I would like to add some info re:encounters with bears.Longbow 50 provided quite a bit of usefull info in his thread, but there are a few items I would like to add-things that could save your life-during a bear encounter.I live in<br>Manitoba,Canada and though I have not personaly had a bear<br>encounter of the bad kind,i have seen my share of black bears.I've learned a lot of my bear knowledge from a Alberta <br>conservation officer who has spent close to thirty years<br>documenting grizzly and black bear attacks on humans dating<br>back to the early 1900's.In regards to grizzly attacks the vast<br>majority occurred when humans came between a mother bear and her cubs,or if you suprised a grizzly within it's self-<br>imposed security-comfort zone,which can vary in distance<br>for most bears-usually a minimum50 yds.If you find yourself<br>in on of these situations,prepare yourself to be attacked.Drop<br>face down,flat on your stomach and cover your head and<br>neck with both arms-do not go into a fetal position-as that<br>exposes your stomach to the bears claws-lie flat-the bear<br>will probably try to flip you over.When he /she does this,all<br>you have to do is roll over in the direction the bear is flipping<br>you and stay flat on the ground playing dead.These encounters may feel like a long time to the victim,but in reality<br>they rarely last more than a minute or two.All the grizzly is doing is to assure itself that you are no longer a threat,and will almost always retreat.There is one exception to this rule-<br>all bears are highly unpredictable,and if the grizzly doesn't<br>stop it's attack within a few minutes and starts to bite and chew on you-it is looking at you as a meal! In this case fight<br>back with all your strength and resources,target the eyes<br>snout,genital area and if your very lucky it may stop,if not,<br>you at least know you didn't make an easy meal if that's any<br>consolation.This type of attack is extremely rare,and usually<br>involves a wounded or starving bear unable to feed itself<br>or fend off other bears for his food/territory.<br>Black bears are an entirely different story from grizzlies,when<br>it comes down to their history of attacks on humans.Far more<br>people have been attacked,or killed by black bears than all the<br>recorded history of deaths by grizzlies.There are a lot of reasons for this-the grizzly bear was almost hunted to extinction throughout the U.S. before legislation was introduced<br>to protect them.You can only see a wild grizzly in protected<br>parks in the U.S.,unless you go to Alaska where their numbers are increasing.It's the same story up here in Canada,<br>they can only be seen in the wild in certain portions of Alberta<br>and their last stronghold British Columbia.It's a sad story when<br>the flag of Califonia is decorated with the image of this beautiful bear, but the only place you might find one is in a zoo.I mean no disrespect to anybody here on this furum or to<br>any Americans,it's just a sad commentary on mankind on how we've treated Mother nature and some of her creatures.<br>The black bear population is still relatively abundant and it's <br>territory covers a vast range of America and Canada.In my home province of Manitoba there are an estimated 20 to40<br>thousand,just last year there was a world record black bear<br>killed in a collision on one of hwys.The collision didn't kill it<br>and it had to be put down by conservation officers the next<br>day.They weighed the dead carcass and it came in at about<br>840 lbs.-that's the same range of a full grown male inland<br>grizzly.<br>Due to their population and the vast territory they inhabit,<br>encounters with humans occur with some frequency.The black bear has a different personality in comparison with<br>grizzlies,by nature most species of bears are quite timid<br>and will avoid any contact with humans,and will usualy<br>turn tail and run at the first sight of us.Over the years the <br>black bear has come accustomed to humans as a source<br>of free food via many means-people feeding them from cars,<br>garbage from cottages, camp grounds, garbage dumps.hikers,etc. All types of bears are very inquisitive by<br>nature especialy when it comes to the smell of strange foods.<br>Black bears in a lot of areas have become"problem bears"<br>because they associate people as a good source of easy<br>to obtain food.Despite advances in technology and knowledge<br>such as bear resistant food containers,bear resistant garbage recepticles,methods of how to hang your food on <br>tree limbs etc.black bears still follow their noses and are<br>very intelligent at finding ways to get at your food supplies.<br>I've seen firsthand how crafty these bears have become,I've<br>seen fellow hikers hang their food on what they thought was <br>a safe tree limb and wake up to see their food was gone.I.ve <br>seen people put their coolers in their car overnight thinking<br>that it would be safe there.Come morning they discover the<br>door on their car is shredded and bent,food gone.I've even<br>heard of travel trailers that have been broken in by bears.Never underestimate the strength of a black bear and<br>his claws.It's been estimated that a healthy full grown black<br>bear has the equivalent strength of 12 grown men!When bear<br>and humans come in contact over food the bear may win the food,but almost always it will cost him his life.These are the<br>"problem bears" that have to be shot,because they can't be<br>relocated somwhere because their bad habits have become<br>ingrained.<br>If you have an encounter with a black bear,avoid eye contact<br>back up slowly in the direction you came from,talk in a firm voice towards him,stand as erect as possible,never throw <br>anything at him,as this will anger him and may trigger a<br>attack.Keep backing up firmly talking as you go,if the bear is<br>still following you,prepare yourself for an attack.If you have bear spray on you,take the safety mechanism off and prepare<br>to defend yourself.Never turn your back to any bear, grizzlies<br>included,and never,ever run-it triggers their instincts to pursue and kill.Another trait common to black or grizzly bears<br>is a bluff charge.The bear will start running directly at you at <br>full speed,snarling and huffing but will stop a yard or two away from you and retreat backwards.The bear is trying to<br>warn you -BACK OFF-your in my space,you had better heed<br>his warning and slowly back away.This takes nerves of steel<br>to stay upright when you have 150-800 lbs of muscle,teeth<br>and claws coming straight at you at 30 mph,when your own <br>instincts are telling you to run or to assume the flat face down<br>position.From a lot of research done by this man over close<br>to thirty years he has been bluff charged countless times<br>and not once been attacked! If a black bear is charging you<br>stand your ground and use your bear spray,if his intention<br>is to eat you he will run right through the spray and start to<br>maul you.You have to fight for your life against a black bear,<br>target the eyes,nose,kick the genital area,hopefully you have<br>a knife on you and use it against the bear,remember that your fighting for your life,fight with all your might!! Hopefully your<br>vigorous fight might get the bear to back off.<br>Regarding the use of bear spray,it would be a very wise idea<br>to buy two cans,and to practice with one so you will know<br>how to use it,see how far it sprays etc. Be prepared if you<br>are going into bear country<br><br>KEEP SAFE-DENNIS<br>