I rarely see bears. Once in a while one walks through our wooded areas, or maybe even strolls across the driveway. I've never seen one with glasses, or hearing aids.
...Bear eyesight is awful, the hearing is ordinary and the sense of smell is terrific.
I was intrigued by your comment and so went a'Googling to see what I could, er... see and hear. All the 'bear facts' sites I looked at say that bears have good/excellent eyesight, and decent hearing.
Is your experience different?
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From yellowstonebearworld.com) Bears actually have excellent eyesight. ... Yes, bears do have an amazing sense of smell, but it does not make up for a lack of vision because they actually have excellent eyesight. Bears can see just as well as humans do during the daytime, but it is during the night that their fantastic vision pulls out all the stops. Like your familyâs dog or cat, bears have amazing night vision. There is a reflective membrane on the back of their eye called the tapetum lucidum which reflects light and causes light sensitive cells to react a second time to the light and therefore greatly enhances their vision at night. This is why if you see a picture of them at night, their eyes look greenish. —————————————————
From Alaska Department of Fish and Game: One common misconception is that bears have poor eyesight. The reasons behind this misconception are understandable, but evidence indicates that bearsâ eyesight is comparable to ours.
âFrom my experience bears can see very well at a distance, at least as well as humans,â said biologist Harry Reynolds. Reynolds is a bear biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Fairbanks and serves as president of the International Association for Bear Research and Management.
Vision: Bears see in color and have sharp vision close-up. Their distance vision (over two hundred yards) has not been tested.
Hearing: Hearing is the black bearâs first line of defense against danger because they can hear in all directions (unlike smell) and they can hear farther than they can see in brushy forest. Their ears develop to full size more quickly than the rest of their body. Their hearing is over twice the sensitivity of human hearing and exceeds human frequency ranges
Odd to read of black bears that are not already hibernating at this time of year.
Denning is never a true hibernation; bears will come out and wander around if it's warmer weather, and may never actually go into that lower metabolism state if there's enough food. OR if there's not enough food and they keep foraging. I imagine Virginia sees bear activity pretty often during the winter.
Grizzly bears are dying at a record pace in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, but wildlife officials say thatâs a sign of a population that has reached its carrying capacity. The leader of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team said this week that, despite the deaths, the grizzly population appears to be growing.
Disagree. Yes, the conventional wisdom is to constantly make noise. If you are going to follow that wisdom it is likely to better to put pebbles in a tin can and tie it to your waist, or use some other source of constant noise.
Among many other problems, the primary problem with motor-mouthing as a bear deterrent is that people get tired of hiking and singing or talking at the same time and unless they stop hiking, they will stop motor-mouthing because it takes too much effort. Motor-mouthing increases the probability of falling and hurting oneself but perhaps that is a separate discussion.
I mean, that's what I said, but okay.
The point was that if I have a choice between a chatty person and another person like me, I should go with the chatty person. Of course all the other things apply.
A constant motormouth is ideal. The problem is when people are hiking they tend to fall silent, get lost in their own thoughts. We always sang, that at least keeps some noise up and you don't have to really think of anything new to say. But it helps if you have more than one song that you all know the words to. Spent an entire week singing "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" ......
Disagree. Yes, the conventional wisdom is to constantly make noise. If you are going to follow that wisdom it is likely to better to put pebbles in a tin can and tie it to your waist, or use some other source of constant noise.
Among many other problems, the primary problem with motor-mouthing as a bear deterrent is that people get tired of hiking and singing or talking at the same time and unless they stop hiking, they will stop motor-mouthing because it takes too much effort. Motor-mouthing increases the probability of falling and hurting oneself but perhaps that is a separate discussion.
My approach is not at all dogmatic. If in dense undergrowth or a new post-burn young forest or near a noisy creek especially where I cannot see well, I make noise. I make a low woofing sound just like a Griz who feels territorially nervous and I sometimes pound my chest with a flat hand. Both noise-making techniques avoid sucking the wind out of me.
Yes, I am trying to alert the bear and perhaps provoke a reaction. Either the bear moves away or it comes close. In either scenario, it allows me to learn of the bear's presence. The bear may stay put but at least it will not be surprised by my presence. Surprises are best avoided.
That is not all. I also look for scat, hair, claw marks, tracks, and popular paths or Bear Highways as I like to call them. In the context of coastal streams I look for salmon that have been dragged away from the river and possibly cached. If berries are present, I look for signs of harvesting. Almost forgot. Being constantly aware of wind direction or air movement direction is also valuable. Bear eyesight is awful, the hearing is ordinary and the sense of smell is terrific.
The more information the better.
Griz (less so Black bears) are most often incredibly noisy animals. If one pays close enough attention, the bear(s) can be heard covering ground or feeding from a considerable distance.
Good read. The bear is a bloody celebrity! And apparently has grown accustomed to humans in a 'good way'.
SFW: Earlier you wrote that the bears are "over-populated". I have no idea how you arrived at that conclusion. Given that you live in or near Jackson Hole, I would say the humans are overpopulated, and stretched too far into the Grizzly habitat.
FWIW, the following is my opinion that happens to be widely shared by hunters and some backcountry travellers here in BC:
The big difference over time is the de facto hunting moratorium on Grizzly bears. Grizzly bears tend to lose their shyness and become more aggressive towards humans in the absence of hunting.
That is the reason why I would pack not one but two canisters of pepper spray if I were to hike the high country in the Rockies. (I no longer bother to carry pepper spray on familiar coastal streams.) That is the reason why I would be very fussy about my company going into such areas. I would scrupulously avoid going with nervous folks who would a) constantly motor-mouth, b) never look or listen, and c) panic flee at the sight of a Grizzly.
P.S. A good friend of mine grew up in Illinois. He is 6'7", and he is the gentlest high school teacher that you could imagine. He loves saying "Yo Mama!" in and out of context where it may or may not be relevant. And yes, on a serious note, I agree that it is not a good idea to anthropomorphize these deadly creatures.
Their density in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is somewhat greater than the ecosystem can currently support, what with the decline of the moth larvae and carrion. Which forces them to expand their range. You're not wrong about the people problem but that's a different issue. The insects may rebound or be replaced by something else in their diet and the elk population will too, eventually, although they're starting to see Chronic Wasting Disease in them so it may take a few human generations.
The hunting thing is definitely prevailing wisdom here, too, and I don't disagree. As that article mentioned, 399 seems to be teaching her cubs how to look both ways before they cross a highway ... that and hunting would seem to be lessons learned only through firsthand experience but maybe there's something to it.
A constant motormouth is ideal. The problem is when people are hiking they tend to fall silent, get lost in their own thoughts. We always sang, that at least keeps some noise up and you don't have to really think of anything new to say. But it helps if you have more than one song that you all know the words to. Spent an entire week singing "Is She Really Going Out With Him?"
Good read. The bear is a bloody celebrity! And apparently has grown accustomed to humans in a 'good way'.
SFW: Earlier you wrote that the bears are "over-populated". I have no idea how you arrived at that conclusion. Given that you live in or near Jackson Hole, I would say the humans are overpopulated, and stretched too far into the Grizzly habitat.
FWIW, the following is my opinion that happens to be widely shared by hunters and some backcountry travellers here in BC:
The big difference over time is the de facto hunting moratorium on Grizzly bears. Grizzly bears tend to lose their shyness and become more aggressive towards humans in the absence of hunting.
That is the reason why I would pack not one but two canisters of pepper spray if I were to hike the high country in the Rockies. (I no longer bother to carry pepper spray on familiar coastal streams.) That is the reason why I would be very fussy about my company going into such areas. I would scrupulously avoid going with nervous folks who would a) constantly motor-mouth, b) never look or listen, and c) panic flee at the sight of a Grizzly.
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P.S. A good friend of mine grew up in Illinois. He is 6'7", and he is the gentlest high school teacher that you could imagine. He loves saying "Yo Mama!" in and out of context where it may or may not be relevant. And yes, on a serious note, I agree that it is not a good idea to anthropomorphize these deadly creatures.
"Sweet mama!" bear, or "Yo mama!" bear. 399? Doesn't quite cut it.
Numbering has been the policy for about 40 or 50 years. A, it helps keep them straight and B, it was supposed to help cut down on anthropomorphizationacling them. But say "3ninetynine" around here and you'll get an appropriate "awwww" response. She's like 27 years old and has four cubs! Who've so far survived. This wikipedia entry is subpar as far as wiki style goes, but it has a lot of background.
