Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Bears

California has a bear population that seems to have mostly absorbed the west coast laid-back, surfer-dude temperament.

I want to introduce my wife to some back country overnight hiking this summer and she is freaked out by bears. (to many viewings of Nat Geo programs is my guess) Personally I'm more concerned with lightning. I have always used a bell on the belt as a noise maker for bears per a rangers suggestion in the back country of Yellowstone. Though I own guns I don't feel it's prudent to carry one while backpacking.
Any suggestions to provide a better comfort level for my wife?

Bears don't kill people, people kill bears
Ann Bryant
September 2003
We are now at the end of another summer season, which, as usual, took its toll on our bears. Let me ask you, my readers, how many people do you think were killed this summer by bears in Tahoe? Or in California for that matter? Actually, I’d like to expand on that and ask instead, how many people have ever been killed in California or Nevada by black bears (the only species left alive in either state)? Some of you will be amazed when I tell you, factually, (ask the DFG) that no person has ever been killed in either state by a black bear……..ever!

Now I want to share with you something I find extremely disturbing. Just this summer alone, so far, we humans have killed at least seven bears. Two were accidentally hit by cars, but the others were deliberately shot and killed. I hear over and over again how dangerous these bears are. But they are, in reality, the ones whose lives are in danger. They are dying at our hands, we have not lost a single one of our species at their paws. Who is the dangerous animal?

One of our mother bears was shot by a part-time resident across the river from the entrance to Squaw Valley a couple of weeks ago because she had the nerve to try and get at his garbage which he’s never bothered to secure in a bear-proof bin. This person had a bear in 2001 who tried to get his garbage and he threatened to kill that one too, but I ‘mentioned’ it to the Tahoe World and he changed his mind for the meantime. But did he get a bear-proof enclosure? No. Instead, two years later, he takes his gun, sits outside and waits for the bear to come onto his property and shoots her three times while she attempts to run away (all shots were verified in the rear). She had two six-month-old cubs. They were still nursing. They keep coming back to the area where their mother was killed, looking for her. This person has told the neighbors he plans to shoot them too. (Where do people like this come from?)

I remember getting the call, early this spring from someone who lives in Squaw Valley, telling me “We have a mama bear with two adorable cubs! I just saw them passing through and I wanted you to know about them so you can make sure to keep them safe” We never had a single report, all summer long, of them getting into any trouble. One time, acting like a very normal mother bear, she swatted at someone’s dog up near a hiking trail for chasing and tormenting her cubs. What kind of dumb animals would they be if they didn’t defend their babies? (Once again, please make sure your dog is under voice command or on a leash while in the bears’ territory)

In Homewood, another part-time homeowner leaves a window wide open with a bowl of peaches on the dining room table just inside. A hungry bear (bears are always hungry) passes by and starts to come in the window for the irresistible treats inside and is immediately scared off by the husband who awakens while hearing him trying to come in. One week later these same human beings, believe it or not, leave their summer cabin unattended for two weeks with another dining room window wide open, even after knowing first-hand what comes natural to a bear. So, of course, a bear comes right on in and raids the kitchen, eating just about everything he can find (which is a lot!). No one is there to chase him off and so he thinks he’s got some great friends. He’ll be back. It’s an old cabin and the owners haven’t felt it was important enough or worth the expense to put in a bear-proof garbage enclosure, even though Environmental Health, the DFG, the BEAR League, the Sheriff, their caretaker, and the neighbors…..recommended it highly. So the bear tries to get the garbage in the 1920’s wooden garage and that is simply more than these people can tolerate. After all, we just can’t be expected to be bothered with this anymore, these bears have to go!

So, by demand of these people a trap is set one week later in their yard, which is a natural pathway to the Lake for many of Homewood’s bears. Two nights later our gentle old male bear, Brutus, enters the trap and is shot and killed by the trapper hired by the DFG to do the dirty work. Brutus was a very large bear. The bear who entered these people’s house left muddy footprints on the outside wall, they were small, no bigger than what a two year old could make. This same two year old was caught attempting to enter other houses. Since Brutus was killed five additional houses have been raided by the two year old. Brutus never entered anyone’s house. He never would, and he never will. He is dead.

I remember getting calls about him from the people who live here in Homewood when he was first seen in our area. Everyone commented on how big and beautiful and shy he was. He would pass through in the night on the way to the Lake, never bothering anyone or anything. People would call just to say how magnificent he was and how much they appreciated seeing him, and to ask us to please keep him safe.

How I have failed, our bears and the people who counted on me to protect them. I wrote my ‘tips’ in the newspapers (but who read them). I spoke at numerous meetings all summer long (but it was mostly ‘locals’ listening and they already know). The BEAR League hung posters up all over the basin (but tourists stole them to take home because they were ‘cool’). Since the year 2000, twenty-four of our bears have been deliberately shot and killed by depredation permits and twenty-seven have been hit and killed by cars. I don’t have statistics on how many were killed by hunters (because it sickens me to think about it) but I know there are many.

It’s time to permanently cast away our rampant, ignorant, blatantly false misconceptions about who the dangerous creature is, we need to wake up and take a look at the real picture ………Who is killing who?

The BEAR League can be reached by e-mail at bearsnsquirrels@sbcglobal.net or through our website at: www.savebears.org or by calling 530-525-7297.

A big revelation to me was how reluctant black bear mothers are to defend their cubs against people, even when the family is cornered in a den and I'm trying to stick the mother with a needle to tranquilize her. Defense of cubs is more a grizzly bear trait. There is no record of anyone being killed by a mother black bear defending her cubs, and attacks are very rare. We routinely capture black bear cubs in the presence of mothers and have never been attacked.

Black bears are so timid today partly because they evolved alongside such powerful predators as saber-toothed cats, American lions, dire wolves and short-faced bears, all of which became extinct only about 12,000 years ago. Black bears were the only one of these that could climb trees, so black bears survived by staying near trees and developing the attitude: run first and ask questions later. The timid ones passed on their genes to create the black bear of today.

That timid attitude still serves black bears well now that people have spread across North America. Startled black bears run away, often to a tree. By contrast, a startled grizzlies may charge and occasionally attack, making grizzlies over 20 times more dangerous than black bears

Spray more effective than guns against bears: study


Guns were effective only 67 per cent of the time because shooting accurately during a grizzly charge is difficult, and it takes an average of four hits to kill a charging grizzly bear.

Most of the incidents involved grizzlies. The remainder involved black bears and polar bears.

The research dealt with concerns that wind can interfere with accuracy and can blow the spray back on the user. In 71 incidents studied, wind interfered with accuracy 5 times, caused minor irritation to the user 10 times, and caused near incapacitation twice. The spray was used at an average distance of 12 feet.

There were no reports of the spray malfunctioning unless one considers 11 additional incidents where it was applied to objects like tents. When used in that way, the spray attracts bears to roll in it.

Smith et al. concluded that bear spray is an effective alternative to lethal force.

Reference

Smith, T. S., S. Herrero, T. D. DeBruyn, and J. M. Wilder. 2008. Efficacy of bear deterrent spray in Alaska. J. Wildl. Manage. 72(3): 640-645.