Forum Index > Trail Talk > Bears, sometimes they're just curious.
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Bootpathguy
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PostWed Sep 16, 2020 6:16 pm 
I don't believe that guy was napping. He was too quick with the cell phone. You can see he starts taking either photos or video when he sits up. I believe he knew the bear was there when he was horizontal Followed a huge black bear bear around the neighborhood the other night. I kept about 20 to 25 foot distance between he & myself. I just wanted to see what he was up to. He could've cared less. I've jumped a handful of bears out in the forest. They had no interest in me and have always run away. I don't understand black bearanoia. https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8027010&highlight=bear+spray

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Cyclopath
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PostWed Sep 16, 2020 7:18 pm 
I took Bear (a cat) for a walk. Two older ladies went by, said he visits their building and hangs out with them. He especially likes to watch them feed the birds. lol.gif

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Chief Joseph
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PostWed Sep 16, 2020 7:28 pm 
We used to take our cats or a walk around the block in Marysville. One night we were walking them and a couple out in their front yard said one of the cats would come and visit them frequently when they were in the garage and yard. Social Butterfly..

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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Slugman
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PostWed Sep 16, 2020 7:46 pm 
I once had breakfast with a bear in Cat Basin in ONP.....

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Brushbuffalo
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PostWed Sep 16, 2020 7:57 pm 
Bootpathguy wrote:
don't understand black bearanoia.
Me either! I have seen dozens of bears in the backcountry including four situations with a sow and cubs at close range (10-20 yards). Never a problem, but always a thrill.. Hopefully cautious awareness will allow that trend to continue. Just yesterday I saw a bear doing the fall 'blueberry stuff' about 200 yards below a popular trail. I mentioned that to two hikers just starting out, emphasizing that the bear was far below the trail. They were quite concerned, as if the bear would confuse them for big juicy bluebs. I didn't notice if either hiker had bear spray.

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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graywolf
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PostWed Sep 16, 2020 8:13 pm 
Bootpathguy wrote:
I don't understand black bearanoia.
Count me in as another person who doesn't get it. I've seen more bear spray in ONP the past couple of years than the previous 50. I know I mentioned it in another post, but I witnessed a couple of hikers build a fire at Heart Lake (elevation 4744 feet). I managed to catch up to them the next day, and the reason I got for the fire was that one of them was scared of a bear that was near them (feeding on berries).

The only easy day was yesterday...
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graywolf
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PostWed Sep 16, 2020 8:24 pm 
Bootpathguy wrote:
I don't understand black bearanoia.
Count me in as another person who doesn't get it. I've seen more bear spray in ONP the past couple of years than the previous 50. I know I mentioned it in another post, but I witnessed a couple of hikers build a fire at Heart Lake (elevation 4744 feet). I managed to catch up to them the next day, and the reason I got for the fire was that one of them was scared of a bear that was near them (feeding on berries). Here's a video from a couple of weeks ago:

The only easy day was yesterday...
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RumiDude
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PostWed Sep 16, 2020 8:50 pm 
Well I don't understand bearanoia of black, griz, brown, and the polar variety. Understanding bear behavior and taking appropriate precautions is what is needed with all bears. Even black bears can be dangerous in the wrong circumstances. We should always be cautious around them. So far this year there have been two fatal black bear attacks on humans and only one by grizzly/brown bear. In the past sixty years or so human fatalities from bear attacks has been just about evenly split between black and brown bears. Rumi

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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pcg
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PostWed Sep 16, 2020 9:35 pm 
Well I totally understand bearanoia. Most people are uneducated about bear behavior and how to act around them, and what they've heard about bears is from sensation-seeking news outlets that focus on the rare bad encounter. What's so hard to understand about that? My experience, like many others here, has been just the opposite. I see bears, both black and brown, every year. Well... not brown bears this year 'cause I can't get into BC. I spend a lot of time off trail in OR and WA and encounter them occasionally. Black bears in OR and WA are, for the most part, completely harmless. I've never had a bad experience, and don't expect to, but I know some have occurred on rare occasion. If they're in ONP or NCNP they ignore you, as everyone knows. Non-park bears skedaddle as soon as they sight you. I surprised one just outside of Mt. Baker Wilderness a couple weeks ago who basically flung himself off a cliff (steep forested slope) to get away from me. I do carry bear spray when in Canada, for both black and brown bears. Black bears in Canada and Alaska are more dangerous than they are here, for what reason I don't know. I never carry it for bears in OR or WA. I do for cougars if I'm solo at dawn/dusk. With the exception of habituated bears who congregate around BC rivers in the fall to feed on salmon, every grizzly bear I've surprised at close range has bolted and disappeared in seconds. I think bears in parks are more dangerous because they have been habituated to humans and have little fear. Bear spray is almost a miracle defense these days, and so it's natural for people who don't understand bears to want to carry it. To feel comfortable around bears (and to be honest, having been charged once, I'm never completely comfortable around grizzlies) you need to learn bear habits and behavior so you can read bear body language and know how to present the proper body language back, and to learn to identify defensive aggressive behavior vs. predatory behavior, and the proper response. Most people don't have this knowledge, or even know that they can learn this. All they have is fear based on a skewed perception of bears that's fed to the public by the media. So I totally get why most people are afraid of bears.

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Malachai Constant
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PostWed Sep 16, 2020 9:59 pm 
I believe the reason Black bears in Canada and Alaska are more dangerous Is because it is a far less fruitful ecosystem. This leads to predatory attacks. I lived in Ontario for several years and predatory attacks while not common Seemed to occur every year. It gets much colder there than in the lower 48 in winter. Often reaching -20C for months at a time in winter. Permanent snow a couple feet deep lasts for months only melting in May at near sea level. There is little accessible food for bears. I remember a bear dragging a guy out of an outhouse while I was there. There were lone hikers killed by black bears in Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba. We also had wolves but they did not seem to eat anyone.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Pyrites
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PostWed Sep 16, 2020 11:08 pm 
Are there regional differences in the amount of grizzly bear genes in black bears?

Keep Calm and Carry On? Heck No. Stay Excited and Get Outside!
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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostWed Sep 16, 2020 11:15 pm 
Pyrites wrote:
Are there regional differences in the amount of grizzly bear genes in black bears?
I've actually heard of brown bear/polar bear hybrids, but not brown bear/black bear.

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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostWed Sep 16, 2020 11:18 pm 
Okay, that made me curious. Apparently any of the Ursus family potentially can interbreed. This has occurred almost exclusively in captivity, but theoretically could happen in the wild. This includes, polar, brown and black bears.

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Brushbuffalo
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PostThu Sep 17, 2020 6:31 am 
pcg wrote:
Most people don't have this knowledge, or even know that they can learn this. All they have is fear based on a skewed perception of bears that's fed to the public by the media. So I totally get why most people are afraid of bears
That is an excellent explanation, pcg. And I agree. It is largely an irrational fear, and like most fears of the unknown, bear fear can be lessened to just healthy respect with accurate knowledge. But then there are irrational people who do the bears no good, in his case brown bears. Bear aficionados suspect to whom I refer.

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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coldrain108
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coldrain108
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PostThu Sep 17, 2020 8:49 am 
pcg wrote:
I think bears in parks are more dangerous because they have been habituated to humans and have little fear.
3 or 4 times in the last couple of seasons of backpacking in the Olympic Park I've waved or clapped at a bear that was wandering towards me, w/o seeing me or noticing my presence. Once I got their attention they ran like the devil was after them. One crossed a huge scree field to get away from me.
Others just ignored me.
One stopped to get a drink..
Using a bear canister removed about 99.8% of my bear concerns. I have noticed that since they started requiring bear cans on the High Divide that the number of camp scavenger critters has decreased dramatically. Used to be that some skitter critter would be jumping on my tent all night long, that hasn't happened in a number of years now.

Since I have no expectations of forgiveness, I don't do it in the first place. That loop hole needs to be closed to everyone.
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