So…we recently had a bear situation.
My husband and I went to Asheville, North Carolina, to tour the Biltmore Estate. What a stunning property and house! I don’t know if house is the right word. Mansion doesn’t even do it justice. Castle, perhaps? It’s breathtaking. We rented an Airbnb for a few days and, on the way to the estate, took a wrong turn (okay, more than one!). Things got a little heated.
While I was fiddling with my phone’s Maps app and yelling at the GPS voice telling me to “proceed to the route,” my husband said, “Are you seeing this?”
I looked up, and there was a black bear crossing the road in front of us! Of course, by the time I pulled up my camera app, the bear had disappeared into shrubbery along the side of the road. We’d been noticing people jogging and walking their dogs in the park along the river where the bear had gone. Yikes. I hope they were safe.
Naturally, my hubby and I started discussing what would we do if a black bear appeared in front of us at a park. I told him I’d probably just die. I don’t see myself fighting off a bear. But you never know. Stranger things have happened.
Fast forward to last week when I saw this headline, “Punching an Attacking Grizzly in the Face Might Work, but not Recommended” by Mark Heinz via CowboyStateDaily.com. Apparently, a man in Canada was riding a mountain bike when he came across a mama grizzly with two bear cubs. The bear came at him, knocking him down, and he kept his bike between them to protect himself. She kept coming at him. Out of options, he punched her in the snout, got on his bike and escaped. From the above article:
“Grizzlies almost never attack people with the intent of trying to kill and eat them. But when that happens, all bets are off,” Neal said.
“In the case of a predacious attack, then the victim must fight back with everything that he has, and the nose and eyes should be his top targets,” Neal said.
I didn’t realize punching a bear in the nose could be used as a last line of defense. It got me to thinking about the black bear in Asheville.
What would I do if I came across a black bear?
The National Park Service website (NPS.gov) recommends the following if you’re in a bear situation.
“If you are attacked by a black bear, DO NOT PLAY DEAD. Try to escape to a secure place such as a car or building. If escape is not possible, try to fight back using any object available. Concentrate your kicks and blows on the bear’s face and muzzle.” (Staying Safe Around Bears)
And for grizzlies?
“If you are attacked by a brown/grizzly bear, leave your pack on and PLAY DEAD. Lay on your stomach with your hands clasped behind your neck. Spread your legs to make it harder for the bear to turn you over. Remain still until the bear leaves the area. Fighting back usually increases the intensity of such attacks. However, if the attack persists, fight back vigorously. Use whatever you have at hand to hit the bear in the face.” (Staying Safe Around Bears)
To summarize–if you come across a black bear, ESCAPE! If escape is impossible, punch its face. But if you come across a grizzly or brown bear, PLAY DEAD! If playing dead is impossible, punch its face.
Have you ever had a bear situation? If yes, what did you do? If not, what do you think you’d do?
Thanks so much for stopping by!
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Jill Kemerer is a Publishers Weekly bestselling author of heartwarming, emotional, small-town romance novels often featuring cowboys. Her essentials include coffee, caramels, a stack of books and long walks outdoors in Ohio where she resides with her husband.
I’ve never seen a bear in the wild only at the zoo so the situation would never arise.
I hope I only ever see one in the zoo again!!
I met a black bear in the wild once as a teenager. I calmly backed up and quietly got into the car about ten yards away. The bear didn’t pay me much attention. She was more interested in the nearby trash can.
I’m impressed you stayed so calm! I don’t know what I would do!
I’ve never seen a bear in the wild, and if I did, I’m not sure I’d remember the info! Who knows though, until you’re really in that situation!
I don’t think I’d remember, either! Yikes!!
My parents are in the mountains of Northeast Tennessee. Black bears are around a lot. They keep a loaded shot gun and fire it to scare the bears off.
Momma bears with cubs are the ones to avoid. They’re protecting those babies.
Don’t climb a tree to escape a bear–they’ll climb after you.
Wow, that’s really cool your parents are used to dealing with bears! Yeah, I don’t want to “poke” the mama bear!
Your post brought back some fun memories, Jill. My husband and I were hiking to a waterfall on a little used trail in either Georgia or Tennessee. (I can’t remmeber which waterfall trip this was.) We heard rustling to our right and through the trees we spotted a black bear. We froze, but the bear was far enough away that we didn’t feel the need to try to escape. I managed to snatch a fuzzy picture of him before he wandered away. We continued our hike and didn’t see him again, but every time we heard something rustle, we stopped and scanned the area, a little worried we were being stalked. Made for a high-adrenaline hike. 🙂
Ooh, “waterfall trip” has a nice ring to it! I’m sure it must have been eye-opening to actually see a bear on a hike! I’m impressed you managed even a fuzzy picture. I fumble around with my camera so much, I never catch anything. Yes, high-adrenaline hike, indeed! 🙂
I have seen bears in the wild. However, I kept my distance. It was scary as it was a momma bear and cubs and these dummies were approaching it until a ranger came by.
Why in the world would anyone approach a mama bear and her cubs? It’s like they want to get attacked!
No, have never had an encounter with a bear. I doubt if I would remember what to do though. Lol
I don’t think I’d remember, either!! Haha!
I haven’t encountered a bear, but I have come across a few moose and they can be pretty scary, especially if they have their babies. Thankfully, no crazy situations yet.
Aww, it would be fun to see a baby moose! From a distance, of course!!
Keep away, particularly if it is a momma with babies. There is none more ferocious that a momma caring for her babies. If you see them while driving, give them the road, such as the road around Gatlinburg, the town, as they are known to cross the road frequently as they did when we took that scenic road around Gatlinburg. I have also seen a bear in the trees over a small creek just outside the Hampton Inn. I was in a guest room when this occurred. Animal control came to tranquilize it and remove it back into the park. You see lots of bears in and around the mountains. Such a wonderful sight to see raw nature. We used to live in Townsend, TN, and they were doing some work within Big Valley Resorts, which meant the back fence was down. I used to walk at about 4 am before going to work and later was told someone had spotted a young bear in the subdivision. I believe I ceased my walks after that occurrence.
Yeah, I am with you about avoiding them as much as possible! That’s really scary about the bear having to be tranquilized. Yikes! I wouldn’t be walking in the dark, either!
I have never encountered a bear, but one was roaming a city near where my cousin lived and I thank goodness we were in the car going home…
I thank goodness you were in the car, too!! Scary!
No I’ve never seen a bear in the wild but my son had one come through his yard and they live out in the country .
That must have been something, seeing it go through his yard!
I saw two sitting under a darn tree in Yellowstone one time. Putting human thoughts into it, we felt like they were watching tourists drive past but who knows. I’ve seen one in Maine several times, I think it was the same bear with multiple sightings because the friend I was visiting said they had seen one pretty often and thought it was staying close to their place at the time.
I like to go to Montana and in some towns you’ll see large bear trapping devices but I’ve never seen a bear there and don’t feel bad about that at all. Just seeing the warning signs scares me but not enough to stay away. 🙂
I live in California and there are bears around but afaik they don’t attack people. I’ve heard the same thing you mentioned about punching them in the nose. With grizzlies, I don’t think anything would help though.
You’ve had a lot of bear encounters! All I need is the warning sign, too. I’m staying away!
We live near a bear preserve in the Blue Ridge Mountains. There are many bears and there are issues all the time. Our daughter’s cabin is in the woods adjacent to the preserve. There trail cams have picked up 2 big ones and a few moms with cubs. They are having issues with one that is likely about 2 years old. He is eating berries only about 20 feet from the house and doesn’t pay any attention when they yell at him and try to scare him off. A neighbor has two pictures of a huge bear.
Even though we are on the other side of the river, there is a bridge near by. I have seen a bear crossing the road at the bridge. All told, I have seen 5 “in person.” They do come over here. Our son was attacked by one in the pasture behind our house. The dogs were harassing it one night and he went out to get them in because they wouldn’t stop barking and wouldn’t come. There was no moon and he had no idea there was a bear until he walked up on it. He doesn’t remember who swung first, but he punched it in the nose and it swiped his arm. He ran back to the house, diving through the barbed wire fence, the dogs following. We were not home at the time and he didn’t go to the doctor. The fish and game warden told him he should, but he didn’t. He has some nerve damage and a respect for bears.
We had a bear come between us and our car, burt she finally walked off into the woods. My husband and grandson had a young grizzly show up on a path they were hiking in Teton National Park. Luckily it headed back into the woods. In most cases, they will leave you alone. Unfortunately, people feed them and leave out food they can get to. They are doing the bears no favors. This makes them associate people with food and they lose their fear and caution around people. That makes them a danger and most often results in their being euthanized.
Bears have been seen trotting thru my yard almost every day. I had to have special clamps on my garbage pails, but they still like to swat, claw and roll the pails around the driveway. One cracked the glass on my living room window swatting at a bird feeder. I have several photo’s!
I used to enjoy walking the trails behind my house, but now I’m overly cautious and the only walking I do is when I have to bring the pails down to the road on garbage pickup day.
Once the bears go into hibernation the yard and trails should be safe again, but we still have the coyotes and other mean critters . Although I wouldn’t trade country living for city living ever again!
No and I hope I never do. I’ve heard that you’re supposed to make yourself as tall as possible and make a lot of noise to scare them off. Yikes!