Re: [OM] Water shots and vacations (OT)

[Bruce Hamm]

I've had my fair share of run-ins with bears over the years. My closest call 
with a Black Bear was in the early 80's while I was working in the bush in 
Northern Ontario. One night, I was awoken out of a deep sleep by noises 
immediately outside my tent. Quite frankly, I was more angry than smart at that 
moment and decided to get up and give a piece of my mind to whoever woke me up. 
As I crawled out of my tent, I came nose to nose with the culprit....a bear. I 
don't know who was more startled, but I jumped back into the tent, zipped up 
the door and climbed back into my sleeping bag in a heartbeat (as if it really 
would have done any good). Fortunately, the bear had no interest in me or my 
accomodations.

Bears can be unpredictable because you can never be 100ertain how they will 
react. The vast, vast majority of Black Bears will run at the mere sight of a 
human. Furthermore, the mere presence of humans will keep them away from the 
vicinity. However, some bears become what is known as "campsite bears". These 
bears learn that where they find humans, they can also find easy food in 
coolers, garbage, etc. While these bears do grow accustomed to a human 
presence, they will usually run if confronted.

On very rare occasions, people encounter what is known as "predatory bears". 
These bears differ from others because they literally view humans as prey. 
These are usually large males that have had little to no previous experience 
with humans. The majority of human fatalities due to bear attacks involve 
predatory bears. 

To put the risk of Black Bears into perspective, about 37 people have been 
killed by these bears in North America over the past 100 years. Statistically 
speaking, you have a greater chance of being killed by lightning or bee stings 
than Black Bears in the wild. 

Although bear repellent is all the rage these days, a much more effective 
safeguard is a simple small airhorn (the kind that work from a small can of 
compressed air). These will usually send a bear running before they get 
anywhere near to you.


Bruce Hamm
Ottawa, Canada
bhamm@xxxxxxxx


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: ClassicVW@xxxxxxx 
  To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, May 17, 2002 3:49 PM
  Subject: Re: [OM] Water shots and vacations


  jnmcbr@xxxxxxx writes: 


  Usually bears don't hurt anybody...  snip...  Bears are very unpredictable.  
/jnm 

  Huh? ! 

  George S.