Still, it's always good to be prepared. The Park has the highest population density for black bears in the US, and there is a good chance of seeing them elsewhere. (A tip of the hat to Evan Dyson, who wrote a series of posts on black bear sitings on his Wildlife in Photography blog - see my blogroll).
The pepper spray can reminded me of a little poster that Howard has up on the bulletin board at Evergreen Outfitters...repeated below.
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Warning
Due to the frequency of human-bear encounters, hikers, hunters, fisherman, and any persons that use the outdoors for recreation or work related activities should take extra precaution in the field.
We advise outdoorsmen to wear noisy little bells on clothing so as to give advance warning to any bears that might be close by, so that you don't take them by surprise.
We also advise carrying "pepper spray" in case of a bear encounter.
Be on the look out for fresh bear activity and be able to tell the difference between black bear and grizzly bear feces:
- Black bear feces is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur.
- Grizzly bear feces has bells in it and smells like pepper.
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Of course, it is very unlikely you will see a grizzly bear in these parts.
2 comments:
Ha. Love that poster.
On a serious note though, I've said it before and I'll say it again, people have a tendency to blow up the level of danger with black bears. Of course it is wise to be prepared, but don't let it make you paranoid.
I just finished watching a show filmed out west with black bears tearing into cars. We are fortunate that there aren't many cases of that around here.
Speaking of bears... I may make a run on the park this weekend. We'll see.
A Grizzly bear walks into a bar and says:
"I'll have a rum...................................................................
and coke."
The bartender asks him:
"Why the long pause?"
The bruin looks at his oversized mitts and says:
"I was just born that way, I guess."
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