans and they do not just walk away.

Well I spent my entire 40+years career working in the woods - survey party in N. BC; Banff nat'l. Park as a seasonal Warden, research with Canadian Forest Service and the final 25 years chasing bugs etc. throughout Colorado. BUT - I never used any animal deterent (chemical or firearm etc) and never felt that I needed any! Learn the rules for traveling in bear /cougar etc country and use your common sense!

Jim Shoe wrote:
Just get a good pair of running shoes and practice until you can outrun your traveling companion. :)

Yup, it's been proven that all you really need to do is, to be able to out run the person you are with to survive a bear or gator attack!!