six inch claws
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Pretty much. The hunter who unknowingly gets between a bear and its’ kill…the hiker who gets between a sow and her cubs…most people who have been attacked and lived to tell about it say it happened very suddenly, with little if any warning. In my 20’s I got a job working in the Yukon and Alaska in some of the most prime grizzly habitat there is. My boss recommended I read Stephen Herrero’s ‘Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance’ before coming up. I like to think of myself a pretty rational person, not given to flights of fancy or unreasonable fears or phobias. For the life of me I couldn’t detect a pattern or lesson in the book. It just scared the living shit out of me. I think a more appropriate title would be ‘Horrific True Accounts of Bear Maulings: The Book That Will Destroy All Your Preconceived Notions and Awaken a Deep Visceral Fear in You’. Now that I mention it, that book should get a mention in that other thread about books that fucked people up…
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“You can’t fix stupid.”
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Is it immoral that I was rooting for the bear?
Like, I just thought nature could get a break for once.
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I’d like to know more. What kind of work? Did you have the luxury of bear guards? Did you carry bear spray, and/or a gun? Did you wear bear bells, and sing in a low, steady voice all day every day?
Bear avoidance and self-defense is a big topic on some of the other forums I visit. I’ve done a decent amount of backpacking in black bear country, but I take all the precautions and have only ever seen a black bear from my car or at a huge distance. My desire to see a black bear when I’m on foot in the wild is perfectly balanced against my desire not to. I would like to have seen a grizzly in the wild. Like, as an experience I have already successfully concluded. But I will take steps to avoid having that experience. I would only want to see a polar bear from the air or one of those fortified polar bear buses they have in Churchill.
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I was working as a raft guide. All guides carried bear spray, as did some of the clients if they chose to…no bells they become super irritating very quickly. We carried one shotgun per trip, unloaded, in a waterproof dry bag, stowed with all the other gear and never on our persons. So maybe a deterrent around camp. Maybe, if you didn’t accidentally shoot someone when the shit hit the fan. People were encouraged not to stray far from camp or go off solo ever, even to the pooper. We would see bears every trip, but keep in mind we were always in a large group, and usually floating, which is the best way to see bears safely IMO. One trip we saw 18 bears in one week! We would often have a bear biologist along so I learned a lot about grizzly behaviour from them. I have the utmost respect for someone who lives all summer in grizzly habitat in a tent surrounded only by electric wire! In the parts of rural B.C. that I have lived black bears are so common you can get pretty complacent about them, which is probably unwise I suppose; I have seen so many I just don’t worry about them at all. I do worry about grizzlies however, yet I won’t let that fear keep me from the mountains. When I am hiking in known grizzly habitat, I carry at least one bear spray canister handy on my belt, often a second in the top pocket of my pack, along with a small marine airhorn. I stopped carrying bear bangers long ago when I discovered they are often duds, can start forest fires, and if improperly deployed can actually chase a bear toward you. When things look really bear-y (dense brush, bear tunnels, fresh sign, berries or other food sources, tree markings or diggings etc.) yes I make constant noise, modulating and whooping loudly in different pitches. I don’t want to see bears up close nor take their picture thank you very much. And I’m right there with you on the polar bears.
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When a dumb animal meets a mother bear…
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It’s the adventurer’s responsibility to be aware of their surroundings. That might take ten minutes of reading ahead of time. I’m positive the ranger stations etc they had to pass to get there has signs posted warning of bears and to avoid contact.
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I’ve never been in bear country with more firepower than an axe handle. And that was really for cougars. From my experience in the rockies and BC, Black bears generally leave you alone as long as you make noise and properly handle all your smellables.
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Now you are a big girl arn’t you! 
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Agreed. That’s been my overall experience as well, grizzlies included. The only times I’ve come close to having any issues was with bears that were clearly already food conditioned. For instance, I’ve had to abandon camps when bears keep hanging around, despite attempts at hazing them. Inconvenient but not life-threatening.
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Au contraire; this chap being described as a “Gentleman” is entirely consistent with Boing Boing editorial policy.
It’s sometimes interchangeable with “Florida Man”, but in my view this use of “gentleman” is an elegant choice from a more civilized age.
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Right? When I hike/camp in bear country in Western Maryland (also home of rattle snakes and other critters) I am like constantly paranoid about coming up on a black bear Momma and somehow getting between her and her cubs. It’s basically the one factoid I know about bears and how to interact with them (other than tie up your food and waste).
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That video is absolutely worth watching through the end 
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I have been leapt over by bear cubs and their mama. It was a bowel-loosening experience. Don’t try this at home, kids.
Meanwhile, I haul trash to the road 1/2 hour before the garbage truck is due, to give our neighborhood bears a break. A splash of bleach keeps them back a bit, too. Pumas are a tougher deal.
Was the “dumbass” comment being lobbed at the person holding the camera vertically?
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If that’s the Smokies then it happens all the time. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. People think they are cute, but black bears love to pull down humans and eat them.
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Bears like deer corn.
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