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8.14.08
Bear Necessities
An AT veteran talks about his encounters with black bears and
the hikers who fear them. Plus tips on what to do when meeting a bear on the
trail.
by
David Mills
.JPG)
A black bear meanders along the
Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire. (David Mills Photo)
IT WAS
MID-DAY AND WE HAD HIKED just a few minutes passed Rattle River
Shelter on the Appalachian Trail, several miles south of Route 2
in New Hampshire. I noticed a black shape moving near the trail
barely a hundred feet in front of me. I motioned to my hiking
partner to stop. We both stood there with a nervous calmness,
watching a black bear casually walking along the trail. The bear
started to move away from us, then stopped and began walking
towards us for a brief moment. I raised my voice, hoping to let
the bear know of our presence. The bear soon wandered off
towards the stream to our left. We watched the bear for maybe
half a minute, though it seemed much longer. This was my fourth
and closest encounter with a black bear on my 2006 Appalachian
Trail (AT) thru hike. As it turned out we were in no danger, but
I did manage to snap several great pictures.
As much as any other
animal in the eastern United States, it is the black bear that has been
and is most symbolic of wilderness. The black bear is strong and
untamed. It is also shy and elusive. To actually see a bear in the woods
is, therefore, an uncommon and exciting experience.
Not only do bears
strike interest and excitement in people, but they also strike fear.
Bears are predators and as such do not fear other animals, humans
excepted. For the most part bears just want to be left alone. I find it
curious that while many seek to experience wildness in their
recreational pursuits, they become frightened and very uncomfortable
when they actually find this wildness that they supposedly are seeking.
When I began my hike
of the AT, for hundreds of miles I heard frightening stories about
bears. “Hang your food outside,” people would say. Even if a shelter was
full and there were mouse hangs — string tied to the eve of a shelter
roof with a tin can at the bottom — many were still nervous about the
possibility of a bear encounter. I tried hanging my food bag at one such
mouse hang in a shelter and was roundly criticized by a hiker for doing
so. I tried to calmly explain that bears have no interest in being
around people (the shelter was filled with at least eight people and
more camped around it) but she was not assuaged. I hung my food bag
outside just to keep the peace. Yet one would wonder: How secure were
the food bags that were hung outside and away from the shelter? If the
food was hung close to a tree trunk, or less than 10 feet above the
ground, as was usually the case, they weren’t safe at all. Such is a
minor challenge to a bear. Bears are smart, or at least they can learn
fast. If food is within reach, they most likely will find a way to get
it.
As it turned out, I
did not see a single bear until central Virginia. I met a young man at a
hostel in Tennessee who was a rafting guide who also spent lots of time
in the woods. He told me that he uses his food bag as a pillow when he
sleeps in his tent. No hanging of food at all for him. Here we have a
fellow experienced with the back woods who doesn’t fear bears. I started
to feel much more comfortable at this point. Perhaps many of the hikers
were not aware that bears are not active during winter and early spring?
Even if they do not hibernate, they do go into a torpor where their body
metabolism slows down and they become inactive. That would explain why
no bears were seen in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.
I had my first
sighting of bears in central Virginia. It was just south of Tinker
Cliffs, and there was a female and three cubs walking left to right
across the trail, perhaps a hundred or so feet in front of me. It does
get one’s nerves up and I started making a little noise as I have heard
that is what one is supposed to do when near bears. A cub scampered up a
pine tree as I walked by. Zip! In maybe 10 seconds it had climbed a good
30 or 40 feet up the tree. No mother is ever far from its family, so
when a cub is seen close by it is best to keep moving which is just what
I did. In all of this, there was not even time for me to reach my
camera. I had additional bear sightings in Shenandoah National Park and
in New Jersey. The bears in Shenandoah National Park were already
walking away when I spotted them. The one in New Jersey was having an
early morning snack of berries. I stopped in my tracks and observed the
bear and snapped a picture. After a minute or so, the bear meandered
away and I continued my way northward along the trail.
Having hiked by now
over half the trail, and walked through bear country much of the way, I
had increased my comfort level with bears. They are actually quite
docile creatures with little interest in people. Many of the thru hikers
on the trail only saw bears in the New York State Bear Mountain Zoo,
where there is a Black Bear exhibit. My next and final close encounter
with a bear was in New Hampshire, just south of Route 2 near Gorham. I
had just hiked by a shelter and a bear was right there on the trail. The
bear showed little fear and I had the presence of mind to have my camera
close by so I got several very good close-up pictures using my telephoto
lens. After a couple minutes checking each other out, the bear moseyed
on its way. Like all the other bears I saw on this six-month journey
through the Appalachian mountains, the bear just wanted to forage and be
left alone.
People fear black
bears so much, yet there seems to be so little aggressiveness on the
bear’s part. I saw bears just a few times during the six months and
2,200 miles of hiking I did on this trail through some of the wildest
and most remote parts of the Eastern United States. At first along the
AT, everyone was hanging their food outside of shelters; 1,000 miles or
so later, almost no one. Food bags just go up on the mouse hangs under
the shelter roof. So one must wonder: Just how concerned should the
hiker be about bears? And is losing food or being attacked a real worry?
There is no question
that bears can be dangerous and humans have been attacked and killed by
bears. But this is an exceedingly rare event. One example is from a
story in the April 14, 2006 issue of the newspaper USA Today.
This article speaks of a bear that killed a six-year-old girl and mauled
her mother and two-month-old brother. The attack occurred near a
campground in Tennessee 10 miles from the nearest highway after several
adult visitors tried to drive it from the trail. Rangers believe that a
disease, tumor or parasite may have caused the bear to be more
aggressive than normal, according to the article. This attack was only
the second documented bear attack in modern Tennessee history. Lynn
Rogers, a bear expert from the North American Bear Center in Ely,
Minnesota, was quoted in the article saying that there has only been
about 56 killings of humans by black bears in the past 100 years in all
of North America, which has a population of around 750,000 black bears.
If you are to hike in
the woods often enough and in enough places, chances are you will
eventually encounter a bear. What to do in that instance? If you do
nothing else, remain calm. Do not try to run. Running away may seem
sensible, but it is completely counter-productive. In the first place,
the bear may give chase thinking you are prey. Secondly, you will not be
able to run faster than the bear, no matter how fast you run. Bears are
known to be able to run as fast as 35- to 40-miles-per-hour for short
distances, about twice the speed of the fastest human being. More than
likely, remaining calm, staying put, and waiting for the bear to walk
away will allow you to proceed along the trail.
Some hikers have a
strong fear of bears, probably more than is justified. I have seen some
carrying bear bells, others banging pots and pans, or yelling
relentlessly. This won’t deter bears as they have already heard and
smelled you long before you’ve seen them. What excessive noise will do
is drive other hikers crazy, especially those of us who go into the
woods for peace and quiet. Still others may think they are safer
bringing their dog with them. If you do bring your dog, be sure to keep
it leashed at all times. Otherwise, the free roaming dog may simply run
back to you for protection with the bear in very close pursuit!
While a healthy
caution is certainly a good idea, unrestrained fear is unnecessary and
counter-productive. It is a matter of simply following basic common
sense. Don’t surprise bears by sneaking up on them. Make some noise,
preferably by speaking occasionally in normal voice so bears know you
are coming. Control odors. Keep meals simple and hang food bags or use
any food storage device that is provided at your campsite. Maintain a
clean camp. There is also safety in numbers.
Finally, do not rely
on guns or pets. Both will aggravate the bear. If you carry and use a
gun, you had better be an expert marksmen. A miss or non-lethal shot
will surely enrage a bear and quite possibly cause him to charge towards
you, at which point your options are slim indeed. It would be far
preferable to use bear spray, which can immobilize the bear long enough
for you to get away.
Traveling through
untamed wilderness is one of the real treats of backpacking. Since you
carry everything you need on your back, you can go into very remote
areas. We must realize that part of the wilderness experience is walking
among and possibly encountering wild animals, and that includes bears.
If you do happen to see a bear, it is best to proceed with caution and
patience, not panic. Above all, though, you will want to have your
camera within easy reach. A memory as uncommon and exciting as a black
bear encounter should be preserved for posterity’s sake. Just remember
to use your camera’s telephoto lens so you maintain a safe distance.
Ж
.JPG) David
Mills has hiked throughout New England, as well as in the Alps
and Rocky Mountains. He has a degree in Environmental Studies and is a
student member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. He lives
in Concord, New Hampshire. |
