what to do when you encounter a grizzly bear
(CNN) — You're out for a hike on a glorious fall twenty-four hours. Of a sudden, yous spot a deport. And the behave has spotted you, too. Would y'all know what to do next?
Beth Pratt sure would.
She was once on the Old Gardiner Road Trail in Yellowstone National Park, enjoying her run in wild nature. Her reverie came to an end when she came upon a grizzly bear eating flowers.
"I stopped. Information technology stood on its hind legs and looked at me. I knew that wasn't a threatening gesture," she told CNN Travel. "I'grand not kidding, information technology waved its paw at me every bit if to say, 'just keep your way,' and went back to eating."
"And I walked slowly away and put some distance between us, and the run across ended fine."
When it comes to dealing with bears, Pratt does have a matter or two on well-nigh all the residue of us, though.
She is the California regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation, a job she'due south had for more than than 10 years. She likewise worked in Yellowstone for several years -- and once saw 9 grizzlies in one twenty-four hours there.
She's the writer of "When Mountain Lions are Neighbors," which addresses how people tin co-be with wildlife in California. And there'south a chapter just on bears.
Finally, she lives on the border of Yosemite National Park, and bears will pass through her k, including this one seen in the footage in a higher place in tardily September.
You can hear the enthusiasm in Pratt'due south vocalisation as she shares her behave bona fides and advice to make sure comport/homo encounters are delightful, not dangerous.
"A wild bear is a cute sight to see. It's incredible to see them in the wild. I never had a bad experience with bears. What I effort to go people to feel is respect, non fearfulness, for bears. The animate being usually wants to avoid the encounters."
Bears in the news
Bear attacks are rare, Pratt and US National Park Service websites point out, merely they practice happen.
Before this month in Northward Carolina, a couple's unleashed dog attracted unwanted attending from a black bear equally they were picnicking on the Blue Ridge Parkway. A few days agone, a hunter was attacked in Wyoming past a female grizzly, who was with her cubs.
In both cases, the people survived the attacks. Just in the European state of Slovakia, a human died later being attacked by a brown carry in June.
All illustrate the point that rare doesn't equal never.
Feasts for beasts
An adult grizzly walks through a campground and picnic area in Lake Louise, which is in Alberta, Canada. Make sure your food is never a temptation in bear country.
George Rose/Getty Images
This is a good time of year to os up on the carry facts and safety because many bears are now in a stage known as hyperphagia, Pratt said. "It'southward a catamenia in the fall where bears are eating anything and everything to fatten up for hibernation."
She noted mountain lions are comparatively picky eaters. Non bears.
"They eat everything: Ants. Roadkill. Flowers. Nuts. And unfortunately, human food that's non secured. Our food is very attractive to them; it's easy calories."
"If more people are using public lands and more people are in the mix, there's more potential for encounters and disharmonize. Information technology does concern me a niggling scrap," Pratt said.
The key is being prepared -- and that's where Pratt and others in the know come in.
First rule of 'acquit fight club': Don't fight
The best strategy is to never get in harm's way by enticing or provoking a wild bear. Trying to give a bear food or approaching cute cubs are particularly terrible means to starting time an run into. That'due south but looking for problem.
The US National Park Service site points out each bear and each run into is different, only there are general guidelines useful in well-nigh situations.
Starting time of all, keep your distance if you happen upon a bear. Don't approach it, and give it plenty of room to walk abroad from you. Yellowstone tells you to stay at least 100 yards (300 feet or 91 meters) away; Shenandoah National Park in Virginia suggests 200 feet (61 meters) for its blackness bears.
Y'all can run afoul of the law besides as the bears if you go too close. Just this week, a woman was given four days in federal custody and fines for staying too shut to a grizzly acquit and her cubs at Yellowstone.
A grizzly comport named "399" walks with her four cubs exterior Jackson, Wyoming, in June 2020. The mother inhabits Grand Teton National Park and Bridger-Teton National Forest. A wise hiker will never go betwixt 399 and her cubs.
George Frey/Getty Images
Other tips:
-- Talk calmly to yourself in low tones to identify yourself equally human being.
-- Walk with a group (we're smellier and noisier in packs) and stay on designated trails.
-- If y'all have a pocket-size child or dog, pick it up.
-- Don't put yourself between cubs and their mother.
Pratt said don't exist alarmed if a comport stands on its hind legs; information technology's not considered an aggressive move.
Almost all encounters are peaceful, Pratt said. Many times, people never knew they were even close to a bear, as in this YouTube video that shows two people emerging from a basement oblivious to a nearby conduct.
What if a bear starts coming at you anyway?
This dark-brown deport was roaming in the Bavarian Wood in Neuschonau, Frg. If bear starts running toward you, it's of import to stand your ground. Bolting abroad is the wrong motility.
Ingo Geriach/Barcroft Media/Getty Images
If a bear starts making assertive moves in your direction, you accept important decisions to make -- and fast.
Outset thing is: Stand your ground with bears.
With either grizzlies (a subspecies of brown bears) or blackness bears, "please don't run. Bears tin can outrun anybody," Pratt said. "Don't climb a tree either. They can also climb trees better than y'all."
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Sectionalization of Fish and Wildlife besides has some tips:
-- Make loud noises by yelling, banging pots and pans or using an airhorn to scare bears abroad.
-- Make yourself wait equally large as possible by waving your artillery.
Pratt said you tin can ordinarily intimidate or barefaced your way out of sticky bear situations, depending on the deport species and the situation.
Merely what if a conduct is virtually to attack?
You lot're at present in the rarest of situations -- y'all've attracted a bear'due south attention. It didn't movement off. Information technology's started coming at you aggressively and fast. You call back you're about to be attacked. What'south next?
One very crucial thing is to make a quick ID of the kind of bear, because your strategy is going to be different.
Study this face. This is a black bear face. If you're being attacked by a black bear, don't play dead. Fight dorsum.
Friso Gentsch/film brotherhood/dpa/Getty Images
If it'due south a black deport, the NPS and Pratt have a articulate bulletin: Do non run. Exercise not play expressionless.
"You lot want to stand your basis with black bears. Look as intimidating as possible," Pratt said. "Throw things not at it but near it. Brand that black behave intimidated past you. Let it know you are a big person. Pick something up; yell at it. If it attacks, fight dorsum -- aim for the face."
Information technology's a unlike situation with grizzlies
If you're dealing with a grizzly that won't back off and an attack is imminent, you're advised to practise the opposite. You should play dead.
"Human activity every bit unthreatening as possible with a grizzly. Play expressionless with a grizzly if it starts to attack," Pratt said. "Tuck and cover. Get into a fetal position. Wrap your hands effectually your neck. Lay on your stomach. Once you exercise that, 99 percent of the time the grizzly will movement on."
NPS elaborates: "Remain however until the bear leaves the area. Fighting back usually increases the intensity of such attacks. However, if the attack persists, fight dorsum vigorously."
Fighting back a grizzly bear is the last resort -- "your Hail Mary pass" equally Pratt called it -- when all other options are out.
An exception to this rule: If you're camping in a tent and are attacked, that acquit probable sees you as nutrient. NPS and Pratt say this is a fourth dimension to fight.
How do you tell a blackness acquit from a grizzly?
First off, know your area and read up on the bears there.
In N America, grizzlies take a much more limited range than black bears do. In the Lower 48, they are in Washington, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. So in Alaska, too. They also cover big parts of western Canada.
Blackness bears have more territory. They tin can be institute in every bit many as 40 US states, much of Canada and even parts of northern Mexico, the National Wildlife Federation says.
So say you're in Quebec, the Appalachians, the Ozarks, California or even parts of Florida, that's going to exist a black deport. But if you're in Yellowstone or Glacier National Park, for instance, that could be a blackness bear or a grizzly. That's when it'due south crucial to know how to make a quick visual ID.
You can't go past the color of the fur. Black bears tin be black, brown, cinnamon, blond, blueish-grayness or white, according to Carry.org.
That'south a grizzly on the left. See the hump? That'due south i way to tell a difference between information technology and a black behave, which doesn't sport the hump backside the cervix.
Getty Images
One of the all-time ways to tell the divergence, Pratt said, is to look for a hump at the shoulders. Grizzlies have them. Black bears don't.
She also said the face shapes are different. "Black bear faces expect a little more cuddly to me, a footling rounder, with a direct olfactory organ. A grizzly bear face up looks more like a wild predator and has a dished shape."
Bear spray and weapons
Some people like to acquit bear spray and/or a weapon with them when venturing into bear country.
Pratt is an advocate of the sometime and says exist sure to practice using it first earlier going into the wild. NPS has a helpful video and tips on using spray to ward off bears.
She's more cautious about bringing firearms with you, specially if y'all're inexperienced. "Taking a grizzly out with one shot would be tough. You need to be very experienced with a gun to increase your risk of safety."
A Brigham Young University study in 2008 found spray more constructive than a firearm. And spray doesn't permanently impairment a carry.
Some people similar to carry conduct bells on their hikes, hoping the noise will ward off the animals. But the park service says that "Yelling, clapping and talking are more constructive ways of alerting a bear to your presence."
What campers demand to know
If you're taking your vehicle for an overnight camping trip, try not to store food in information technology.
George Rose/Getty Images
If you're out camping overnight, you have extra considerations to take.
Kyle Patterson, direction specialist and public diplomacy officer at Rocky Mount National Park, emailed CNN Travel some means to go on hungry bears away.
Patterson brash using a food storage locker if provided in campgrounds and picnic areas. Also, "avoid storing nutrient and coolers in your vehicle. If y'all must, store nutrient in airtight containers in the trunk or out of sight. Close vehicle windows completely."
Other tips and cautions:
-- Don't store food in tents or popular-up campers in campgrounds or in vehicles at trailheads.
-- Don't leave food, coolers and dirty cookware left unattended. Park rangers may confiscate them and cite y'all.
-- Go rid of garbage in bear-resistant dumpsters and trash cans.
Man-fed bears ordinarily end up every bit chronic problems and need to be removed, Patterson said. "A fed bear is a dead carry."
The ball is in our court
Pratt emphasized it's up to humans to be responsible to these creatures.
"The bears are just being bears. We are fashion 1000ore of a threat to them. Bear attacks are so rare. And fatalities are even rarer," she said.
"The bears' lives are more at threat than ours in encounters. I desire people to have magical, wonderful experiences in the wild. I want people to feel OK about having these encounters."
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/bear-encounters-prevent-attacks-wellness/index.html
0 Response to "what to do when you encounter a grizzly bear"
Post a Comment