One concern of those who spend time in the woods is bear. In Yellowstone National Park, for example, there are both the black bear, with which we in the Northeast are familiar, and the grizzly bear, who lives in western North America. Watch out for griz, if for no other reason than its scientific name of Ursus arctos horribilis. You need to take precautions.
Don’t sneak up on a bear. Ever. Better to let them know you are coming. Some hikers wear what we call “bear bells,” which are just what you would think they are. Little bells pinned to your clothing so that the movement of your hiking makes the bells tinkle and alerts the bear that you are coming. This is a good thing. Tinkle, tinkle and no one is surprised and the bear will tend to leave you alone.
Some hikers also carry pepper spray which, if sprayed in the bear’s face, say, during a bear attack, irritates them something awful. All you need to do is to get up in the bear’s face with the spray. Hmm… I don’t know… Doesn’t sound like a good plan after all; the bear is more likely to get up in your face.
Keep an eye out for bear scat. Fresh scat indicates that a bear is in the area. If you see scat, take a moment to examine it, to know what kind of bear might be near. If you find berries, leaves or small pieces of fur, you are probably looking at scat from a black bear. Grizzly scat often contains little bells and smells like pepper.
Always respect Mother Nature. Especially when she weighs 400 pounds and is guarding her baby.
— James Rollins
My brother Laurence was camping with his best camping partner Doug when they saw a bear approaching in the distance. Laurence calmly but quickly sat down on a log and began to put on his sneakers. Doug said, “What are you doing? You can’t outrun a bear.” Laurence said, “I know. But I can outrun you.”
Don’t worry if you are being chased by a bear. You are running on dry ground, but the bear’s footing is not so good. She is running through shit.
The gypsies believe the bear to be a brother to man because he has the same body beneath his hide, because he drinks beer, because he enjoys music and because he likes to dance.
— Ernest Hemingway
In agreement with Mr Hemingway, I too have heard that bear like music. In fact, if you meet up with a bear, try singing to it. Hopefully she will not sing along. They are notorious for their inability to carry a tune.