How to Handle Bears in the Wild

Few things can produce as intense an adrenaline rush as a close encounter with a bear in the outdoors. One day while backpacking in Yosemite, a mother and her cub came into my campsite. I stood my ground. The mother and I eyed each other warily, then she turned back to her search for food. With a flick of her paw, she stripped the bark from a log, nosed around and moved on. Timothy Treadwell wasn't as lucky. After thirteen summers of living among the bears in Alaska, he and his girlfriend were found killed and partially eaten by their ursine neighbors. Here's how you can survive meeting bears in the wilderness.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

1. Don't attract bears with the smell of food. If you are camping, don't keep food or even toothpaste in your tent. The traditional method of protecting your food from bears consists of tying a rope around a rock, tossing it over a limb taller than a bear's full height, then using that rope to pull a sack of food close to a tree branch that wouldn't support a bear's weight. Bears have gotten smarter. They've learned that pulling on a rope can sometimes bring a pile of food tumbling from the sky. Some experts suggest hanging food from a branch with no rope leading to ground level. To retrieve it you'd have to use another branch to bend it close enough to retrieve. Dispose of your garbage properly. If you have to pack it out, put it in the bag with the rest of your food.

2. Back off should you see a bear approaching and it doesn't see you, or circle far around it. Don't surprise a bear. Mothers are very protective of their cubs; don't assume that small bears are less dangerous. If you see one alone, mom is probably lingering nearby.

3. Stay calm if a bear approaches you. Stand your ground. Raise yourself to your full height. If a bear approaches you it is probably curious. Start speaking in an increasingly loud low voice. Start waving your arms. If the bear gets too close, back off slowly and diagonally. Do not run. Bears are faster than Olympic sprinters. Don't try to climb a tree to get away. Bears can climb better than we can.

4. Know that if you are in the middle of fixing dinner at camp and a bear approaches your site, it's too late to put away the food. Start banging your pots and pans together. Throw rocks at the bear. Hit it if need be. Do not feed the bear or it will only want more food.

5. Carry bear spray. It's nothing more than heavy duty pepper spray. Don't use it indiscriminately. It will fend off a bear attack, but will cause pain to the animal.

6. Stay in your car. You are putting yourself at risk if you get out for a quick photo. Roll up the windows and hide any food.

7. Fight back with sticks, stones and any make shift weapons at hand if you are attacked. As a last resort, curl into a ball and get down on the ground. Sometimes a bear will stop attacking if it presumes that you are no longer a threat.