Another bear attack within two weeks (Anchorage: school, camp, live)

[Moose Whisperer]

Originally Posted by Floyd_Davidson

Well, I was off down the beach this evening taking odd wildlife pictures of everything except polar bears...

So a bear walked right into the middle of town while I was out with the wildlife.

Just watched one go strolling past the dining room window. Barely had time to grab the camera and snap a quick picture:

[RayinAK]

That bear looks so relaxed walking across the yard

[RayinAK]

This is almost incredible. Now a woman in Anchorage gets mauled by a grizzly:
newsminer.com • Second woman mauled by bear in Anchorage park

[MissingAll4Seasons]

I think maybe bears attack women more frequently because we smell... well... interesting. It would be interesting to see if the women who were attacked were on their monthly, or were wearing musky perfumes, and whether the bears that attacked were male or female. There are several (male) animals who tend to attack women during their monthly. I learned my lesson back when I worked on a horse ranch... the stallions could get pretty dangerous around that time, maybe they think we're in estrus or something?

[Rance]

I know the scent of a woman drives me crazy. And bears have 4 times more nose than me!

[MissingAll4Seasons]

Originally Posted by rance

i know the scent of a woman drives me crazy. And bears have 4 times more nose than me!

***grins***

[DannyL]

Originally Posted by MissingAll4Seasons

There are several (male) animals who tend to attack women during their monthly.

Bingo, you may now go to the head of the class.
I wanted to bring this up, but I didn't want to be blown off as a nut or something.
Sometimes bear awareness is not a pleasant thing to discuss.
Men tho get attacked because we're stupid.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by MissingAll4Seasons

I think maybe bears attack women more frequently because we smell... well... interesting. It would be interesting to see if the women who were attacked were on their monthly, or were wearing musky perfumes, and whether the bears that attacked were male or female. There are several (male) animals who tend to attack women during their monthly. I learned my lesson back when I worked on a horse ranch... the stallions could get pretty dangerous around that time, maybe they think we're in estrus or something?

Although most attacks occur because of one's proximity to bears, a lot of people believe that menstruation may be one of the causes for bears to be attracted. It's hard to tell, because while a bear may be attracted to certain smell that resembles food (blood), another may be just protecting its cubs.

There was a case where a woman and her husband, I believe, decided to take a nap outdoors. She was asleep on her side, and a black bear came in unnoticed and bit her on the rump. She screamed, and the bear ran. She was menstruating. Bears are attracted to numerous smells, so I imagine that this one is one of them. Dogs do notice any "smell changes" throughout the day. Sometimes it's real funny, because they are not too polite about it

[MissingAll4Seasons]

It could be the smell of blood, or something pheromonal that occurs during menstruation. I know a lot of perfumes have musk in them and that usually comes from an animal that another animal deems a threat, so that might have something to do with it, too (one of the reasons they warn you not to wear perfumes in the wild -- or at zoos!).

Maybe it's all random chance, but it certainly looks like there is some sort of pattern. Wish we could talk to the bears and ask them

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by MissingAll4Seasons

It could be the smell of blood, or something pheromonal that occurs during menstruation. I know a lot of perfumes have musk in them and that usually comes from an animal that another animal deems a threat, so that might have something to do with it, too (one of the reasons they warn you not to wear perfumes in the wild -- or at zoos!).

Maybe it's all random chance, but it certainly looks like there is some sort of pattern. Wish we could talk to the bears and ask them

Back in the late '60s (maybe 1968?), there were numerous human/bear confrontations, specially in the interior of Alaska. According to an article i read on these cases, that year there was a shortage of berries all over the interior. Tom Smith at the USGS has created a Web page that lists bear/human confrontations in Alaska for the past 100 years. However, since it takes time to gather the correct data about bear attacks and such, the database is approximately 6 years behind (not new records added for the past 6 years or so). This is the only Web page of its kind in the world:
Brown Bear Projects at the Alaska Science Center
Scroll down the page to, "A Century of Bear-Human Conflict in Alaska: Analyses And Implications"