Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Originally Posted By dla
I agree that there are more people in most areas. I haven't a clue about bear population 100 years ago
I've read up on this for this area, but please allow me some wiggle room on the stats I offer because I don't recall the exact numbers.
Here in Missouri most game was pretty well decimated in the years between the beginning of the Civil War and the mid 1930s. Deer, bear, turkey, and elk were almost extinct (Elk were extinct, and are just now being reintroduced). Ozarkers really were eating possum by 1910 and glad to get it too. I have a recipe in an old cookbook for it ("The Wise Encyclopedia of Cookery"). Bear would have been a delicacy if you could find one.
I'm pretty sure that by 1940 there were only about 40 deer in the entire State, half of them were in a herd on private property about 10 miles from where I live, the rest were in a herd up north of Kansas City. It is very likely there were no bear as well, but some did remain in the Ozarks of Arkansas that made it up here.
It's estimated that we have more turkey here now than when europeans arrived. Deer populations are very strong, and bear have indeed made a remarkable come back too since then. Much of the gains have been made in the past 30 years, that is certainly true.
I whole heartedly agree that people need to get on board with population management. We have a very well funded Conservation Dept. here and they promote hunting very heavily. It's generally upper middle class suburbs that border farmland and NF where cries against hunting to thin populations are loudest. They are also the loudest to complain when these animals become a problem for them.
First off , I personally have verry little bear expereince. i do hike and fish in a few palces in sc,nc tn mountains with dence populations. i always try to be bear aware and use safe practices.
But often when im hikeing alone. I remeber my grandmother once told me. son it not the bears that you can see you need to be worried about.its the ones you dont. And latter in life we were having a conversation about camping food and i mentiond bearbagging and she went on to say that its not the bear that wants your food you have to worry about its the one that sees you as food. My grandmother was a decendent of cherokee and blackfoot indian tribes that were native to alot of the same areas in which i still hike and fish. And as a child her and her family activly hunted anything that they could eat or trade.
so alot of times i find myself more worried about the bears that are not familar with humans. because i would agree that out of all the different animals. i have harvested as a hunter. a hiker like myself struggleing under a weeks food and gear is going to make for a pretty easy meal to stalk and take down.
i just wish i could figure out a way to get the local turkeys to start carrying packs and hikeing
_________________________
Some peopole live life day by day. Try step by step.
We had a black bear attack near here recently. A man was walking with his dog. The dog treed a bear cub and mamma bear charged and injured both man and dog.
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Oh... that's not good. I hope both recover. You can't blame the momma bear on that one, and the dog was just doing what dogs do, but I'd bet that dog doesn't mess with any more bears!
I am in agreement. We have lost hunting pressure on black bears in the last 20 years. There are now habituated bears in the Lake Tahoe Basin that do not hibernate and gain weight on human generated garbage during the winter. Some of these bears are over 500 pounds and have no fear of humans. The problem bears are either killed or airlifted into the mountains behind my house.
My neighbor works on some of the large estates at Tahoe. On the Cal-Neva peninsula there are 8 different bears he sees every week. Last May he was the victim of a predatory charge in broad daylight. No wuffing, no jaw snapping. He just put his head down and charged. My friend made it to his truck with 20 feet to spare.
Seriously, can you describe your source for such information? It is beyond the pale. Recent evidence suggests that some small proportion of black bears view humans as prey. Your arguement seems presumptuous though.
Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6800
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
Nighttime, I think we'd all like to see a source for that assertion. There is a lot more folklore than scientific evidence around (including on the internet) about bears. I grew up in Wyoming which teems with the former, so I'm pretty skeptical about anything that doesn't have a scientific source.
_________________________
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Originally Posted By nighttime
If a sow is defending her cubs, she may not eat you. But if the bear is foraging for food, it will keep trailing you and possibly attack and eat you.
Actually, that statement, while vague, is pretty much in alignment with what the study concluded. It is the male bears that will stalk and attack you though, females rarely do that, according to the study, and they rarely kill someone while with their cubs. I'm not sure the males actually eat you though, I don't recall reading that, but I guess they might at least do a taste test.
Sometime in the 90s I tried to remember bear encounters, and came up with around 60. There are probably another 30 or so that have left the memory bank. Only 2 or 3 could be construed as possible attackers. Many more were habituated to humans, and tough to deal with.
Really great reading is the book by the Craighead brothers that invented radio collar tracking in Yellowstone and did the first comprehensive studies on grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. "Night of the Grizzly". They were drummed out of the corps by the NPS for being too independent in their thinking.
Does any one remeber the days when the bears lined up on the road in Yellowstone and walked past the tent all night? Or how about waiting for the tram in Yosemite in the 70s and seeing 5 bears walk by? I did a job for the NPS once in Yosemite and stayed at Curry Cabins. There was a bear in the unlocked dumpster every morning on the way to breakfast.
Sometime in the 90s I tried to remember bear encounters, and came up with around 60. There are probably another 30 or so that have left the memory bank. Only 2 or 3 could be construed as possible attackers. Many more were habituated to humans, and tough to deal with....
ppine, did you read the article in the OP? The vast majority (88%) of black bear fatalities were the result of predatory bears
Thanks for the redirect. Dr. Herrero is a reputable source for black bear behavior. My neighbor was charged by a bear this spring up at Lake Tahoe while working on a remote estate. The bear did not warn of his intentions by wuffing or snapping his jaws. He circled around the construction site for about 30 minutes, put his shoulder down and charged. My friend made it to his truck with about 25 feet to spare.
Our long-time Sponsor, BackcountryGear.com - The leading source for ultralite/lightweight outdoor gear:
Affiliate Disclaimer: This forum is an affiliate of BackcountryGear.com, Amazon.com, R.E.I. and others. The product links herein are linked to their sites. If you follow these links to make a purchase, we may get a small commission. This is our only source of support for these forums. Thanks.!