26 May 2011
Man stalked by bear
One interesting comment at YouTube: "You go downhill because bears have a tough time going down hills. They can't distribute their weight fast enough so they go slowly. Never go up a hill because they have all that power in their hind legs, if you have to do exactly what this guy did."*
Although I bet this guy went downhill because that's where his camp (?car) was.
*Myth. See comment by JDJarvis.
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The guy in the video acted wisely. running too soon too fast could trigger an attack.
ReplyDeleteThe whole business about "bears can't run downhill" is a myth.
http://www.yellowstonebearworld.com/myth-4-bears-cant-run-downhill
Bears can run over 35 miles an hour up or down a hill, people can't.
Thanks, JD. I added a "myth" note rather than deleting the text, for better education of readers.
ReplyDeleteActually, I think the guy should have stood his ground and make himself look as big as possible, based on what I've read about bear encounters. You can't outrun a bear on any terrain. You're unlikely to escape by climbing a tree either. The bear looks like a small grizzly, and I'd be hiking with bear spray in grizz country.
ReplyDeleteHiking with another person or group greatly reduces your risk, and not just because the other people are slower than you are ;-)
mmm, bear spray. you know what they say about identifying bear scat? Black bear has berry seeds in it, and grizz smells of pepper and is full of bear bells...
ReplyDeleteWind direction all critical too...nothing like seasoning yourself.
Standing your ground and being large is good for cats and coyotes, but I don't think I'd try it with a grizz.
I'm often amused by sentiments of trepidation with regard to the Australian continent because of our dangerous wildlife.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is true that we have the most venomously dangerous snakes, spiders, fish, jellyfish, octopuses, snails (cone snail), and even mammals (platypus) in the world, as well as the most deadly bird (cassowary) anywhere to be found, i would without a doubt prefer to be on my own in the wild ANYWHERE on this continent than on any part of any other continent in the world. Even crocodiles are easy to avoid.
From my home in southern Sydney, I can walk 5 minutes and find blue-ringed octopuses, brown snakes, funnel-web spiders, stone fish and probably several other species capable of inserting lethal venom into my body... but really, vulnerability lies only in ignorance.
Knowledge is power; it is easy to avoid death when you know how to avoid the fangs, spines, tentacles, beaks, barbs and spurs of anything liable to kill the unwary traveller. At least on my continent, there aren't any land predators liable to hunt me down and eat me, potentially regardless of my knowledge of the area i happen to be exploring. Even dingos are just wild dogs.
Grizzly bears, black bears, polar bears, wolves, mountain lions??? Good lord... You can keep your great outdoors, and i will be glad to keep mine =D
Jim, you will keep the drop-bears...?
ReplyDeleteI watched a documentary a few years back about bear attacks. They had a few seconds of video of a black bear hunting a man. You could see in the bear's eye exactly what its intention was. It meant to kill. The man spent I think something like 45 minutes evading this bear before finally being rescued by boat. He would go into the water to escape the bear, the bear would come into the water after him, he'd get out of the water, and it would get out of the water, back and forth until the guy was exhausted. Finally someone came by in a boat and rescued him. I found out in this doc that bears will on occasion "hunt" man for food, which was a new discovery to the scientific world. It was previously thought that they only attacked in defense or out of fear. Granted the majority of attacks are for those very reasons, but apparently under rare circumstances a bear (usually a male up fattening in the weeks prior to hibernation) has been known to hunt, kill and eat people. The bear in this video seems to be really testing his boundaries, seeing what the guy's weaknesses are and whether or not he ought to make a go for it.
ReplyDeleteStan: Jim, you will keep the drop-bears...?
ReplyDeleteHahah, how dare you spill our national secret on such an internationally accessible medium =P
so is anyone wondering what happened to this guy?!?!
ReplyDeleteWhat I want to know is why he was taping this when the bear obviously was a threat. I thought how stupid he was to try to capture this on tape when he should have been paying more attention to his surroundings, his footing, and how best to protect himself. I think he should be up for a Darwin award.
ReplyDeleteI think I would have just filled my shorts! Thats way too close for comfort.
ReplyDeleteI think he should have dropped his ball cap, or a water bottle, so the bear gets something to investigate/tear apart. Then keep backing away.
ReplyDeletewhat about hitting him on the nose with the big stick?
ReplyDeleteAnon, you can go hiking with me any time. I'll let you wield the stick...
ReplyDeleteI'd always been told to make noise, stand your ground, and fight back if threatened by a cougar, black bear, or anything else smaller than a grizzly. For grizzlies, curl up in the fetal position and play dead. Supposedly they won't scavenge, and aren't too bright about the fine points of life vs. death, so they'll check you out, decide you're already decaying, and leave you alone.
ReplyDeleteI won't vouch for the truth of that. It may be the park service's way of saying "If a grizzly decides it wants you, you're humped, so just stay still and it'll be over quicker."