4 ms·

One thing to remember with black bears, unlike grizzly bears, is that many times human attacks are actually predatory. If you play dead, the bear will start eat

One thing to remember with black bears, unlike grizzly bears, is that many times human attacks are actually predatory. If you play dead, the bear will start eating you.

blamazon 4y ago
If you make loud noise, be big and frightening, black bears tend to run off. Pocket air horn is good for this but you can also just shake your arms above your head and go 'blahfhahabfwhehe'! Grizzly bears, whole other class of animal. If you're going to hang out with grizzly bears, it's a good idea to have, at the least, adequately rated 'bear spray' and the knowledge of how to use it: https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2019-08-27/are-you-sure-you-know-how-to-use-bear-spray https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2019-08-27/are-you-sure-yo... But in terms of equipment and training, a gun is worth a tremendous amount of peace of mind. Notably, because of polar bears, it is forbidden to leave town in Svalbard without a gun.
- prottog 4y ago
  I'm a big fan of guns, but if I had to pick between a gun and a bear spray for the (exclusive) purpose of bear control during an outing, I would almost always pick the spray. Guns big enough to be effective against bears are heavy and cumbersome, and I dare say marksmanship good enough to be effective in a standoff against a bear is hard to come by for the average gunowner. Of course, in remote enough situations where you might come across a grizzly, I would have a gun on my person in any case.
  - blamazon 4y ago
    Spray also seems to me much less deleterious for the biosphere and such. Apex predators are crucial low-quantity members of food chains and it seems possible that a grizzly sprayed by humans one or more times will take the hint and avoid close human interaction. Or maybe they just learn to fight through it and we're double effed... I'm not signing up for that research program.
  - landemva 4y ago
    Shotgun and slugs, with a sling for carrying. Slugs tear through whatever is in the way. I do have the big spray canister with holster, and that setup seems finicky. Though I haven't done live practice with it.
- _8j50 4y ago
  > ... 'blahfhahabfwhehe'! I will practice that.
- 2devnull 4y ago
  I did the ‘blahfhahabfwhehe’ thing at a cougar once, and she just stared at me.
  - akiselev 4y ago
    The point is she didn’t pounce at the delicious blahfefe staring at her. :-)
classichasclass 4y ago
My last interaction with a black bear (trying to get into a trash can, naturally), I saw the bear, the bear saw me, and we both quickly went our separate ways.
- leereeves 4y ago
  Yeah, black bear attacks are rare. So rare, in fact, that Yosemite National Park has banned bear spray despite having hundreds of black bears, because no one has ever been killed or seriously injured by a bear there.
solardev 4y ago
Do you have a cite for this?
- williamscales 4y ago
  https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm
  - solardev 4y ago
    Thank you!

One thing to remember with black bears, unlike grizzly bears, is that many times human attacks are actually predatory. If you play dead, the bear will start eating you.

blamazon 4y ago

If you make loud noise, be big and frightening, black bears tend to run off. Pocket air horn is good for this but you can also just shake your arms above your head and go 'blahfhahabfwhehe'! Grizzly bears, whole other class of animal. If you're going to hang out with grizzly bears, it's a good idea to have, at the least, adequately rated 'bear spray' and the knowledge of how to use it: https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2019-08-27/are-you-sure-you-know-how-to-use-bear-spray https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2019-08-27/are-you-sure-yo... But in terms of equipment and training, a gun is worth a tremendous amount of peace of mind. Notably, because of polar bears, it is forbidden to leave town in Svalbard without a gun.

prottog 4y ago
I'm a big fan of guns, but if I had to pick between a gun and a bear spray for the (exclusive) purpose of bear control during an outing, I would almost always pick the spray. Guns big enough to be effective against bears are heavy and cumbersome, and I dare say marksmanship good enough to be effective in a standoff against a bear is hard to come by for the average gunowner. Of course, in remote enough situations where you might come across a grizzly, I would have a gun on my person in any case.
- blamazon 4y ago
  Spray also seems to me much less deleterious for the biosphere and such. Apex predators are crucial low-quantity members of food chains and it seems possible that a grizzly sprayed by humans one or more times will take the hint and avoid close human interaction. Or maybe they just learn to fight through it and we're double effed... I'm not signing up for that research program.
- landemva 4y ago
  Shotgun and slugs, with a sling for carrying. Slugs tear through whatever is in the way. I do have the big spray canister with holster, and that setup seems finicky. Though I haven't done live practice with it.
_8j50 4y ago
> ... 'blahfhahabfwhehe'! I will practice that.
2devnull 4y ago
I did the ‘blahfhahabfwhehe’ thing at a cougar once, and she just stared at me.
- akiselev 4y ago
  The point is she didn’t pounce at the delicious blahfefe staring at her. :-)

classichasclass 4y ago

My last interaction with a black bear (trying to get into a trash can, naturally), I saw the bear, the bear saw me, and we both quickly went our separate ways.

leereeves 4y ago
Yeah, black bear attacks are rare. So rare, in fact, that Yosemite National Park has banned bear spray despite having hundreds of black bears, because no one has ever been killed or seriously injured by a bear there.

solardev 4y ago

Do you have a cite for this?

williamscales 4y ago
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm
- solardev 4y ago
  Thank you!