Bears are cute when seen in pictures, but not so when seen in the wild. While other animals like snakes may choose to slinker away than attack you, bears have a chance to attack you just for being in its vicinity, whether it’s because its young are extremely near her, or it wants to get your delicious hiker food.
Bear attacks aren’t uncommon, and no hiker wants to suffer a very gruesome fate of being turned into a bear’s mangled chew toy on what should have been a relaxing hike. That is why precautions must always be taken to ensure safety for hiking in trails with reports of bear encounters or populations. Read on to find out how you should protect yourself if you decide to go on one of these trails.
Hike in groups
Solo hiking is a fun experience, but maybe save it for the shorter and safer trails. Hiking with at least one other person, especially in a trail with bear sightings, reduces the chances that a bear will run into you, as they will be scared off by the additional noise. Bears may also feel discouraged from attacking if there is more than one person to attack.
This is also especially important in a trail with lots of bear sightings. In those places, bears have likely become a bit more confident in appearing in front of humans because of exposure, so you will need to be more careful when hiking these trails.
Make a lot of noise
If you are hiking in a group, make conversation, and keep your voices loud. It deters nearby animals from approaching while also alerting nearby bears of your presence. They will be unlikely to attack with the loud noise present.
Bring Bear Spray
If by some unlucky chance, you run into a bear while out in the wild, having a bear spray on hand can be an immensely helpful deterrent, as the spray is meant to stop a bear from becoming even more aggressive. It is nonlethal as well, so you won’t have to kill the animal to survive.
If you are going to be hiking in bear country, bringing bear spray is always a given. Make sure that the spray is always on hand. If a bear encounter occurs, you will not have enough time to fish out the bear spray from all the things your backpack has, so always have it ready to use at any time.
If a bear comes charging at you, wait until it’s around ten yards, then spray the entire content of the can in its face. If the bear spray works, the bear will flee and give you ample time to flee as well. It is best to not linger at the site of the attack, as bears have been known to come back later.
Carry a firearm
This is for a worst-case scenario, where the bear spray does not work for whatever reason, such as if you preemptively sprayed before the bear got in sufficient distance. It is better to attempt nonlethal methods of repelling a bear first before going for drastic measures to take it down.
If your life is in danger, then you will have to use your gun. A rifle would be a desirable choice, but if the bear is already too close to you (which they will be if you opted to use the bear spray), you will have to rely on a sidearm, like a revolver.
Always stay away from bear cubs
This tip cannot be stressed enough. Bear cubs look cute and all, but if you run into one on or near the trail, stay far away from it. Its mother is not very far away.
If there is one thing even more scary than a rampaging bear, it’s a rampaging mother bear ready to tear apart any who threaten her young.
Never approach a bear cub, no matter how helpless they might appear. If you see them in trouble, like being stuck under a tree log or with a painful injury, notify the rangers if you must, but do not try to approach it and treat it on your own. The mother bear will not perceive your good intentions and instead see you as a massive threat to the cub’s safety.
Avoid animal carcasses
Other than being a gruesome and disgusting sight, animal carcasses, especially ones that appear freshly killed and still have a lot of flesh attached to them, are likely there because of a wild animal like a bear.
While the bear isn’t around at the moment, it likely will not be too far away, and if you approach the animal corpse, the bear returning might perceive you as some kind of thief trying to steal its meal, causing it to be aggressive towards you.
Do not feed the bear
It is fairly common knowledge to not feed wild animals because of how dangerous it is to approach them in the first place, but there are even more reasons why you should not feed bears.
Bears are smarter than most people give them credit for, and if a human gives them food for whatever reason, bears will remember that. The more times a human that appears in front of them gives them food, the more likely it will appear in front of a human.
At that point, it has been conditioned to see humans as a walking vending machine that disperses random food, which can be a huge headache for all hikers and the people who manage the trail.