Black Bears and You

Having lived in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains my entire life, I have encountered more then my share of wild animals while hiking. I have been a nature and wildlife photographer for 10 years now, and have hiked my whole life. Seeing a black bear in the wild for the first time was not only a wonderful experience, but one that had my heart racing as I tried to remember what to do. Since that memorable occasion, I have seen and photographed multiple more black bears, including some cubs.

Black bears are becoming more prevalent in the area, with an estimated 1800 or so of the animals in the Great Smoky Mountains national park alone. There are several encounters with black bears each year, thankfully most are non fatal. There are many things to remember when in the wild to reduce encounters from becoming violent.

First and foremost, never approach a wild animal. Do not get close to it with your cell phone and try to take its picture, don't put honey on your kids hand to try and get the animal to lick it off, don't antagonize it, don't feed it. I see people literally do incredibly stupid things around bears. Black bears are not Winnie the pooh, or the Berenstain bears. They are 300+lbs of muscle with predator speed and instincts. A black bear can move at 25 mph, can climb trees, and can split your skull with its jaw. Its sense of smell is on a magnitude far above humans. And the term "mama bear" is very accurate. Come between a mother bear and its cub, or try to pet the cub will result in a blur of black coming through the underbrush, and you on your back trying to live. Cubs are off limits. In fact if you see a bear cub alone, very carefully survey the surrounding area, and make your way back the way you came as quietly as possible.

If you are camping in the backwoods, food management is a skill you must learn. Never leave food or scraps out, never store them in the tent you are sleeping in. Its best so suspend all food from a tree, away from your base camp. Do not feed the bear or throw it scraps. This is dangerous on many levels, both for bears and humans. Bears that become addicted to human food often lose the ability or the desire to forage for their own(think Yogi Bear) and will move closer and closer to civilization in an attempt to get more handouts. In some instances the bears become violent wanting their fast food handouts and have to be relocated or put down. Personally I am tired of ignorant people causing the death of wild animals.

When hiking or camping, pay attention to your surroundings. Look for claw marks on trees, bear scat, or other indications that you are in an area a bear frequents. If you see a bear, don't panic. Speak loudly and clearly so the bear can see you and not be startled. Once the bear identifies you it should move off. Pay attention to where it goes and do not follow it. If a bear changes its behavior and moves towards you, make yourself large and noisy. If the bear persist in coming towards you, realize it may be a bear that is addicted to human food. Grab a branch, or rocks, or bear mace and be prepared to use it. Never turn your back on the bear or try to run from one. Be noisy and loud. Black bear attacks for no reason are very rare. Most attacks come from interfering with the food, a present cub, or starling the bear.

Enjoy wildlife and nature, enjoy bears, but treat them with respect and they will be around for all of us to enjoy.