Bear Tales

“Hey, look!” my daughter yelled, excitedly pointing out the window. “It’s a bear!”

The whole family rushed over to crowd around the window. Sure enough, a good-sized black bear had wandered into our driveway, not more than 25’ from our cabin. It was beautiful – jet-black glossy fur, with stubby, rounded ears that gave it that cuddly “teddy bear” look. It acted like it owned the place. After looking around a bit, it must have decided the place was too populated, considering that we all still had our noses plastered to the window staring at it, and it nonchalantly wandered off to find some other place with a little more privacy.

Though bears, or at least grizzlies, are considered an endangered species in the continental U.S., anyone who has spent any time in Alaska (i.e. more than a few days on a canned tour looking at the scenery) knows that bears are common, because they very well could have encountered one.

Just this past summer, one of my other daughters was fishing on a popular Alaska salmon stream with her boyfriend. It was getting on toward 11:00 PM, late enough that it was the dusk of an Alaskan summer night (it doesn’t get dark during Alaska summers), when they heard a nearby splash. Looking up in the dim light, they discovered that the next fisherman a few feet upriver was a grizzly. Fortunately, the bear was having better luck than my daughter, or it may have decided to “borrow” the fish she had on a stringer.

Such “close encounters of the bear kind” are not uncommon in Alaska. Fortunately, the vast majority of such encounters are benign – the bear retreats one way and the human retreats the opposite direction with varying degrees of haste – and no harm is done to either. There are exceptions. Usually the exceptions are to the detriment of the bear, as in when a hunter blows it away. But, on rare occasion, a bear will turn the tables.

Remember “Grizzly Man”?

Timothy Treadwell was a self proclaimed “eco-warrior” that, from 1990 to 2003, lived during summer months among the grizzly bears common on the Alaska Peninsula and in Katmai National Park. His exploits were documented in the 2005 film by Werner Herzog titled Grizzly Man. Treadwell convinced himself that he could commune with bears, that he understood the bears and that they understood him and would not hurt him. He was repeatedly warned about such risky assumptions by friends, area residents, and National Park Service personnel. Though bears can be generally tolerant of humans, as dramatic-ally demonstrated by Mr. Treadwell’s survival amongst them for 13 years, they are the dominant and most fearsome predator on the North American continent. And, as most Alaskans expected (and other reasonable people as well), the bears eventually got the best of Mr. Treadwell. Maybe the fishing was poor, or there were not enough berries, or who knows what, but on October 5, 2003, a large grizzly attacked, killed, and ate Mr. Treadwell and his lady friend who was sharing camp with him. (Wickpedia article, “Timothy Treadwell”; Anchorage Daily News, various articles, primarily October 6-10, 2003)

The Grizzly Man saga is a dramatic example of man/bear encounters and is well known only because it was widely publicized. But it is hardly the most dramatic, and it is far from the only example. For example:

- Several years ago, a female geologist was working in the Brooks Range for her employer. Shortly after she was dropped off by helicopter in a remote location, she was attacked by a black bear. She did as she had been instructed and played dead. But this bear did not leave as it was supposed to do (I guess it had not read the instructions), but it proceeded to eat her – while she was alive! Somehow she managed to key the mike of her two-way radio and called for help. It was several minutes before the helicopter was able to get back to her and drive off the bear. She survived, but the bear had eaten her arms and much of her legs. (Bear Tales by Larry Kanut)
- A bear in the Copper River area broke into a couple’s home while they were there. They had no weapons at hand and were forced to flee. The bear pursued. In an effort to escape, they climbed on top of their cabin and removed the means of ascent so the bear couldn’t follow. However, bears can be pretty smart. After circling his “treed” prey for a while, it began climbing a slender sapling a few feet away from the back of the cabin. The man, seeing the bear was not to be dissuaded, jumped off the opposite side and ran to the nearest neighbor (in the Alaska bush, that usually is some distance away) for help. The bear, meanwhile, climbed the sapling, keeping his weight on the side toward the cabin. The sapling bent with the weight, and when it was high enough and the sapling bent far enough, the bear simply let go and dropped onto the cabin roof where the woman was. She jumped off and fled, but by the time the man returned with a weapon, she had been killed and eaten by the bear. (I must note that with this situation, there was speculation that foul play was involved, and though the woman was eaten by a bear, she may have met her demise in other circumstances. I don’t think anything was ever proven.) (Local news releases, personal knowledge)

If you desire to read about such gruesome experiences, Larry Kaniut has researched and written about many of them in the Bear Tales series.

The general understanding (as if man can understand bears, or thinks he can (i.e. Grizzly Man)) is that bears will attack only if they feel threatened, they are protecting their young, or guarding their food supply. Once the threat is removed, the idea is that the bear will leave. Hence, the concept that playing dead is a good bear defense – if the bear thinks you are dead, it feels the threat has been removed and will leave you alone. Though I claim no expertise other than a couple of decades of living in bush Alaska, my observation has been that this is generally (emphasis on generally) true with grizzlies. They tend to be more likely to attack a person or animal that invades its territory or that it feels to be a threat. Playing dead is generally a good defense against a grizzly attack. Of course, as Grizzly Man attests, there are disastrous exceptions.

A black bear, on the other hand, is much less likely to attack, but if it does attack, it intends to eat you (again, these are general statements). Consequently, playing dead is not a good defense against a black bear attack. Playing dead makes a black bear think, “Aha! Dinner is served”, and it will begin to eat. This is precisely what happened to the geologist in the Brooks Range. The best defense against a black bear attack is to make the bear think you are bigger and stronger than it is so it will abort an attack, or if it does engage with you, don’t stop fighting back.

The point is that, whether grizzly or black, bears are unpredictable and always dangerous. It is an idiot or a fool that will go out into bear country without some kind of weapon, preferably deadly force. I usually carry a Ruger Blackhawk .44 magnum. This is not the best bear protection (a more powerful rifle would be better), but it definitely has enough power to stop a bear, if the user has enough skill, and it is much easier to carry in difficult terrain. I can usually hit what I aim at with this weapon, but I have never had to use it to prevent a bear attack. Believe me, I pray that I will never have to find out if I am skillful enough in that circumstance.

I live about a mile from my place of employment in bush Alaska and enjoy walking to and from work each day. In addition, I often have opportunity to be out wandering around my employer’s land holdings doing some aspect of my work (it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it). Now, you have to understand that in this remote area, when you step outside, you are literally in the “wilds” of Alaska (remember the bear at my front door?). Though we see bears seldom enough that it is still exciting to see one, we find their sign quite often. This past summer when I was out doing some of my work(?), I found myself in an area of thick, second growth brush and saplings. Mixed in this were areas of dense growth of short, branchy bushes that were just covered with small red berries (I’m not sure what kind they are). As I got into the thicker parts of this growth, I noticed a pile of several day old bear scat. It was red and composed mostly of partially digested berries, obviously originating from the bushes all around me. Actually, it was more of a “splat” than a pile because when bears pig out on berries to fatten up for hibernation, the highly fruity diet gives them a touch of diarrhea. Since finding this stuff is fairly common, I didn’t think much about it. Then I noticed another splat some distance away, and then another, and another. This heightened my awareness, but I still wasn’t concerned because this stuff was several days old. Going on a little farther, I notice an odd smell. Another step or two, and I came upon not one, but two such splats that, though not steaming fresh, were fresh enough to still be soft, wet, and stinky. They were obviously fresh enough to have been passed within the past hour. This got my attention, the hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I began to feel like I was being watched (ever had that feeling?). Because I walk to work so often, and do a lot of walking in the area of my work, I get lacksidasical about carrying my weapon (an idiot or a fool?) and did not have it with me. I decided I better get out of that berry patch forthwith. Though I did not see a bear, I found a lot of sign, and I was stupid for being there without defense.
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I have a son, two daughters, two sons-in-law, and my grandchildren that are living in various communities satellite to Salt Lake City, the major population center in Utah. These family members are there for higher education or employment. I love Utah. I obtained my higher education there, and in fact, my son is attending my alma mater. With the influence of the Mormons and other good Christian folk, I think Utah is a good, conservative place to live and raise children. Social statistics bear this out: relatively low crime rate, low rates of cancer and other “sin” diseases (i.e. those related to tobacco and alcohol use, immorality, illegal drugs, etc.), more stable marriages and families, etc. This is not to say that Utah doesn’t have its problems.

Remember Trolley Square?

Just a few weeks ago, we were shocked when a disillusioned Bosnian youth with a .38 handgun and a shotgun walked into Trolley Square mall in downtown Salt Lake City and calmly began killing people. At least six people died (including the Bosnian youth) and several others were seriously wounded. Who knows what was eating this guy, or why he would decide to randomly waste a bunch of people? The scary thing is that all of my children have, I am sure, at various times visited Trolley Square. Any of them could have been there that fateful evening. And had they been there, they would have been defenseless against this guy. Why? Because weapons are prohibited in the mall. This Bosnian youth entered the mall through a door with a prominent “No Guns Allowed” sign posted (worked well, didn’t it?).

I would be foolish to venture into the Alaskan wild without a weapon to defend myself from bears or other wild animals that might attack for whatever reason. Yet, because of various laws and restrictions, my children are prohibited from carrying weapons to protect themselves in the jungles of “civilization”. Frankly, I would much rather have my children face a bear in the Alaska bush than one of these “animals” that calmly and deliberately decides to kill someone. Bears attack to defend themselves, their young, or their food supply. These two-legged animals attack and kill just for the fun(?) of it. Which is more dangerous? Why is it wise to carry protection against the bears but illegal to carry protection against such calculating killers?

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy and other, uh, “less informed” government representatives, bureaucrats, and anti-gun individuals throughout the nation are advocating various gun bans and restrictions (see for example H.R. 1022, mayor Michael Bloomberg’s coalition against guns, etc., etc.). I resent this! Why are these people so desperate to take away my right and ability to protect myself from huge, vicious animals that might think I would make a good meal? More importantly, why are they trying to rob my children of their right and ability to protect themselves from two-legged animals that would do things to them that could be worse than getting eaten?

If this is a result of ignorance, then may God preserve us from such ignorance. It is up to us, the People, who comprise the Sovereign of our nation, to educate them about the reality of life. But if this effort to rob us of our sacred rights originates from a “power ego”, a desire to dominate and control, then may God have mercy on them as they face the consequences of their actions.