To put the risk of Black Bears into perspective, about 37 people have been
killed by these bears in North America over the past 100 years.
Statistically speaking, you have a greater chance of being killed by
lightning or bee stings than Black Bears in the wild.
Although bear repellent is all the rage these days, a much more effective
safeguard is a simple small airhorn (the kind that work from a small can of
compressed air). These will usually send a bear running before they get
anywhere near to you.
Bruce Hamm
Ottawa, Canada
bhamm@xxxxxxxx
If I'm going into bear country, which is quite common around here, I carry
something a little more likely to put the odds in my favor than an airhorn.
It does make a noise , plus it has other advantages as well. There are a lot
of bear baits in this area, which can make them act more aggressively than
just normal encounters. Females with cubs are particulary not to be fooled
with, especially this time of year. I'm not sure about your statistics on
deaths from bear attacks, but I know of some attacks that have resulted in
some nasty injuries that have occured in my lifetime in this small part of
Canada alone. And we only have black bears. Generally however, they are
harder to find than get rid of. I've managed to photograph a few. Been
thinking about how to get a good photo of a live one.
Wayne
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|