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Bears: Encounter Risks & How To Handle Attacks

hmm. i don't know really. there is a strong northern european old cultural link around bears, including uk, but i don't think bears are generally particularly revered or despised in the uk.

the strongest link is the many many pubs called The Bear or The Bear Inn or the such. the imagery associated with that is of a bear chained to a post for bear baiting.

bears feel like a really 'foreign' creature to me- something that abroad has. like crocodiles or monkeys!

Congleton in Cheshire is sometimes known as 'Beartown' because of its long association with bears.

There's an explicatory rhyme -

Congleton rare
Congleton rare
Sold the Bible to pay for a bear.


Techy showed me the original Congleton bear pit a few years ago, where the poor creatures were baited for entertainment.
 
Bears seem to be a thing lately—must be hiking season.
Six Chix - Bear.jpg
 
uk bears in the woods!
6065.jpg



A bear at Bear Wood near Bristol, UK, part of the Wild Place project, in which for the first time in more than 1,000 years native bears and wolves are coming snout to muzzle with each other in a slice of British woodland
Photograph: Andre Pattenden/Bristol Zoo
 
Sorry, folks, but I can't help myself (Midwesterner here, as if that wasn't now abundantly obvious):

5e72176a330df8ac259d02a74ccbb6b6.jpg
 
Scribbles, I hope you never see the 1976 film Grizzly; that's the one where the man is buried as stored-food. The Day of the Animals mentioned somewhere here is a follow-up which also features Christopher George, and Richard Jackal. The latter meets a variation on his fate in GRIZZLY.
True story- this fellow in a neighboring state one autumn heard a ruckus in his back yard; a black bear was rummaging in his trash cans for food. Well, he grabbed a heavy rake (one with about a five-lbs. head) and busted the bruin over the head with it! The neighbors heard a loud shriek, and rushed over, and managed to chase the bear away, although not before he was mangled badly. Evidently, the bear "went for broke<' and made a decapitating-attempt with his claws, and ripped the guy's face off ala the real Phantom of the Opera by not quite catching him with a sufficiently full blow! he had lived several days, had innumerable stitches, a whole-body blood-transfusion, etc., etc., when I saw the newspaper story - unsure if he lived long-term. But had the guy been wise enough to leave the beast alone, all would almost certainly have been well. We see them often in my area, and if you leave them alone, they will usually return the favor. I do not recommend hitting any with rakes, of course...
 
Did you know it’s illegal for bears to use an electric scooter on the pavements in London these days? Even the Russian circus-trained ones heading for an innocent trip to Salisbury?
I mean. What sort of twisted world are living in now?
 
Lol!

I once read that there are two types of bears, one black and one brown. One can run really fast but can't climb trees, so if you see that bear, the advice was to climb a tree to get out of its way. The other type of bear however can't run fast, but can climb trees, so when you see THAT bear, you run.

I'm now all these years later presuming that's nonsense? Anyone know?

I have read (don't remember where, exactly) that most grizzly/brown bear attacks are defensive (e.g., mother defending cubs) but most black bear attacks are predatory. So, the recommended course of action when confronted by a grizzly is to appear non-threatening, play dead, etc. When confronted by a black bear, make noise and try to appear as big as possible. In either case, DO NOT RUN! Running will trigger a hunting response, and you will not out-run a bear-- period. Best advice is not to put yourself in that position to begin with.

There was a story that rangers in a U.S. national park were advising hikers to always carry pepper spray and wear small bells to alert any bears nearby. Also be on the lookout for bear scat on the trails. How do you recognize bear scat? It smells peppery and has little bells in it . . .
 
If you can climb it, tree, tower, whatever it may be, so can a bear.

According to Mountain Nature, the best thing to do in this kind of situation is to first access the situation to determine why the bear appears to be mounting an attack - are its cubs nearby?

The website states that you should never run, purely because you will not be able to get away, but instead retreat slowly and calmly without making eye contact.

It adds that if possible, climbing a tree may lead the bear to feel less threatened and back away from you, but be weary as it also possesses the ability to follow you up.

They say this is very rare but I've seen too many videos and heard so many stories about people being stalked by black bears. The only thing I believe helped them was pepper spray and yelling aggressively when the bear gets too close. I recommend yelling a lot louder and more aggressively than these two joggers did....


Black bears can be relentless. Brown bears are the same thing as a black bear.

There are three types of bears (or species) in North America. The most common is the American black bear (Ursus americanus). Unfortunately named, the black bear can be various shades of black, white and brown. This species is found in all provinces and territories in Canada except Prince Edward Island, and in 40 of the 50 United States.

Unless it has the distinctive hump on it's back it's classified as a black bear. If it has a hump on it's back, it's a grizzly. In my opinion, black bears are more dangerous. Grizzly's are more likely to avoid you than a black bear.
 
michael59 is correct, essentially. If a black.brown bear attacks w/o cubs, it's generally to obtain a meal, human beings included. Still, I'm very pleased no grizzlies are in this part of the nation.
 
If you can climb it, tree, tower, whatever it may be, so can a bear.



They say this is very rare but I've seen too many videos and heard so many stories about people being stalked by black bears. The only thing I believe helped them was pepper spray and yelling aggressively when the bear gets too close. I recommend yelling a lot louder and more aggressively than these two joggers did....


Black bears can be relentless. Brown bears are the same thing as a black bear.



Unless it has the distinctive hump on it's back it's classified as a black bear. If it has a hump on it's back, it's a grizzly. In my opinion, black bears are more dangerous. Grizzly's are more likely to avoid you than a black bear.

Answer. It’s a fucking BEAR.
 
We have our share of them (black/brown bears), but attacks are rare. Somehow, coyotes have come here in the past, say, 12 to 15 years, and they are extremely destructive, attacking livestock if it's small enough, house pets, and generally whatever-they-can catch, and usually., they leave very little behind. Be thankful not to have those
 
Answer. It’s a fucking BEAR.

You would think that it's common sense, but look at these people and what the wildlife enforcers are having to go through to keep both people & bears safe this season...

jasper-national-park-black-bears.jpg


Not enough space

With increasing visitors to the park, harassment of wildlife is on the rise, Malcolm said.


"That encompasses people feeding wildlife, which is on the rise, which obviously has some huge detrimental effects on the outcome of that individual," Malcolm said.

Malcolm said he has noticed people "camping out on wildlife," which means staying with an individual animal that's accessing food on the roadside.

"They will just stop on the roadside and spend the entire day following that animal and taking pictures … hundreds of pictures," Malcolm said.

"They're basically following that animal all day. That animal doesn't get any space. It's constantly aware that somebody is with them. And yeah, it's becoming a bit of a concern."


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmo...erns-jasper-national-park-officials-1.5252765
 
My thoughts, exactly. I have observed bears up close, including polar bears, but have never been in any danger. Yet, I too have that inexpiable mind numbing fear of them just like, Scribbles. I also have the same fear for sharks.
I have it in mind that you're supposed to punch it in the nose and if that doesn't work, then poke it in the eye.

I find it hard to believe I could hurt any animal though, even if it was obviously going to kill me. I think I'd just think fair enough, you're hungry, and go screaming in agony to my death at least knowing it's nothing personal.
 
... I find it hard to believe I could hurt any animal though, even if it was obviously going to kill me. I think I'd just think fair enough, you're hungry, and go screaming in agony to my death at least knowing it's nothing personal.

You'd be the one making it personal if you punched the animal in the nose and / or poked it in the eye ... :thought:
 
Bear has enough of circus & attacks trainer

Video from Russia. Crazy that this is apparently still allowed. Audience is scarily close.

They say it was flash photography that upset the bear. :frust:

I know it can be so difficult in some countries to find a way to make a living and support a family. That being said, I honestly do not believe animals of any sort should be used for entertainment purposes. I won't even watch a movie if it has a animal as the star, like a chimp or a dog.
 
Dogs wouldn't upset me - they're domesticated & seem to enjoy training & tasks. Not if it involves cruelty though. And wild animals definitely not - bears in circuses no. But what about the orang Clyde in those Clint Eastwood movies for example - who's to say whether he enjoyed the experience? They're smart creatures. Maybe he'd been brought up around people from an early age so not exactly wild..
 
You'd think they would be better prepared for such incidents.

A circus audience fled in terror after a bear mauled its trainer during a performance in Russia’s far north.

The attack happened after the bear had pushed a wheelbarrow across the circus ring to the accompaniment of loud music and under bright lights. It then lunged at the trainer, knocking him to the ground. There was no fencing between the audience and the circus ring.

Another circus employee appeared to try to kick the bear off the trainer before using an electroshock device to force it to release its grip. The incident happened at a circus in Olonets, a town 180 miles northeast of St Petersburg.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six...rcus-bear-mauls-trainer-in-the-ring-prvgbfvqz
 
Dogs wouldn't upset me - they're domesticated & seem to enjoy training & tasks. Not if it involves cruelty though. And wild animals definitely not - bears in circuses no. But what about the orang Clyde in those Clint Eastwood movies for example - who's to say whether he enjoyed the experience? They're smart creatures. Maybe he'd been brought up around people from an early age so not exactly wild..

The first Clyde didn't enjoy his experience, as his trainer would beat him to make him "act", and at the end of filming Clyde was beaten to death. Difficult to enjoy Every Which Way But Loose knowing that.
 
The first Clyde didn't enjoy his experience, as his trainer would beat him to make him "act", and at the end of filming Clyde was beaten to death. Difficult to enjoy Every Which Way But Loose knowing that.
:(:mad:
 
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