Re: [Paddlewise] Bears

>>
There are bears on Grand Island?!  Why didn't anyone tell me that BEFORE
I went on the trip at the Symposium!!! (Luckily, the trip was delayed,
and therefore cut short because of the morning thunderstorm, so we never
did actually land on Grand Island, so it was all good....)
>>

I *think* there are black bears on Grand Island, though we didn't see any   
when we camped there a couple of nights a few years ago. It is certainly
close enough for bears to swim back and forth between it and the   mainland.
There are lots of black bears in the Apostle Islands, too. On some   islands,
such as Stockton, they have become a nuisance; on others, such as Sand,
there are enough old apple orchards and other sources of food that they
have never bothered campers. Rangers have removed some of the most
troublesome bears to the mainland, but they usually return, which in some   
cases means a swim of several miles.

Not to worry; black bears that have become habituated to people are
usually interested only in people's food, not the people, and are more
of a nuisance to campers than to casual visitors. Injuries to people are
rare, and are mostly because people got too close while the bear was
feeding; usually what happens then is that the bear acts toward human
intruders as it would toward a bear intruder, and cuffs them rather than
bites. Also, black bears are not so protective of their young as are
grizzlies, perhaps because the young climb so well; I've heard that black   
bear researchers such as Lynn Rogers frequently get between a black bear
mother and her cubs in order to tag the latter.

An interesting problem is why black bear cubs instinctively climb trees
for safety -- what do they have to be afraid of? The answer seems to be
that back in the Pleistocene there were *BIG* bears that towered above
black bears and even modern grizzlies.

Though predatory attacks on humans by black bears are rare, they do
happen. There were a couple of attacks on people by one bear in the
BWCAW a few years ago, but that was the first since the early 50s. There
are literally thousands of human-bear encounters in the BWCA each year
in which no one is injured. However, about a week ago, a boy on a Boy
Scout campout in NW Wisconsin was attacked by a black bear while
sleeping. Fortunately, his father was able to drive the bear off, though
the boy sustained several bite wounds. In neither instance did anyone
die, because other people were nearby and were able to beat off the bear,   
but it was a terrifying experience and a near thing.

FWIW, I've made between 40 and 50 visits to the BWCAW, a notorious bear
hangout, and only once had a bear in camp that I know of, probably   because
I hang my food well, keep it out of my tent, and prefer the less used
campsites. Some people feel safer camping on an island, but I've probably   
seen more bears swimming in the BWCAW than on land.

Chuck Holst

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