Bear trap footage: A bear trap is set for release of bear. A bear suddenly exits the trap, running as fast as he can with excitement and disbelief, looking back intermittently as he makes his way through the tall brushes, disappearing into the forest.
A man, a Park Ranger, comes walking down the trail.
He claps his hands together, and begins to speak:
Hey bear, hey!
Hi, I’m John Waller, I’m the Glacier Park Bear Biologist.
My job here at Glacier is to help keep bears safe and to keep people safe and to make sure everyone gets along here at this beautiful national park.
We’re out here in Dutch Creek on the western side of the park, and what we’ll do today is talk a little bit about how we can be safe hiking in bear country.
Glacier National Park is the home of both black bear and grizzly bears.
And I was just making a lot of noise there to make sure I didn’t surprise a grizzly bear at close range.
Most of the encounters between bears and people in the park here happen when people surprise bears at very close range.
During the summer when all this vegetation is leafed out, visibility can be very poor, and so it is possible for people to sneak up on bears without meaning to.
So how do I prevent that from happening?
Well as you just saw, I clapped, made some noise, shouted out, ‘hey bear, hey’ just to let the bear know that I’m present and can move away.
The other things that I do when I’m hiking in Glacier Park is that I always carry bear spray with me and it is always accessible.
I can pull it out quickly and deploy it when I need to.
I highly recommend that all hikers in the park carry this, just in case.
So there you are, hiking through Glacier Park, and you see a bear, it’s close, what should you do?
The first thing I recommend that everybody know is the difference between black bears and grizzly bears.
So look for those characteristics that distinguish the two species.
Does it have a dished face or a more rounded nose?
Does it have a big hump on its back?
Is it grizzled in appearance, does it have sort of a silvery glimmery coat?
Does it have big claws?
Those are the main characteristics that will tell you whether it is a black bear or a grizzly bear.
Color is not a good distinguishing characteristic, because black bears in Glacier Park can be almost any color from nearly white to jet black and anything in-between.
And grizzly bears can also be quite dark or they can be quite light.
So look for those distinguishing characteristics, the hump, the claws, that dished face.
Those are the things that will tell you if it is a black bear or grizzly.
And the reason it is important is because your response to those two species is different.
Grizzly bears are much more dangerous than black bears; they have a greater defensive space.
A grizzly bear is more likely to charge you if you get too close.
So, if you know the difference you can gauge an appropriate response.
If I do encounter a grizzly bear on a trail at close range, the first thing I want to do is observe what the bear is doing.
Is he facing away, does he know I’m there?
It might be possible for me to just discretely move away without the bear knowing I was there.
I don’t want to at that point necessarily make a loud noise that might startle the bear and cause him to act defensively.
If the bear is looking at me, if the bear knows I’m there, the bear may not know what I am.
Sometimes the bear will stand up on its hind legs to get a better a better look at me.
So, be aware of what that bear is doing.
If that bear is looking at me and it appears as though he is trying to identify me, I’ll try my best to try to let him know I’m a human while backing away.
Say, “Hey bear, it’s ok, it’s just me,” and then I will continue to move away as best I can, and most encounters end that way.
The bear moves away, the people move away, everybody’s fine.
Sometimes if you get to close and the bear is startled, a grizzly bear my charge you defensively.
Quite often, grizzly bears will do what’s called a bluff charge.
In other words, they don’t really want to attack you, they want to, “put the run on you,” so to speak.
And what they’ll do is puff themselves up and look big and scary and come bounding at you with their front feet hitting the ground bouncing up and down, their head will be up and their ears will be up, they will be looking and you and will make huffing noises.
They’ll go, “fuff, fuff, fuff!”
That’s a bluff charge, and what he’s doing is seeing what you’re going to do.
The best thing to do during a bluff charge is to try and stay calm, and just continue to back away.
When the bluff charge starts, stop, hold your ground, and say, “whoa bear, whoa!”
When the bluff charge stops, continue to back away.
Again, it’s just telling the bear that you’re not easy pickings, I’m going to hold my ground, but I just want to move away from you.
That’s sort of bear talk; you’re communicating to the bear your intentions.
Sometimes if a bear is extremely defensive or a female with cubs, she’ll do a full-on charge.
That is different than a bluff charge in that it happens very quickly, they don’t make any noise, their ears and generally laid back on their head, they’re staring right at you, and they’re, “coming like a freight train.”
And there is not much you can do in that situation except play dead.
I think people often have a natural instinct to run when they see a bear.
That’s generally not a good idea for two reasons.
First, it triggers a bear’s natural chase instinct; they will just want to try to chase you down just because it could be fun.
And the second things is, is because you can’t outrun a bear.
Grizzly bears can outrun a horse at short distances, so the best thing to do if you think that bear is going to hit you, is to turn around and play dead.
So, if I had a bear coming at me I would stand.
If I didn’t have bear spray, the next best thing is to fall flat on the ground, with your feet spread apart.
If you’re wearing a pack, leave your pack on because it will protect your back.
Clasp you hands over the back of your neck, and hope that it ends.
If the bear tries to roll you over, just go on around and try to keep your pack between you and the bear.
In most circumstances the attack will be over in seconds.
Make sure you stay on the ground until the bear leaves the area.
Again that’s a very uncommon occurrence and doesn’t happen very often, but you should know what to do if it does happen.
But again, being aware of your surrounding is very important, carry your bear spray, and most important of all, make sure you make noise when there is a chance that you might encounter a bear at close range.
Many people are hesitant to hike in the park because they read about bear attacks and maulings.
I encourage people to know the risks, know your surroundings, the chance of it happening are very slim and you shouldn’t let it interfere with enjoying the park.