The Bears... (Anchorage, Soldotna, Central: real estate market, crime rate, hotels)

[Baltic_Celt]

Hello All -

Just curious. What does one do if encountering a bear on a hiking trail? By the way, I occasionally hike for exercise, not to encounter wild animals other than chipmonks or a cute baby owl, so I'm not out looking for wildlife photo opportunities, just stronger calf & glute muscles.

Once, when hiking the Blue Mtns while living in Asheville, NC, we heard someone yell "bear" in front of us. My friend called her dogs & we walked back down the trail, the same way we entered & left. We had just gotten there, so were literally only 50-yds into the trail, so only adrenaline flowed, fortunately, no danger for us.

But, I've heard conflicting answers as to what to do if encountering a bear. I believe it's black bear in that part of NC, if that makes any difference as to plan of action? In our case, it was obviously ahead of us & we could easily leave. I've heard folks say that if you see a bear & it makes itself known, you're in it's territory, so don't walk on further into it's territory, reverse direction & leave the same way you came. Some said walk backwards, facing the animal, others said don't make eye contact, as it's a challenge to the bear & just leave quickly, making alot of noise along the way to scare it off. Still others said to tread on forwards out of its territory. Which, if any, is true?

Also, we used to hike that trail, only 1-2 miles in & sit on a rock with sandwiches & water to eat lunch. Wouldn't that be dangerous then, to have the smell of food on any trail where dangerous animals live? Guess I need to do a bit of research before moving back to the Pocono's this year. I know they're small mountains by comparison to many (in Seattle, my co-workers joking called them hills), but I do remember that when I was a kid & my dad hunted deer, he'd spoken of coming across bear trails. Don't believe he ever saw one, however. Brown are there, perhaps? Don't know if different breeds react the same way to human strangers or a bear is a bear?

In any event, in NC I was told to carry a stungun or pepperspray, not for bears, but as I'd more easily come across a human with ill intentions on a trail rather than a bear. Well, I never came across the former, but since my 1st hiking experience ever involved a bear sighting, I thought I should ask those who would know.

Thanks very much! ...VV

[Las Vegan Cajun]

Originally Posted by KittensPurr

Hello All -

Just curious. What does one do if encountering a bear on a hiking trail? Thanks very much! ...VV

Just give it a big old bear hug.

[rotorhead]

I'd give it a big thumbs up on the pepperspray, get a big one, not the little bitty "jogger" size. I had a little one partially discharge in an apartment we were living in and it drove us out of the place for hours, even with all the doors and windows open. I've been through the US Army's "gas chamber" where they fill a room full of military-grade CS and have you take off your mask for "training"; both work pretty much the same and are very, very unpleasant. Some of them even come with an inert 'practice' bottle, so that you can try it out before you have to use the real thing. Regardless of which brand you end up with make sure its accessible whether you have your pack on or not, like in a waistbelt holster or in a leg pocket of your pants.

I've got a couple of bear books at home, one of them is all about bear attacks and the other a more general guide. The former book has a paragraph or two from pretty much every verified bear attack that's taken place in Alaska. The eye-opener for me was that the deadliest attack in the states history was by a black bear, and it only weighed about 200 lbs. They don't have the reputation of the big brown bears but they're definately nothing to fool with. The latter book has an amusing ancedote about a Canadian survery group that had such a problem with bears that they ended up literally living in a pre-fab tree house, and had to climb a rope ladder to get in and out. When the bears would camp out below it they'd just wrap a couple slices of bacon around a can of bear spray and toss it down. The problem bear would crunch the can and it would rupture right in its mouth. They said they never had to toss down a second can, and never had the same bear back again after that particular snack.

[Baltic_Celt]

Thank you Rotor, for the info & the stories. We all have such different lives, which makes for very interesting reads on the forum. I've been following the Alaska forum for awhile, although I have no aspirations of Anchorage living, because you folks can sure fend for yourselves, so the tips I've gotten have been useful & many.

I used to keep a can of what was labled Military Tear Gas in my vehicle. My brothers in the A.F. sent it to me after a subway incident where I was fine but had my nerves jostled a bit. I've even heard of mace cans with an attached loud horn that sounds when depressed. But, upon moving south, I discarded it for the reason you stated above. I feared it might discharge in my glove box in that intense heat & the soon-to-follow newspaper headline "City girl maces herself!" would have kept me indoors for months. Or, forced me to switch to night shift so as not to be identified by pointing & laughing neighbors.

I suppose I'll realistically need to find a book on hiking do's & don'ts, as I'm really not even knowledgeable on first aide & honestly, didn't think I needed to know much more than to wear hiking boots, as I've always stayed on paved trails. I've also just never been presented with the opportunity to learn about nature to any degree. Wherever I've lived, I've just needed to learn the public transit lines & which areas in the city to avoid. The NC bear incident did make me aware of how little I actually know about outdoor safety & survival. Speaking of which, if I did encounter a bear, would I continue to walk forward or reverse direction & go back from whence I came? I'm guessing shrieking & shoe throwing wouldn't work.

Thanks again for your reply.
Have fun... VV


Cajun -

I've heard of tree huggers, but I'll leave the bear hugging up to the more adventerous types. To me, adventure is trying to find a legal onstreet parking space after 7pm. Quite the urban challenge... VV

[DannyL]

Bear Spray (Counter Assault and a few other brands) is probably your best insurance. I have 3 cans, kept one in the vehicle, one in the tent, and one on my hip.

[wan2Batraveler10]

Hello Guys I'm on my way to work. As always the story of Timothy Treadwell always upsets me especially when I think of that poor girl and how she must have suffered before she died. I've come to care a lot about you fellows especially those of you who live near bear country. Please be careful. I wouldn't want anything of happen to any of you. I think you're very friendly and very helpful to those of us who value your experience and information about Alaska. The 49th State sounds like a wonderful place to visit. But it also sounds very dangerous and deserve our utmost respect and caution. Thanks to all of you for making us aware of these things

Mary

[rotorhead]

Personally, I'm looking forward to moving back to where the predators have four legs. The 2-legged ones might be easier to kill, but there's so many of them, and they all have lawyers. You've never seen a faster conversion to upstanding citizen and all-around choir-boy as you do when some little gang-banger gets himself shot doing something he shouldn't have. All the deadbeat druggie mommas and tattooed freakshow aunties on TV wailing about how "my little Chuey was NEVER into that gang stuff", while the medical examiner is on his fourth page of notes explaining all the "los suerenos 13" and "la vida loca" and "gangsta life" tats covering the body.

In five years of flying the lifeguard helicopter in New Mexico I'd bet that I responded to a shooting about every ten days to two weeks, and there were three other pilots on that contract as well. In two summers and a winter of basically the same job in Anchorage, I went to one. ONE shooting in over two years, and that one was accidental.

I'll take the bears over the vatos any day.

[BudinAk]

Originally Posted by rotorhead

Personally, I'm looking forward to moving back to where the predators have four legs. The 2-legged ones might be easier to kill, but there's so many of them, and they all have lawyers. You've never seen a faster conversion to upstanding citizen and all-around choir-boy as you do when some little gang-banger gets himself shot doing something he shouldn't have. All the deadbeat druggie mommas and tattooed freakshow aunties on TV wailing about how "my little Chuey was NEVER into that gang stuff", while the medical examiner is on his fourth page of notes explaining all the "los suerenos 13" and "la vida loca" and "gangsta life" tats covering the body.

In five years of flying the lifeguard helicopter in New Mexico I'd bet that I responded to a shooting about every ten days to two weeks, and there were three other pilots on that contract as well. In two summers and a winter of basically the same job in Anchorage, I went to one. ONE shooting in over two years, and that one was accidental.

I'll take the bears over the vatos any day.

Hmmm....so crime is really bad in N.M.? What city? Gee...I was considering N.M. as one of my retirement choices....might have to sit down and rethink my strategy...

Bud

[Baltic_Celt]

Originally Posted by DannyL

Bear Spray (Counter Assault and a few other brands) is probably your best insurance. I have 3 cans, kept one in the vehicle, one in the tent, and one on my hip.

Thank you Danny. I'll search for Counter Assault on the 'net. Hopefully, I'll never need it, but like my cell, which I use for emergencies only, I've been fortunate to have it the few times I really did need it. So far, only needed it to call AAA for flat tires & dead batteries, but I feel rather safe with it in my pocket.

I do carry a Myotron, which is a sort of stungun the FBI uses. Cost almost $300, but it's rather powerful & the battery lasts a lifetime. Tucks nicely into the palm of the hand & has a wrist strap so you won't drop/loose it in an attack. I have had to threaten to use it, while being followed to my car a few times, but never have used it other than to test it. But, when you make that sizzling sound when a lad with not-in-my-best-interest intentions is too close, they really back off. So far, so good, knock wood.

Thanks again... VV

[scoobagirl]

I'll bet Rotorhead is smack in the middle of Albuquerque.

Its the only place I've ever seen concertina wire around the motels....