Tully,

What about carrying a regular emergency flare?

Last summer in the Lamar Valley of northern Yellowstone National Park, I ran
into a back country hiker (who also has worked as a forester for the USFS
for many years) and he carried the standard emergency flare. The idea, he
told me, is to light it and hold onto it, if ever charged by a griz. In
fact, he said that once when hiking in Glacier it actually stopped a griz
that was heading fast towards him. R/Steve


>From: "Tully Hammill" <tully at hammills.com>
>Reply-To: "Tully Hammill" <tully at hammills.com>
>To: "Don Baccus" <dhogaza at pacifier.com>, <riesenr at chem.ubc.ca>,
><jwesterv at uidaho.edu>
>CC: "tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>, "me" <riesenr at chem.ubc.ca>
>Subject: Re: bears & pepper spray
>Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 09:39:34 -0700
>
>Shelton, the author of the recent bear book, makes at least part of his
>living giving courses in bear defense. Many of his patrons are government
>and corporate employees. It is all outlined in his earlier -- more
>interesting -- book, The Bear Encounter Survival Guide.
>
>His courses are about the *real* defense: shooting high-powered rifles at
>charging bears. This is a very difficult, athletic activity and he has
>clever drills to increase one's skills.
>
>An important point that he has demonstrated in a convincing manner is that
>Black Bears in northern B.C. (and by extension, in areas where a Black Bear
>has never seen a human) are often dangerous. He goes into great detail
>about recognizing when such a bear is in predatory mode. He argues further
>that since we are protecting bears more now, they are getting cocky and
>coming out of the woods where they belong.
>
>Whether the B.C. bear population is growing (his view) or is diminishing
>(view of all the NGO's) is still a difficult, important issue.
>
>As for bear spray, I'm afraid that confidence in it is waning.
>
>First of all, though it has turned away bears, they have never seemed to
>*mind* it in the screaming, convulsive way humans do. Some don't stay away
>long. Some don't stop at all.
>
>Further, bears *like* the smell. There are several videos of Brown Bears
>rolling in ecstasy on ground that has just been sprayed, of coming to
>investigate tents where a cannister is stored. Just a little residue on
>the
>tip of a once-used spray bottle can be sniffed from afar. So at night
>leave
>your spray 100 yeards away with the food in your little Garcia bear-proof
>barrel. You like pepper on your food? So do bears.
>
>In the past, vendors and experts would always start with caveats, but then
>whole-heartedly endorse carrying spray. Now, I think, it is: Well, if you
>aren't going to carry a .338, you might as well carry spray, it's better
>than nothing. The main recommendation though: go back to the multi-factor
>approach -- know a lot about bears and be a lot more careful than is ever
>convenient.
>
>All of the above is an off-the-cuff reaction based on a lot of reading and
>maybe a dozen conversations on the subject with bear biologists.
>
>-Tully
>
>


_______________________________________________________________
Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com