A friend stopped by the store yesterday. He had just returned from paddling Katmai, National Park in AK with three others. During the trip he said they counted 65 Grizzlies, many of them were roaming right through their camps. They made lots of noise and yelling as a group when that happened. The bears pretty much ignored them and went about their business of trying to raid their camp, clean out the empty brandy glasses with a tongue, test out the security of their bear containers for them, and even gently opening the cockpit cover of one kayak for a peek inside. They had a couple of cans of bear spray but never once used them, although they thought later that maybe they should have on one occasion. They wished they had purchased 4 cans of bear spray, one for each of them, rather than just two. I suspect, being "park bears" in a big park, that they aren't hunted at all and therefore have no serious fear of humans. I'll bet those bears would soon also become accustomed to "bear bangers" or any other non-painful items designed to frighten them off (especially if they start to be used regularly by human visitors with no subsequent consequences). Apparently flares hardly phase the bears, beyond quickly turning their heads to watch them whiz by. Years ago it used to be legal to carry firearms for bear protection in Alaska's National Parks, but apparently not any more. Does anybody know when the law changed on that, and what it is now? Matt Broze www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Bears who lack fear of humans and associate them with food are a mauling in the making. Grizz, Black, Brown, doesn't much matter. While I hesitate to generalize about bear behavior, most encounters with humans soon go sour under the above circumstances. Me? I'd be very hesitant to camp in a site after a number of such incidents have been recorded for that location. This would become even more ominous if their normal food sources are under stress and/or when they edge closer to the seasonal feeding cycles. Most maulings in places such as Glacier and in the Canadian Rockies take place in the fall. When bears are somewhat skittish around humans, and when they have not begun to routinely associate them as a ready food source (and when other, primary food sources are plentiful), humans and bears can tolerate very close encounters without much fuss or to do. -w *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> A friend stopped by the store yesterday. He had just returned from paddling > Katmai, National Park in AK with three others. During the trip he said they > counted 65 Grizzlies, many of them were roaming right through their camps. > They made lots of noise and yelling as a group when that happened. The bears > pretty much ignored them /snip/ > Years ago it used to be legal to carry firearms for bear protection in > Alaska's National Parks, but apparently not any more. Does anybody know when > the law changed on that, and what it is now? It would take a group of organised fire to fight a group of grizzlies, I guess. Otherwise chances are that unharmed one or two would want to fight back. And in the night time it would take a group of organised fire equipped with night-visors. I've read about the guy who successfully scared bears off using 110 dB infra-red alarm at Kodiak Island. Not sure if they were grizzlies or smaller species. He used 2 alarms, oriented in 2 opposite directions (each covered 100 deg. angle). I don't see any key-operated battery-powered IR alarm of that siren power on american market, though. There are some keypad-operated, which is less convenient in a dark tent when you've just waken up with ugly loud syren (yeah, it's ugly - I've got one). Those ones with a key were 4-Seasons brand from Germany. Alex. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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