Hammock Hiking and Bears :eek:

[slowhike]

Finally she whispers "Is it gone?". I was confused and said "No, are you okay?". She replied "Yeah, it threw me off so I was playing dead in case it tried to attack me." BWAHAHAHAHAHA WHAT! She said she thought you were suppose to play dead so horses wouldn't attack. Attack horses!?! I love Alabama. *still laughing*

now that's a classic<GGG>!!!

[slowhike]

.
You know what'd be cool would be a pocket sized bundle that auto inflates into a 20-foot Macy's parade bear. Maybe with integrated compressed air horn. If you're threatened by a bear, just pull the string.

now there ya go LOL. that ought to work<g>.

angrysparrow i liked that second article you linked. the over all tone was that in black bear only country, it's highly unlikely that you'll run into a serious problem w/ one... especially if you follow a few guide lines.
if i'm not mistaken, the only black bear attacks in the east involved either a bear that had learned to depend on careless food handling by people (like in the "Great Smokies Nat Park") or a bear w/ an abnormal physical or mental condition.

i like to relive fears by looking at the statistics (& i need to find a source to share here). but you're far less likely to be attacked by a bear in the eastern U.S. than you are to be struck by lightening. i'm pretty sure that way more people die from bee stings each year than snake bites... much less bear attacks.

on a recent two night stay in the mount rogers area, Va., i talked to a ranger about the blacks in that area. i had herd that they were there, but have never once seen one.
he said that actually there's a healthy population of black bears there... prime habitat w/ all the blue berry's, etc, but they have a healthy fear of humans... partly because of the hunting season each year.

[slowhike]

here are more links that some of you may want to take a look at.
http://www.bear.org/Black/Articles/H...ack_Bears.html
they do indeed talk about deaths by black bears in the last decade being predatory, but you have to look at the whole picture.

"But why approximately one black bear in 600,000 becomes a killer is a mystery. None of the killers had rabies. Some had common physical problems. There is no consistent explanation."

http://www.bear.org/Black/Articles/W..._Wildlife.html
Full-blown attacks by black bears are rare. Black bears attacks are usually not at campgrounds and are usually not by black bears that are familiar with people. The campground killings that have so widely publicized have been almost exclusively by grizzly bears. Recorded killings by black bears this century total only 28 across North America. Most of these killings were unprovoked acts of predation. How likely is a black bear to be a killer? The 500,000 black bears in North America kill fewer than one person per 3 years, on the average, despite hundreds of thousands of encounters. To put this in perspective, for each death from a black bear across North America, there are approximately 17 deaths from spiders, 25 deaths from snakes, 67 deaths from dogs, 150 deaths from tornadoes, 180 deaths from bees and wasps, 374 deaths from lightning, and 90,000 homicides in the United States alone (data from the National Center for Health Statistics, 1980-1983). In the rare event of one of these attacks, the best defense is to fight with fists, feet, rocks, or anything hard. Playing dead is usually not the best action with black bears.

[RockStar]

Hey, I'd be up for a cool scar and a good story. hehe I'd rather die by bear attack than sleeping in bed at 92. Ask me again post bear attack.

[slowhike]

Hey, I'd be up for a cool scar and a good story. hehe I'd rather die by bear attack than sleeping in bed at 92. Ask me again post bear attack.

well that would be a story to tell the grand kids<g>.

[Preacha Man]

Thanks guys! I was never really worried about it, but it is good info to know and have. I know that in Western Arkansas/Eastern Oklahoma there is a good population of Blacks, but all I have ever seen is traces (prints, poo, and clawed up trees). It would be kind of cool to see one at a distance, but I have no desire to just come across one

[TDunc]

.... Then everyone would think hangers are crazy!

WAIT!!!! Are we not?

[Otterkin]

I have grown up in Black Bear county and the only attacks I have every heard about of when some one gets between a sow and her cubs and even then if you back out slowly keeping your eye on them you will be fine. I have come face to face with bears many times and the only time they have not run was when one was eating a hunters kill that had been left. With that one I just gave it a wide berth and it never took a step away from its dinner. It comes down to being aware of what around you at all time and taking a couple extra steps to keep safe. (hanging your food, bear canisters) When walking in a known bear area I do make sure that I make noise (cup smacking BP frame, bells, off key singing) at those time I really ever see them.

[BillyBob58]

most of that seems to be accurate info, but i have to question at least a couple things, like the emphasis the writer (i didn't see the writer's name) put on black bears stalking people as food. i've only herd reference to that one time & that was what our friend billybob had read in a book. but i've never herd it discussed in listening & reading from those who study bear behavior.
i'm not saying that it couldn't in some remote cases be true, but i i'd like to hear a little more about it from the experts & how often that behavior has been documented.

Tim, I just saw it again somewhere on the web at a site about bears, but darn it, I can't remember where. I started to provide the link, but I decided I had said enough on the subject for a while. It was a knowlegeable site, and it seemed to emphasize the fact of black bear being relatively more likely to stalk a human for food compared to a Griz. I remember thinking "Aha, there it is again- another bear 'expert' saying the black bear is the one more likely to stalk a human for food!".

However, it seems somewhat obvious that the most recent events in the lower 48 that I am aware of (the lady on the trail in SNP as her husband fished in the creek, the lady with her children at the swimming hole in western NC, and the 11 year old dragged out of his tent/killed in Utah last month) were all black bears in predatory mode, killing people for food.

Also, I saw at least one site claiming the black bear was UNLIKELY to attack because of cubs, at least compared to Griz.

Preacha Man, do a search- there was a recent thread on this subject.

[BillyBob58]

http://www.bear.org/Black/Articles/W..._Wildlife.html
Full-blown attacks by black bears are rare. Black bears attacks are usually not at campgrounds and are usually not by black bears that are familiar with people. The campground killings that have so widely publicized have been almost exclusively by grizzly bears. Recorded killings by black bears this century total only 28 across North America. Most of these killings were unprovoked acts of predation. ..................................In the rare event of one of these attacks, the best defense is to fight with fists, feet, rocks, or anything hard. Playing dead is usually not the best action with black bears.

I think that pretty well confirms the idea that if a black bear drags you out of your tent or sneaks behind and follows you on the trail, you are intended for dinner, and that this is relatively more likely to happen with a black than with Griz. Hence the usual advice to play dead with a Griz attack, but to fight for your life with a black bear attack. Play dead and you are dinner.

Of course, if the Griz has you on the menu, it's all the same. But apparently the majority of Griz attacks are due to surprise or rage or cubs, and maybe not so wih black bears.