December 1993
How safe is it in the woods? Is there an eternal, undeniable, inescapable risk of life and limb? Are bear really as dangerous as we have heard? Or are they as goofy and playful as Yogi, or as philosophical as Pooh?
There are, of course, no definitive answers to these questions, but there is some illuminating information. Paul Rauber wrote an article in 1993 for Sierra Magazine. It’s called When Nature Turns Nasty, and gives us some true facts on the dangers of hobnobbing with the residents of the wilderness, and sheds light on what the media has done for the reputation of, among other critters, the bear.
Grizzly bear kill about one person every other year. We humans respond by labeling the occurrence “epidemic.” From Rauber’s article: “In the month following two deadly bear attacks in south-central Alaska within a two-day period in July 1992, seventeen bear were killed [by humans.]”
Paul Beier, lion specialist at the University of Arizona, comments on this human overreaction: “[It] helps satisfy the understandable grief of the family and the human instinct for retribution…”
But is this human reaction warranted? The most famous “predators” dangerous to humans in the wild, we believe are bear. They seem to get the most column space. Is this reputation realistic? Behold relevant statistics:
On average, 130 human deaths occur each year at the hands — you should pardon the expression — of the number one animal on the hit parade: deer. Deer, not bear. Actually, most of these deer-related human deaths occur when a human drives his car into a deer. Are bear second on the list of murderers? Nope. Number two: bees. Bees rank second with 43 deaths per year. Bear third? Again, nope. “Man’s Best Friend,” the dog, is next with 14 deaths, followed by rattlesnakes, 10, and spiders 4.
Where are the bear? Continue down the list until you get to the 15th most dangerous animal and there they are, trailing those perennial monsters, jellyfish and goats. In terms of statistics, bear are less dangerous than jellyfish and less dangerous than goats! Bear are famous for unprovoked killings of humans in the wild and yet, they average fewer murders than spiders, fewer even than dogs! And we invite dogs into our homes!
Given these statistics, Beier suggests, “…if our subconscious minds responded to more realistic risks, we’d all be having bad dreams about Bambi. Bear, however, may be a special case, because they are so much like us; plantigrades with eyes that swivel and mothers who dote on their young. (Many grizzly attacks occur, in fact, when hikers, joggers, or mountain bikers surprise a sow with cubs.)”
Let’s get a perspective on this alarming toll on human life, inflicted by the great untamed. Pittsburgh is one of the safest large cities in the United States. Yet, in 1992, there were 46 homicides. That same year, bear killed, in the whole country, two Americans. It reads like a lopsided football score: Pittsburgh, 46; the Bears, 2.
One more statistic. How safe are the woods, humans vis-à-vis humans. In 1991, there was one murder for every 10,000 persons. In our national parks, there was one homicide for every 16 million visitors. Outside the Parks, folks were getting offed at a rate far higher than inside. And by the way, those murders do not include the two accomplished by bear.
Now, in terms of safety, where would you rather be? How about a nice nervous prance through a mob of gangland spiders and street jellyfish!