there seems to be alot of resistance here to the ideas that bear encounters are changing especially in the last 15 years. when ever this subject is brought up there seems to be people that are not educated about this and feel the need to make jokes and minimize human bear conflict.

as we continue to overprotect our bears and they in turn loose there fear of man the encounters are showing a dramatic rise and in places where this did not happen before. eg new york, florida and other southern states these are documented . there is a real tendancy by many here to argue and joke using there old wrong beliefs.ie i treat them like a big racoon.

for instance let us talk of only black bears, they have become more dangerous than grizzly;s because of there loss of man fear, there increased numbers and they unlike grizzly' are much more prone to predacious human attacks . the area that i live in is full of both types of bears but the biggest danger is the predaciuos black bear.in fact this area is probally the most dangerous in the world for this reason alone. as populations expand this type of behaviour is showing up in more areas than ever.

here are some rules that should always be followed
.never expose your self to bear attack hazard without a defensive system spray or firearm.
.never play dead with any bear always defend yourself.
.if the bear is showing anger(defensive aggressive) ready your defense system and if possible back away slowly.
.if a bear is stalking you(predatory) ready your defense system,maintain eye contact,and quickly chase it off by yeling throwing rocks, banging pots etc.
.if you can not determine what type of encounter you are having ready your defense system stand your ground quietly and defend yourself.
.if your defence system fails or if you are foolish enough to believe it not nessessary to defend your self against bears then you have no choice but to play dead in a deffensive aggresive attack, and to fight back in a predatory attack. that is if you can clearly understand the differences.

and lastly this subject should not be taken lightly educate yourself properly read the bear encounter survival guide by james shelton. i am not a fearmonger but a realist.times are definattly changing . i have been personally been bluff charged twice by a grizzly as well as stalked by a black bear ,both times i was carrying a 12ga and spray at the time they offered only a small margin of comfort . i can only imagine what it would have felt like with no defences at all. yours truly lyall