On the news: bear attack

RoyB wrote:
Having a couple of HD WASP SPRAY cans just inside the trailer door would have been a great defense in this case if you was brave enough to open the doors or windows.

That would be a very scary ordeal for most of us...

Roy Ken

You're right, that would be a terrifying situation.

I used to advocate the use of wasp spray, but now prefer to carry bear spray. Wasp spray can cause permanent damage, and there could be legal consequences, much like using a gun. Of course there are situations where the legalities of the situation are not important.

I was camping down the road from a hybrid TT a couple weeks ago in upstate NY. A black bear found the hybrid easy to open from the nylon bed end while the couple and their two kids were in it. Probably smelled food. They packed up and left.

Next night he ripped apart a screen house near me and then came over and rubbed his back on my awning support. He had nudged my door a couple of times. That's what woke me up. As I was leaving a couple days later DEC was there discussing plans to relocate him with the park staff. Been going there every year for 20 years and this was the first bear I've seen one in the campground.

I carry Bear Spray - mostly for the "human" aspect of being broken-into.... but they say bears have an acute sense of smell, and maybe this one knew where the food was stashed?

I don't believe a bear will stalk and kill for no reason. Bears are motivated by three things, food, self preservation, and protection of their young. Because of stupid human behavior, bears learn to associate humans with food.

I have been around bears many times in campgrounds and in the wild and have never felt in danger. For the most part bears want to avoid humans unless they have learned the food/human association.

On the other hand I have had many close calls with family pets that "Fido would never harm anyone". While on the trail earlier this year in PA I came very close to shooting a dog that was off leash and approaching me very aggressively. When the owner finally caught up to and restrained the dog there wasn't even an apology. The girl had no idea how close her dog came to getting shot.

In another instance on a trail near home an off leash dog charged me three times but the owner did nothing but call the dog back. The owner never did leash the dog. I considered confronting the owner but thought better of it, you can't change stupid.

Family pets attack, maim, and kill more people every year than wild animals.

1. Do yourself and your pet a favor, please keep them on a leash and under your control.
2. Don't teach wild animals to associate humans with food. Keep your campsite clean, carry out all waste, and minimize odors.

I lived in my uncles farm in Sweden and he had a big bull, and had the girls, cousins and my sister forbiden to go in the barn or the pen when they where menstruating, the bull would really get exited and trashed about wanting to get out, nature is nature and we have to be aware of what can happen while in the wild, we are ANIMALS after all.

Think before you condem an amimal that is only doing what nature and instinckt tells it to do.

navegator

navegator wrote:
I did not know that there where attacks by bears yust for the kill, I do know that some female bears will defend a territory when in heat specially if there is a woman during her period, remember that bears can smell a lot better than us, there was an incident in Sweden when one of the girls in the camping party was menstruating and was the only one "ATTACKED" the other girls in the tent where not touched, this kid came close to death but lived, I was part of the rescue effort to helivac her out of the woods.

navegator

The whole issue of menstruation and wilderness camping were part of the lessons taught to us. People usually tend to laugh or have a few questionable comments and jokes about the topic.

I did not know that there where attacks by bears yust for the kill, I do know that some female bears will defend a territory when in heat specially if there is a woman during her period, remember that bears can smell a lot better than us, there was an incident in Sweden when one of the girls in the camping party was menstruating and was the only one "ATTACKED" the other girls in the tent where not touched, this kid came close to death but lived, I was part of the rescue effort to helivac her out of the woods.

navegator

I have to agree with down home, animals are sort of like people. Most are not belligerent unless you appear to be a threat to them somehow. But there are also exceptions that are more malicious.. It reminds me a little of the old belief that the man eating cats of Africa and India were old, infirm, or injured animals that couldn’t hunt their normal game. That’s long since been proven false by the professional hunters that were hired to eliminate them.

In a lifetime of wandering the mountains I’ve never been attacked. I was trailed by a bear once while deer hunting but I think he was just curious. And I once had a lion track alongside me in the brush for some distance periodically screaming. I’m not sure what his motive was but I’m more wary of cats than bear, they’re more stealthy and faster and there are a lot of them in AZ.

I know of one fellow yanked out of his tent by a bear. He was sort of asking for it, though, he cleaned a bunch of fish and didn’t clean up well or change clothes and the bear probably though thought he’d stumbled over the biggest fish he ever saw. His friend saved his butt with a 357.

And a friend and his wife were scouting for deer and he stopped the truck well short of a fence and walked up to open the gate. His wife glanced out to the left and a little ahead and saw a lion crouched in the brush. Being a cat person she recognized the body language of a cat preparing to jump and she hopped in the driver’s seat and practically ran my friend down gunning the truck up between him and the cat. He was lucky she was with him.

About 2 months ago my youngest granddaughter was visiting and wanted to go camping and spot a lion or bear. Good luck with that.:D In the process we ran across a guy living in a cabin in a very remote area along the Blue River. He had some black and tans and puppies he used for lion hunting and while the DW and GD played with the puppies we talked about hunting. He told me if you want bear go up adjacent to the Apache Reservation which is primitive country. He had lived in a cabin near there and said he kept a 30/30 in his living room and shot at least one and sometimes two bears a year that were coming through his window. In that case I suspect they weren’t rogue bears but just smelled food in the cabin.

So I think wandering around the wilds thinking animals won’t bother you if you don’t bother them is sort of naïve at best; you’re counting on not running into that exception. Incidents like described are uncommon but they do happen and one should at least have a plan how they’ll deal with the situation.

toedtoes wrote:
The report says there was a bear hunt going on nearby. Maybe the bear was just trying to escape those crazy people trying to shoot it...

I know the need for bear hunts. What bothers me about them is the fact that some hunters put out bait pails. These bait pails consist of human food. We then wonder why bears are attracted to human food at Camp sites, garbage landfills etc. I know it is not only hunters that add to the issue it is also irresponsible people who do not store food, bird feed, garbage etc.

westend wrote:

loulou57 wrote:

westend wrote:

loulou57 wrote:

navegator wrote:
Bears only "attack" if they are startled, cornered or have cubs, this bear probablly smelled food in the RV or some IDIOT fed it some food from a trailer door and this one was looking for food.

With all the fires that have destroyed so much food for all the animals it does not surprice me one bit if these animals are going hungry.

I am very happy that only the trailer is damaged and no one else, the kids must have been terrified.

navegator

l

I am sorry but Bears do not only attack for the reasons suggested. Bears do stalk humans and do kill just to kill.

Do you have some reference to this statement?

Actually yes... A Dr from our area was stalked and killed by a bear at a place we frequent. Look online...woman killed by bear near Chapleau Ontario.
We knew the couple, we were there. The bear had been following them. The husband noticed every time they came ashore the same bear showed up shortly after. I won't get into details that were not made public but this bear did not kill her for food. There was no way she would have been revived by the Dr's. That came upon them. This has happened more times than this incident. Not every case hits the news.

I guess we have a difference as to the definition of "do kill just to kill". "Stalking" and an unreasonable urge just to kill something is probably not a reason for any wild animal attack. It is usually caused by territorial, predatory, or defensive reasons. Yes, a bear will follow a person if it thinks there is an invasion of it's territory and will attack but I wouldn't label this as an uncontrolled urge just to kill a human. As was posted, wild animals have a different thought process about keeping us out of their way, even if not for a meal.

This bear had followed them for quite a distance, not only a mile or so. It was concluded that the bear attacked and killed her for as we humans would say if the tables were turned "sport". As you say, we don't know how animals think. Some animals kill for fun. Think of a dog chasing a rabbit, he doesn't want to eat it, just catch it, play with it and kill it.

We really have to respect and expect anything from wild animals.