Warning Bells for Bears?

And how do you put the bells on the bear?

VERY carefully.

The only bells I use in bear country are me ringing church bells up on a very tall steeple. Even that is too close. If something happens to those bells I use railroad locomotive horns as a deterrent. As for bear scat, bears shXt in the woods. A place that I do not go through in bear country.

Good Luck, Old Salt

That's fine, if you don't live with the bears in the woods - unfortunately, the woods starts about 20 yards from my deck and goes on for many many miles. A tad bit hard to avoid the big rascals when they are in your back yard, front yard, side yard....

Crackle from megaphone somewhere on the perimeter..

"OK Mr. Phys, might as well just leave the pic-a-nik basket in the center of the yard and walk away".

Yep - for sure! That's the most frightening thing one can see in black bear country - Mama with a pair of cubs from that year in tow, and situated somewhere you need to be. You don't mess with this - just walk away.

Bears can be nice to see, behind bars in a zoo or over a mile away through binoculars. Unfortunately some of the "tree huggers" have also become "bear huggers". At my last residence we occasionally had bears roaming through the back yard but the police kept an eye on them. Four have been killed on the highway there and totaled one car. That state also had its first fatal bear attack last year. Guy was taking videos of it and didn't hear his buddies yell to run. Saw the video he was taking and it wasn't a pleasant sight or sounds. State wants to have a longer special hunt to cut population in half but many "hugger" protest.

The county I lived in before that was in a state more known for its murders, robberies, assaults, etc. than bears and it was only ranked as fourth worst. I feel for you with your near and close problems but between us, I'll take my chances facing big incisors than facing a Glock, Smith & Wesson or Ruger.

Keep the eyes open on the back of the head!

Good Luck, Old Salt

So far, in 35 years in this area, they have all run from me, not at me. My biggest concern is my cats. One in particular thinks she can out run them. When one comes into the bird feeder in the day (ALWAYS bring it in at night) she circles them until they charge her. Had one 250 pound bear do some real damage on my maple tree with its claws after said cat had irritated the bruin to the frustration point. That cats days are numbered.

Yes, I may be able to avoid a charging bear, if very lucky, but probably not a bullet. However, with the woods so close, in hunting season I have reasons to be afraid of stray bullets as well. This is "up on top" and quite flat for several miles straight behind my house. So, I'm not so sure I want extended hunting either.

Do grizzlies actually range that far east?

You can never trust a bear, they should all be exterminated....

....make my day....

Good that we don't have bears around here, since we are the race who almost eat everythin from dogs and cats, termites and ants.

A pistol is just likely to piss off the bear.

It's just another tool....best to go with a 12ga pump shotgun and 3" magnum shells...

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323417

http://www.examiner.com/article/wyoming-wolf-hunters-charged-by-grizzly-44-magnums-their-bear-spray

That's not a pistol, it's a revolver

Pistol or revolver; it's a 44 magnum. Enough gun to spoil any bear's day.

I have seen a Grizz take all 6 shots out of a .44 Mag in the head and ALL deflected off the forehead! all it did was piXX off the bear. It took 2 rounds from an 8MM rifle to stop it. IMHO NO handgun is a wise choice for bear protection.

Yeah, even a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world (at the time, as described by Dirty Harry), would just annoy a Grizzly.

Unless you were shooting the bear to save someone else's life, then it would make sense. You're shooting the bear with a .44 Magnum to 'draw agro' (if I may borrow the gaming term) away from the bear's intended lunch and towards yourself, sacrificing your life to give the other person a running start and (half) a chance of surviving to see tomorrow.

(Seriously, when God created Grizzly Bears, the next words out of His mouth were "Oh My ME! That thing's vicious!" followed by, "Gabriel, could you fetch My spare robes, I just soiled Myself.")

( as always, apologies to those who lack the sense of humor to view a mildly blaphemous joke without being offended. )

A bear catching a squirrel ? It must have been totally drunk in a very deep sleep.

Unless Sky TV is lying to me, different bears have different habits. Some like to eat stuff fresh, but others like to leave it to rot for a few days. If it's the latter, a best strategy might be to take some knocks and play dead. Not much chance of outrunning or climbing it (even if you've got them comfy shoes).

Bear Grylls advocates the noisy strategy (surely he's never wrong ). There's some sense to that, but for some bears it might be like a dinner bell. What's needed is something to startle the bear. Eat lots of beans before hiking.

I started this to lighten up the winter atmosphere,but missed my mark.

Sometimes engineers can be a humourless bunch.

Like I told my wife,when she said she was pregant again,I was just pokin' fun,and she went and took me seriously.

Would you be able to hear the Grizzlies pinching the little bells off? Would a large handbell cause ersine constipation? Staying in the woods would keep the bells from clattering on the pavement. Perhaps this why the church in Rome has bells.

Have you figured out what is causing your wife's condition?

Relax... have a brew

Is this an idea for a dinner bell for the bears. DING DING DING, COME AND GET IT

LOL, funny as hell!

For Polar Bears... the bell sure would mean, dinner is being served.

Several years ago I was in Montana teaching a HAZMAT class. After the class I had a little time to sightsee. I went into Glacier National Park. It was in the early spring before ANY tourists had arrived. I pulled into a parking lot, looking at my map deciding where to go for a hike. I was the only vehicle in the parking lot; I hadn't seen any other vehicles for the two hours I had been in the park. Kinda strange.

As a I was reviewing my map a National Park (NP) vehicle pulled up beside me. I got out of my car and met with the NP Ranger. I told him I was thinking about hiking in a little. He told me to be sure to make noise on my hike: talk, sing, wear bells on my boots so the bears could hear me before I surprised them. He said the bears were starting to come out of hibernation, and they would be hungry!

A couple of months later I was teaching another HAZMAT class at a federal agency and I relayed the story to the students. One of the students, from Montana, asked me if I knew how to identify grizzly scat. I answered no. He said the grizzly scat is the one with bells in it.

One time I was watching Grizzly Adams and he yells "Ben!" You see this bear roll over and scamper off. And then you realize here is a critter weighing half a ton moving mighty quick.

Black bears are probably even quicker. My very foolish wife went out to scare of the local 600 pound denizen from the bird feeder. Fortunately it did run - it was out of the yard faster than any animal I've ever seen run. She came back into the house a whiter shade of pale, when she realized there was no way she'd have gotten away had it decided to come forward and not run.

You ought to see them come down a tree - basically they just fall and catch themselves just before touch down - real scary if you're within a few yards.

In the movie "Grizzly Man" this guy would get that close to these bears. They were used to having him hang around. His mistake is he went back late in the season when the lowland bears moved on and the highland bears came down from the mountains. (Yum, yum.)

To identify the type of bear chasing you in the woods, the best strategy is to climb a tree. If the bear climbs up[ after you it is a black bear. If it knocks the tree down, it's a grizzly.

Readin this thread really made my day. I want to recount an old story I heard years ago about a grizzly called "Old Mose". When the two hunters sent to kill the beast were on his trail, with hunting dogs, they split up and a while later one hunters dogs had circled the bear. The hunter fired two shots into the shoulder with his rifle, the bear stood up and began moving his head back and fourth searching for the hunter. He spotted the hunter and began heading his way at speed. The hunter fired one more shot at 60 feet and got old Mose right between the eyes. Now I have paced off 60 feet, and thinking of standing there trying to get my sights on a wounded grizzly headed my way makes my hair stand up. A grizzly by itself is bad enough, but a wounded grizzly that close and closing...nope nope NOPE.

Guess I've just been damn lucky!

Been running a "bear bell" on which ever bicycle I'm riding for 10 years now, especially in the spring and early summer months when the cute little fuzzy cubs want to run out in front of you, then sit down and bellow for mama, who is ALWAYS near by. The bell keeps them at least far enough away so they only scare you when they scale a 30' tree in about 0.5 seconds. I have sent mama bears off my riding trail into the woods with a bell. At least the black variety don't care for that sound. Don't have the Grizzlies around here.

And,,,, if you are lacking in the common sense department, you have just been demoted to the bottom of the food chain.

...and demoted to the bottom of his stomach!

Having grown up in the north both arctic(polar bears) and Boreal forest(Grizzlies),I've been treed, chased and sniffed up close and personal(Grizzly snot on your forehead is a VERY odd experience!!!!). Never killed a bear in self-preservation(I was on THEIR turf).

Carried a 12 Ga. with 1 bear banger,2 rubber bullets,and 3 SSG (00BUCK). Never had to go beyond the rubber bullets......

One time, a guy was grabbed from behind by a bear, in desperation, he reached down and "pleasured" the bear. The bear, in ecstasy, released it's grip.

The guy escaped to his boat and looking back, saw the grinning bear on the shore waving him to come back.

Perhaps this is the origin of the term "grin and bear it"?

It is normal for graduate students to be assigned to most onerous jobs in any research project, jobs their professors don't want to do. When I was in graduate school, there was a story going around the Geology department about a Biology student assigned the task of measuring the core body temperature of hibernating bears in their dens...using a rectal thermometer.

Granted, hibernating bears are -by definition- heavy sleepers who won't wake easilly or quickly, but still, sending an intern out to do that is bordering on attempted manslaughter.

That's why I follow the Good Leader mindset: A Good Leader will not send someone to do a task the Leader us unwilling to do himself.

I was never able to verify the truth of that story. It probably got passed around the department to make us feel better less miserable about having to go out and do field work during black fly season.

As part of my duties... I do inspections in Polar Bear country. I have seen them many times in and around communities that I visit. Some communities have had a lot of trouble with them. We take special precautions to deal with the threat.

Without a doubt they are at the top of the food chain, unless you add firearms into the equation.

When people on the land here camp out, they often times use dogs as an early warning system. When people don't, bad things can and do happen.

Kimmirut is a community about 100 miles from where I live. The link below is to a site that has a story of and photos from a PB attack. The fellow injured... survived.

Warning... very graphic images. Click here.

My 600 pound neighbor says "He ain't scared of no bell."

That big rascal is not one you want to trifle with!

I have never really lived in bear country, with only a few visits. Although, I used to wander about in the Uintah Mountains of Eastern Utah somwhat, and there one can find blackies and grizz, but not many grizz. Not much worse to be run over by a bull moose that is intent on protecting his mating turf, though.

Have seen the photos from a few years back of an "uber brown bear", or what might be called an "UBEAR". The head on this thing was about the size of the largest beer cooler you have ever seen. It was killed after killing a hunter (who was well heeled), and eating his whole leg off the bone. Hard to "un-remember" pics like those.

Paws bigger easily than a man's head. I can't even fathom that much power in a beast that wants to make a meal of a human being. I expect his all-four stance was about hands even with a quarter horse.

Don't even get me started on feral hogs, as the yarns will get more and more wild.

My little friend is about half way to his hibernation weight. They look like big dogs in spring, and small elephants by late fall. This one came back in November and easily hit the 600 pound mark by then. He had a real taste for my wife's bird feeders. You ought to see what they do to a metal bird feeder when they want into the seeds. Unfortunately, this one was downed illegally in mid-summer about 3 years ago, not too far from my house. This one was actually tearing into cars if there was food in the car. A real nuisance, and someone took care of that for the PGC, since they didn't do anything.

The power in them is incredible. Seeing one scale a tree in mere seconds, while weighing many hundreds of pounds really impresses one with how much power is in those legs. Fortunately, that is what they have all done so far when I scare one with my mountain bike.

A few years ago I was following a small stream adjacent to a long narrow, developed campground high in the mountains hoping to get some good pictures.

I spotted a male black bear feeding from one of the empty campground sites and stopped to take a few frames.

Keeping my distance and opting for a 200mm long range lens I had taken several frames when suddenly an old Dodge van containing the campground host and another older gentleman screeched to a halt between me and the bear well within 20 feet of the bear.

The passenger emerged banging ferociously on a cowbell with a small hammer and charged the bear.

Despite my warning shouts the man was not watching the bear's demeanor nor his actions and would not stop.

The awful thought that I was going to have to shoot the bear to save the man raced through my mind so I advanced toward the bear improving my position for a clear shot all the time praying I wouldn't have to do so.

I continued to shout at the man to stop but he did not do so until he was within about five feet when the bear suddenly raised up on his back legs, his hackles up, and went into an attack posture.

My only thought and hope was to distract the bear so I started throwing rocks and yelling at the bear.

We got lucky and the man was able to get back to the van leaving all of us shaking but thankful.

The bear went a few yards downstream, turned around suddenly and returned to the campfire pit to continue feeding.

Afterwards the host stated that it was the first time he had ever experienced a bear that did not retreat when confronted with the cowbell banging noise.

I would be very cautious about depending on bells or any other noise making device to repel bears over a long period of time as they get used to the noise not being a threat and it just angers them.

"Speak softly and carry a big stick"? No, you better carry a firearm capable of doing some serious damage to the bear if you are going into their territory.

And by the way; "Always save the last round for yourself if you want to avoid more pain than you could ever imagine."

No, you better carry a firearm capable of doing some serious damage to the bear if you are going into their territory.

Have you ever ridden mountain bikes? We have a saying that if you didn't wreck on a ride, then you weren't riding hard enough. Unfortunately, even in my mid 60's, and much caution to avoid injury, as they hurt more each year, my riding habits are such that this is very close to the truth. I put the bike down at least 10 times each year when the bears are out and about. Dirt paths vary in slipperiness quite a bit depending on moisture content of the ground, and can change day to day. Last thing I want is a pistol/revolver somewhere easily accessible on my torso that could be discharged in an over the bar, or the very common side slide out. Despite my location in prime hunting territory, I have only an old 22 available, last shot in 1986 - not very bike friendly. I don't hunt.

Might as well not carry the .22, you will shoot your eye out! Or just make the bear really ticked off. Maybe a better trick is to carry a granola bear, and throw that at the bar, and run downhill. Or you could carry a bag of Haribou gummy bears, and throw them at the bear. He will eat them, and then have to run off into the woods to answer the immediate call to diarrhea, if it doesn't kill him out right, next time steer clear of the bear, as he will only fall for that trick one time, and might even remember that you tried to poison him with those candies.

When I still lived in Whitehorse Yukon, The Mountain biking group recommended you carry a water pistol filled with Ammonia for Bears,dogs, etc. The bears have poor eyesight but excellent sniffers and the ammonia stops them from using both senses on a temporary basis with no permanent injury.

Yes, I have done that also but had trouble with the ammonia leaking out of the pistol and could not find one that would hold up to the ammonia for very long.

never tried it myself(I prefer Remington). The cook at one of the mines in Dawson kept an old brass hand pump fire extinguisher by the cook shack door full of ammonia.

Yes I have ridden mountain bikes and I know exactly what you mean.

The only hunting I do is with a camera.

As far as a firearm being accidently discharged during a bike wreck or any other incident goes; If there is not a round in the chamber, the firearm cannot be discharged except intentionally by the person holding the weapon.

Trespassing in locations where dangerous animals live without having adequate protection and knowing how to use it is like playing with dynamite or a live grenade in that sooner or later there will be an incident and the results will not be within your control.

For me retreat from the confrontation is always the best choice however, the more time a person spends in the wild, the greater the odds are that there will be a time when retreat is not an option since there is not a human being in this world that can outrun any bear on flat ground much less in rough territory and all bears can climb any tree that a human can.

Interesting that most people do not know that a .22 caliber weapon has more penetrating power at close range than higher calibers.

I know more than one bear hunter that uses a .22 for killing bears. (Small hole, less damage to the pelt so it's worth more money.)

A bear to me is a very unique animal that has my highest respect and I would never consider killing one unless it is a choice between them or me or another human being.

You know, come to think of it, the .22 cal slug is known for "going on the grand tour", and if it can get in the bear's cranium this will do just fine. Good luck be safe.

Trespassing in locations where dangerous animals live without having adequate protection and knowing how to use it is like playing with dynamite or a live grenade in that sooner or later there will be an incident and the results will not be within your control.

Never do that. All my riding is on the ancient lease roads around here, and even the PGC when they are busting ATV riders, tell me I'm okay to ride there, as well as any land owner I've ever encountered. Only the hunters tell me to get if I run into one. Most of these roads haven't seen a car in 40 years, so all I have is 2 parallel trails through the woods, usually somewhat cleared by ATV's, and hopefully not too washed out on the hills. (there are some hills that need to be walked) This area has seen major drilling spurts at least 5 times since the 1880's and new roads built every time, and abandoned in about 15 tears. Currently we have a spurt and it has given me very good access to the older roads, with only a 1/2 mile run down paved roads.

I have yet to encounter a bear in the woods that didn't turn and run, and I move quickly the opposite way. In my own back yard is where I've encountered the ones that don't want to move. My bird feeder can become a problem area at times. I nearly got mauled 2 years ago trying to get my cat to leave the feeding bear alone. She's not too good a judge of size apparently. He took out his wrath on my maple tree, instead of me.

I have yet to encounter a bear in the woods that didn't turn and run

Interesting. From the little I know (not many bears in the UK), I'd expect that to be the norm, though I can't grasp cycling in bear territory without any form of defence/plan b. Perhaps TV exagerates the risk ? Whatever the case, it would be bad news to meet a 'not quite the average' bear.

It sounds like you live in a remote area. Bears that are 'urbanized' must be a whole different thing (?). My only problem is foxes and gulls messing with the trash - hardly on a comparable scale, though both can become very ballsy when living alongside people.

In keeping with OP's intent, get a tandem and sacrificial rider. Either that or wear a bear suit and act very friendly .

Really not that concerned about when I am riding - the combination of the bike and myself in rapid motion, and my bear bell, has an effect on them. Ten years - lost count of number of bears - ALL ran so far. I had one think about fighting for a couple of seconds once, when her cub was bawling for her and running from me, but even then, as I kept rolling along rapidly, she turned and ran into the woods. My real problem is in my own backyard. The pix I have submitted previously are from there. They have come right up on my deck looking for food, while my wife and I were just inside the door with only a screen between us and the bear. And at night, even with a light, you've never seen something so black. They seemingly melt into the darkness of the woods until they are right up close to you, unless you see the gleam of those beedy little eyes. This is my problem area. (I could submit a couple dozen night shots taken of our bird feeder area with bear foraging for left over seeds) At night with food around, then they become fearless - you can yell at them, make loud noises, shine lights on them and they won't leave. Note - I don't cycle at night in this area, except after they've been in hibernation for a couple of weeks. Never want to run into one at night.

That's a fasinating image - major event in my garden is seeing a hedgehog ! I'll not divert, but hedgehogs are completely amazing critters.

You mentioned them sometimes going for the birdfeeder. Do they not ever get curious about cooking smells from the house ? A large and determined bear versus normal household windows and doors is surely no contest. I was about to jokingly say I'd go to Skeggy this Summer, but fact seems to be that a large number of fatal encounters are down to naive visitors in bear territory.

Does a Tazer work on a bear ? It might need jazzing up, but is maybe a non-lethal weapon of last resort.

Cooking smells - well, you never put garbage out for collection until very close arrival time of the truck. But, we also have a family of racoons living just behind the back yard that will be most likely to get to the bags first, and they just make a horrible mess of it. I really don't like picking up cans and bottles scattered all over my drive way. I don't live completely remote - I'm in a small un-incorporated village of about 100 or so people, and there was a case of a bear breaking down a cellar entrance door to get into where a woman was making blackberry jam just a few houses away. We also watched a bear come up on our deck and come right over to the kitchen window to tear down our humming bird feeder and cart it off to the woods. Yeah - we didn't try to intervene. Actually, PGC (game commission) discourages any of us up here feeding birds for just that reason, but everyone still does.

Ta. The topic is very interesting for us Brits who live in a place with almost no dangerous creatures.

this bear went through the living room picture window. VERY Sad, I knew these folks.

http://www.yukon-news.com/news/grizzly-mauls-teslin-woman-to-death/

LOL! Maybe the bears need to wear the warning bells, if one is Alaskan, bear is for dinner. People that stupidly go hiking in bear habitat with no protection become the just dessert.

Warning from Bears:

Hey Booboo! I would not go out there right now, I destroyed.

Warning from Bears in the NE right now - hey Booboo - don't go out there right now - it's freaking frigid - stay in your den and sleep. Can you say -5 F as a predicted high on Sunday? No bears around right now - of course, there are few humans who would try biking at those temperatures either.

There's not a lot of empathy for the bears going on here.

Somewhere I'd heard that prior to hibernation, and having stoked up on fuel, bears eat twigs/moss and assorted garbage to constipate themselves and thus conserve every last morsel of nutrition in those winter months. It sounds slightly logical, but when they wake up there will be two things on their mind - 'I'm hungry, and lordy do I need a crap'. Several months of constipation is, I'm guessing, not going to be much fun. Possibly gives rise to the expression 'like a bear with a sore head'. Sore head ? erm.....

At least one source confirms.

Imagine the scene.. you wake up after a long and deep sleep. Half your guts are cring out for a good ****. the other half is crying out for a good snack. Long-pork turns up, bells clanking. Kill in annoyance or eat the ready-meal ? It must be a tough choice. Heck, they might think it's Christmas.

As a point of interest... Polar Bears do not hibernate.

Interesting. I guess that's because it is always winter in, around and north of the Arctic Circle. Kidding. I know there are actually seasons up there.

Polar Bears are lousy hunters when the ice is out. They rely on the ice to catch their preferred food source, seals. They live off of mostly body fat when the ices is out. This is the main reason that climate change (please... no climate change arguments) endangers them so much.

Yeah, but they're only going to eat Canadians .

That's a bit of a cheap shot from me, but it's only intended as a terrible bad joke. OP didn't specify which type of bear (or food, come to think of it). Polar bears have been hybridizing, and I'm not certain of the range that 'Northern bears' now have.

If some big critter lived where I do, I'd not venture out without some sort of escape/defence plan. The whole concept of living alongside potentially dangerous animals is completely alien to Brits.

There's a brilliant CR4 irony going on - jokey post get's a mixed bag of replies, hilarious and factual. A serious post will get the same responce, but in opposite order.

Hey, seriously, I was in a circus act "Ben Sthil und his bear Hans" until the bear became unreasonable.