Bear Safety Tips
To Prevent Wilderness Attacks
When hiking, hunting or just passing through bear country, it is always best to
keep a generous portion of caution right along side of your can of bear pepper spray for the chance encounter of these dangerous creatures. Knowing how to spot bear
habitat and the signs of recent bear activity can also provide a better chance
of avoiding an unexpected encounter.
Obviously, the best deterrent of a bear encounter is to avoid areas that bears
appreciate, but if you cannot avoid them, exercise extreme caution and be extra
alert when passing through them. Bears travel along water, on saddles, ridges
and along game trails and will eat dead carcasses whenever and wherever they
find them. They will often feed on a carcass and leave it where it sits and keep
returning to it until it is gone. They also will feed on grasses and vegetation
in the area. They like to rest in cool, dark areas of the woods.
While grizzly bears typically are active during dusk, dawn and evening hours,
they are not exclusively nocturnal. During spring and early summer, they are
often found along streams and rivers at lower elevations, using their fishing
skills during spawning seasons. They will also seek winter kills in these areas.
During the summer, they generally head for higher elevations in park-like
settings and when ripe, will eat berries. So, if you like to go wild berry
picking, be extra careful, make lots of noise and keep children close to you at
all times.
During the fall, bears are attracted to white bark pines, eating pine nuts and
they are known to dig around tree trunks looking for the squirrels’ stash of
hidden nuts. They have also been known to dig out roots in mid-elevation areas,
especially during the years when fewer pine nuts can be found.
When heading into areas known to be bear country, check with the rangers, park
officials and anyone else who may have knowledge of recent bear activity. You
should also make sure others are aware of your intended path into back country.
Learn to identify the signs of bear activity and avoid these areas. Fresh bear
tracks, scat and ground tore up from a bear’s scavenging for food, or a
half-buried carcass for which the bear will be coming back. Look closely at the
tracks as the claws of a grizzly bear will stick out further from the pads than
will the claws of a black bear. |
