The following advice is excerpted from?LOOK BIG:?Along with other Strategies for Surviving Animal Encounters of All Kinds?($15, amazon.com).
It’s amazing, if terrifying, to see bears in the wild. It is also rather jarring to look at them crawl up the carpeted stairs of the ski condo while a man hiding in the closet films it on his phone, then posts it on YouTube.
There are countless home videos such as these online of bears where they shouldn’t be: climbing on the car windshield while a baby screams in the backseat; throwing a swimming pool party in Connecticut, that was cute, in a NIMBY kind of way. There is additionally a recent incident at Lake Tahoe, not online, unfortunately: a tray of pot brownies, just from the oven, left cooling around the windowsill while everyone went for a walk. When the people returned, they found that the bear, like Goldilocks, had eaten them all up.
Encounters with black bears are on an upswing, says Ann Bryant, director of the Lake TahoeCbased BEAR League. “Twenty years ago, we’d get five calls a day; now we obtain 200,” she says: there are more tourists, more locals living among the bears–then leaving windows open, food out, trashcans filled–and never learning how to properly live with them.
“Fifty percent of times, we coach idiots,” says Bryant. Such as the dad who smeared peanut butter on his toddler’s nose, then waited for a bear to lick them back (photo op, he’d explained) or even the dude who left a cookie trail leading?from his backyard to his couch while he thought it would be fun to, you know, film a bear eating cookies while watching TV.
Please don’t feed the bears! When they get too accustomed to humans, they be a danger privately and us.
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In a heavily human place like Tahoe or Whistler, if your black bear is on your turf (deck, driveway, campground), it is rather simple, says Bryant. Be inhospitable. Clap, stomp, pound your window, yell. It’ll flee. Squirt guns, beach balls, gravel (thrown at its butt) help scare it off, too. “Black bears are big chickens,” she promises.
However, if you see a black bear or grizzly in the wild, on its own turf, it’s more difficult. Be respectful, a good guest. The number-one rule, according to Dan LeGrandeur of Alberta–based Bear Scare: Stay relaxed (uh, okay). Don’t scream or turn your back. Don’t RUN; it will chase you (bears can motor up to 35 mph). Provide space. Say hello, out loud, inside your most soothing yoga teacher voice–“Hi, bear. I’m human. Obtain the hell from here, please,” while slooowly backing away in the direction that you came.
It’s not about whether a bear is black or brown (and black bears can be brown, by the way), but exactly how a bear is behaving, says LeGrandeur. “Read its signals.”
It’s either scared and asking you to disappear (defensive) or wants to kill you and also eat you (predatory). No pressure, however, you have to figure that out fast.
Ears back, paws swatting, jaw clacking, huffing. Black bear cubs may climb a tree.
Retreat gradually while turned sideways and avoiding eye-to-eye contact. Appear as unthreatening as you know you’re.
Ears forward, head up, looking at you, quietly stalking.
Look big. Lock eyes. Shout. Throw stuff. Be intimidating; let it know who’s, supposedly, boss.
There’s a high probability the bear leaves. If it doesn’t and expenses? “%#@&.” Whether it’s defensive–most are-it’s bluffing. Probably. “At that time, it is a hope and a prayer,” admits LeGrandeur.
“Every muscle within your body is suggesting otherwise, but don’t RUN.” Instead, stand your ground and bust out the bear spray–98% of people who use it (properly) are unscathed. Comforting.
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Play dead.
Fight back, usually.
It depends. Is the bear defensive? Play dead. Predatory? Fight for the life.
Reprinted from?LOOK BIG:?And Other Tips for Surviving Animal Encounters of All Kinds?Copyright ? 2018 by Rachel Levin. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
