There have been increased black bear attacks on humans in British columbia lower main land. A mountain biker recently was killed by a black bear that was searching for food. The human was convenient food source.

Should a lone wilderness traveller or biker carry 7 inch full tang knife as defensive weapon? guns aren't permited in Canadian parks.

Aggh... not another bear attack thread! (just kidding)

I think I'd rather have the pepper spray if I couldn't have a long gun or shotgun. Might as well take a knife, too. But above all that, proper bear awareness and knowledge. Out in the wild we aren't always on the top of the food chain.

Oh, and a bear bell to let the bear know you are for dinner. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Good luck defending yourself from a bear with a knife. Dan'l Boone MIGHT have done it, but I think that's more myth than reality.

Troy

So, essentially you're wearing a dinner bell?

After surveying in the Pacific Northwest woods for 10 years, I was more afraid of the crazy hunters than the bears. If we were in bear country, we made noise.... I never had any problems (except a bear once stole and ate our lunches out of our rig).

It seems that black bears in Canada develop conoisour taste for human instead of deer meat. The bear chased after the biker for long distance before the biker ran out of energy. The bear then maul him for long period. I copied the news update on this story here.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Content...epath=News/News

The biker was wearing headphone when the bear attack him. He was not aware of his surrounding while in the woods. The lesson from this incident is that one must be vigilant when travelling alone in the woods. hikers & bikers shouldn't be listening to music on head phone because it distract one's attention from potential danger.

Agreed. Get the spray, at least you have a chance. Only time I've ever heard of anyone going up against a bear with a knife was in the movies (Legends of the Fall, IIRC).

Interesting story here.

I'm proud to be one of them! :-) The Quebecers, that is. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Sounds like we had a couple of things go wrong here. What I'm about to say assumes that theory the animal had a "taste for human" is true:

-Lack of situational awareness. It isn't just for down town.
-Depending on what he was listening to, it might have had frequencies that ticked off the bear. I know I'd like to go ursine on some people over thier music.
-He tried to run. A black bear can keep up with a horse for quite a while. All pedaling did was make him more annoyed. If you can MOVE, and I mean 30, 40mph in the terrain you are in and keep it up, fine. Otherwise, you're just building up his appetite.

Not much you can do in this case. Make yourself as big and as scary as you can, and when that doesn't work, fight like your life depends on it. Becuase it does. Bear spray gives you a buffer, if the wind and rain are with you. A big stick, unless you know some really spiffy fencing or kendo moves, won't do much. And a big knife will put you on equal footing in the cutlery department, but he knows how to use his. Using a knife on an unsuspecting human is hard enough, using it against something like a bear takes skill. And that's just to remember you have it on your belt.

All that said, I doubt strongly that the bear had a "taste for human". If it did, all the other hikers would have found was bear poop and what used to be a bike. If it happens a number of times in the same general area, yeah, sure, I'll go for it, but animals don't generally have a hankering for the other, other white meat unless they've learned we taste good and really don't fight back very well. That he lived to talk about it tells me he was lucky and the bear didn't want him dead.

Becuase it was small, and acting irregularly, I hope they start this fellow on rabies shots. A rabid bear is something I'd call pretty far up on my list of contenders for "worst case scenario", and it would explain a bear attacking, staying near an aborted attack site, and being underweight.

yeah, this bear seem like a problem bear. It headed straight to human habitation from the mountains. The first sight of tasty meal was a juicy fat human. there wasn't a deer in nearby.
I think a 6'' inch blade full tang millitary version might be much better than pocket knife. The knife is last resort of course. All literature suggest that human stand better chance of survival if he fights off a black bear. There are plenty of actual incidents where people fought back black bear successfully. However, one shouldn't fight back a grizzly because it will kill a person faster than black bear. By playing dead with grizzly , the victim has better chance of survival than with black bear. Grizzly tends to feed on mostly on salmon, dead carcasses, berries. Grizzly tend to loose interest in victim quickly if he plays dead. One should never run away from grizzly at all. It automatically identify the victim as prey. Black bear doesn't loose interest of its victim. It will continue to feed on it.