Post by Gerry on Oct 16, 2008 11:22:33 GMT -5
The following excerpt is from "BEAR ATTACK" by Rudy Nelson; {It is well worth the read! )
During my years working in forestry and the many years purchasing rural and remote properties for my recreational land company (Niho Land & Cattle) throughout BC, I have encountered as many as eight to ten black bears a day. Many times I have been with either my wife or my sons in the bush and we have always taken necessary precautions and have never had a problem with a bear. Of all the bears that I have encountered over the years I have had to shoot only two black bears and two grizzlies. Both of the grizzlies I shot charged me while I was hunting in the high country for caribou and moose. Of the two black bears that I had to shoot, one had climbed a tree behind me and kept coming while the other was trying to get food out of my tent. I shot these bear many years ago and since then I have learnt a lot about their behavior and habits. Many a time I have been fascinated to watch, from a safe distance, a grizzly bear and sow together digging for marmots in the high country.
In my opinion, the black bear population in British Columbia has definitely increased substantially over the years. I am not sure if counts on black bears have been recorded, but from what I have seen over the past forty years, compared to now, the black bear has thrived and increased in numbers for several reasons.
1. Black bears some thirty to forty years ago were hunted for food in rural and remote areas.
2. The Queen's Royal Guards hats were made from black bear, hunted from BC, but have now been replaced with synthetic material.
3. The logging of forests have opened up entire areas and many of these areas are overgrown with berry bushes and bears love to go in and foliage on the berries.
4. The bears have become less afraid of human beings and are venturing closer and closer to civilization. I have never seen this, but have been told that a few grizzlies, if they hear a gunshot, will actually come to that area because they have learned there will be a pile of "guts" from an animal.
Whenever I walk through the woods, I have a conscious habit (developed over the past fifty years) to analyze the area I am in and determine what the food supply is for what animal. All animals are similar to human beings in that we both have to continually search for different food supplies depending on the time of year. We are lucky we can go to a grocery store and find vegetables in one area, fruit in another, and meat in another area. If fresh fruit is not available that time of the year we can either buy it in cans or frozen. Grizzlies living mostly in the high country, above the timberline, and hunt for marmots, carrion, caribou, elk, moose calves or small mammals. For grizzlies along the west coast of Canada and in Alaska, salmon is an important food source.
Black bears are found mostly in the low country and have a somewhat different diet than the grizzly. The black bear when he comes out of hibernation in the spring will look for the skunk cabbage. Skunk cabbage grows in very swampy wet areas and the black bear will dig up these skunk cabbages and eat the roots. The bears have a strange habit of mostly staying for a while in that same area where there is a good food supply and will not roam around. As the summer progresses, these wet areas start to dry and the black bear will begin to look for new sources of food. He will start digging up old stumps looking for insects and larvae, nuts and roots, and in summer and fall bears rely heavily on available berries. Black bears like to feed in the cool of the evening or in the early morning. During the heat of the day, they will often seek shade in the dense underbrush.
When I am walking through the woods I continually look for the food source for bear and signs or tracks of the animal. If you see any tracks it will give you an indication of the size of the bear, if she has cubs and, depending how fresh the tracks are, how long ago the bear was in the area. If you come to a field with grass you can tell by the way the grass is bent down whether a moose, deer, or bear has gone through the grass. If you step on the grass beside the trail and stand away and see how fast the grass comes up you will determine how fresh is the trail that you are following.I never walk through thick bush and will go well out of my way to stay in open areas.
The bear scat (droppings) is the best way to determine if a bear is in the area, whether it is fresh or old and what they are eating.
The habit the black bear has with skunk cabbage is that he will leave his scat mostly in one place and is tidy about it. I know to avoid skunk cabbage areas in early spring and, in the warmer weather, thick berry patches. I will make sure I avoid the black bear's grocery store. In general, adult black bears range from 35 to 40 inches tall when on all fours and have a length of 4½ to 6 feet. The weight of a black bear, which is highly variable, ranges from 125 to 600 pounds, with males (within the same geographic area) on average about a third larger than females. The largest American black bear to date was found in
Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, Canada. It weighed in at 805 pounds. The lifespan of black bears in the wild can be twenty-five years or more. I am never too worried about bears that are between one and five years old-in most cases they are scared and will quickly run the other way. It is the older bear or mother with cubs that you have to watch out for. A mother bear, if she thinks there is a threat close by, will send her cubs scattering up a tree and will stand to defend her cubs. A very old bear, like human beings, gets cranky and is less afraid of humans and can be possible trouble. It doesn't really matter if the bear weighs 180 lbs or 600 lbs-if the bear decides to attack, you will get hurt unless you know how to defend yourself.
The grizzly is a large mammal whose size and weight are extremely variable depending on the availability of food, climatic conditions, etc. In general, adult grizzlies stand approximately 3½ feet tall, or more, when on all fours and have an approximate body length of 6 ½ to 7 feet, and even up to 9 feet. The weight of grizzlies is highly variable, normally ranging anywhere from 330 to 825 pounds. Males within a geographic area may weigh more than twice as much as females. As an indication of the variability, male bears that have access to the coastal areas often weigh 1100 pounds with some individual animals weighing in excess of 1500 pounds. This is twice as heavy as the largest male black bears. Grizzlies have a heavy stout body with strong muscular legs. They have a big head, short tail, small rounded ears, feet (i.e., both heel and toe make contact with the ground when walking in a manner similar to humans), and a hind foot with five toes. They are very quick and able to attain speeds of 56 kilometers per hour 35 miles per hour for a short distance. Grizzlies have a distinctive, muscular shoulder hump, unlike a black bear, and the claws on the front paws are large, strong and slightly curved. The front claws are approximately one and three-quarter times longer than the rear claws and generally visible even from a distance. The absolute length of the front claws are often 9 centimeters (3 inches) long with claws over 12 centimeters (4¾ inches) long not uncommon. Their claws are highly adapted to digging for food (eg., tubers, rodents, etc.) as opposed to climbing.
During my years working in forestry and the many years purchasing rural and remote properties for my recreational land company (Niho Land & Cattle) throughout BC, I have encountered as many as eight to ten black bears a day. Many times I have been with either my wife or my sons in the bush and we have always taken necessary precautions and have never had a problem with a bear. Of all the bears that I have encountered over the years I have had to shoot only two black bears and two grizzlies. Both of the grizzlies I shot charged me while I was hunting in the high country for caribou and moose. Of the two black bears that I had to shoot, one had climbed a tree behind me and kept coming while the other was trying to get food out of my tent. I shot these bear many years ago and since then I have learnt a lot about their behavior and habits. Many a time I have been fascinated to watch, from a safe distance, a grizzly bear and sow together digging for marmots in the high country.
In my opinion, the black bear population in British Columbia has definitely increased substantially over the years. I am not sure if counts on black bears have been recorded, but from what I have seen over the past forty years, compared to now, the black bear has thrived and increased in numbers for several reasons.
1. Black bears some thirty to forty years ago were hunted for food in rural and remote areas.
2. The Queen's Royal Guards hats were made from black bear, hunted from BC, but have now been replaced with synthetic material.
3. The logging of forests have opened up entire areas and many of these areas are overgrown with berry bushes and bears love to go in and foliage on the berries.
4. The bears have become less afraid of human beings and are venturing closer and closer to civilization. I have never seen this, but have been told that a few grizzlies, if they hear a gunshot, will actually come to that area because they have learned there will be a pile of "guts" from an animal.
Whenever I walk through the woods, I have a conscious habit (developed over the past fifty years) to analyze the area I am in and determine what the food supply is for what animal. All animals are similar to human beings in that we both have to continually search for different food supplies depending on the time of year. We are lucky we can go to a grocery store and find vegetables in one area, fruit in another, and meat in another area. If fresh fruit is not available that time of the year we can either buy it in cans or frozen. Grizzlies living mostly in the high country, above the timberline, and hunt for marmots, carrion, caribou, elk, moose calves or small mammals. For grizzlies along the west coast of Canada and in Alaska, salmon is an important food source.
Black bears are found mostly in the low country and have a somewhat different diet than the grizzly. The black bear when he comes out of hibernation in the spring will look for the skunk cabbage. Skunk cabbage grows in very swampy wet areas and the black bear will dig up these skunk cabbages and eat the roots. The bears have a strange habit of mostly staying for a while in that same area where there is a good food supply and will not roam around. As the summer progresses, these wet areas start to dry and the black bear will begin to look for new sources of food. He will start digging up old stumps looking for insects and larvae, nuts and roots, and in summer and fall bears rely heavily on available berries. Black bears like to feed in the cool of the evening or in the early morning. During the heat of the day, they will often seek shade in the dense underbrush.
When I am walking through the woods I continually look for the food source for bear and signs or tracks of the animal. If you see any tracks it will give you an indication of the size of the bear, if she has cubs and, depending how fresh the tracks are, how long ago the bear was in the area. If you come to a field with grass you can tell by the way the grass is bent down whether a moose, deer, or bear has gone through the grass. If you step on the grass beside the trail and stand away and see how fast the grass comes up you will determine how fresh is the trail that you are following.I never walk through thick bush and will go well out of my way to stay in open areas.
The bear scat (droppings) is the best way to determine if a bear is in the area, whether it is fresh or old and what they are eating.
The habit the black bear has with skunk cabbage is that he will leave his scat mostly in one place and is tidy about it. I know to avoid skunk cabbage areas in early spring and, in the warmer weather, thick berry patches. I will make sure I avoid the black bear's grocery store. In general, adult black bears range from 35 to 40 inches tall when on all fours and have a length of 4½ to 6 feet. The weight of a black bear, which is highly variable, ranges from 125 to 600 pounds, with males (within the same geographic area) on average about a third larger than females. The largest American black bear to date was found in
Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, Canada. It weighed in at 805 pounds. The lifespan of black bears in the wild can be twenty-five years or more. I am never too worried about bears that are between one and five years old-in most cases they are scared and will quickly run the other way. It is the older bear or mother with cubs that you have to watch out for. A mother bear, if she thinks there is a threat close by, will send her cubs scattering up a tree and will stand to defend her cubs. A very old bear, like human beings, gets cranky and is less afraid of humans and can be possible trouble. It doesn't really matter if the bear weighs 180 lbs or 600 lbs-if the bear decides to attack, you will get hurt unless you know how to defend yourself.
The grizzly is a large mammal whose size and weight are extremely variable depending on the availability of food, climatic conditions, etc. In general, adult grizzlies stand approximately 3½ feet tall, or more, when on all fours and have an approximate body length of 6 ½ to 7 feet, and even up to 9 feet. The weight of grizzlies is highly variable, normally ranging anywhere from 330 to 825 pounds. Males within a geographic area may weigh more than twice as much as females. As an indication of the variability, male bears that have access to the coastal areas often weigh 1100 pounds with some individual animals weighing in excess of 1500 pounds. This is twice as heavy as the largest male black bears. Grizzlies have a heavy stout body with strong muscular legs. They have a big head, short tail, small rounded ears, feet (i.e., both heel and toe make contact with the ground when walking in a manner similar to humans), and a hind foot with five toes. They are very quick and able to attain speeds of 56 kilometers per hour 35 miles per hour for a short distance. Grizzlies have a distinctive, muscular shoulder hump, unlike a black bear, and the claws on the front paws are large, strong and slightly curved. The front claws are approximately one and three-quarter times longer than the rear claws and generally visible even from a distance. The absolute length of the front claws are often 9 centimeters (3 inches) long with claws over 12 centimeters (4¾ inches) long not uncommon. Their claws are highly adapted to digging for food (eg., tubers, rodents, etc.) as opposed to climbing.