Advice on our next "big" vacation

[jrw]

Yes and no. Younger bears, especially males, do cover a lot of territory. Radio collar studies in many large parks, both sides of the border, show that bears do move in and out of the parks covering 60+ miles a day when they are on the move. Larger specimens don't move around as much, presumably because they are able to defend their territory which keeps the smaller ones on the move until they reach full maturity and can then displace the aging residents.

In the more remote areas of the parks the bears are not accustomed to feeding on trash, and have not lost the fear of humans. Even the dump bears, which have no fear anymore, are more interested in doing their own thing and not attacking humans. Considering that raiding the garbage bins in campgrounds is a nightly activity, dump bear watching is/was a nightly attraction in some, they are far more interested in the trash than the campers in their tents or a lot of people would have died by now.

Have had some encounters in very remote areas where humans are a novelty apparently and there is no fear. One time, we came over a small ridge and looking behind we saw a confused looking bear coming downwind towards us. It was cocking its head, pricking up its ears as though it were trying to figure out what we were. We stood and watched it. It came to about 10 yards, circled around us a few times, lots of sniffing and then ambled off.

While felling trees on a property about an hour north of home, I caught whiff of another coming downwind to check me out. I stopped working and started watching for it. About 5 minutes later, the head of a small black bear popped out of some dogwoods. It looked at me for a while and then vanished back into the swamp I was on the edge of. Bears are a novelty in the area, but that was during the time that the spring bear hunt was banned, populations exploded and they moved south. It hung around for two years.

While I have had encounters with black, grizzly and polar bears and recognize that they are an intelligent quizzical species I do have a great respect for their ability to shred me into pieces if they so desire. I make my presence known to avoid surprising them and I keep a very clean campsite when in their territory so as not to attract them.

If the truth be known, I am more concerned about my safety with bull moose during the rutting season than bears.


EDIT: Should exclude white bear from moose comparison. They are more carnivorous than omnivorous. inuit sleep with rifle beside them for a reason when travelling. Only bear species that none of the natives who share the land with them refer to as 'brother bear'. Yet, have woken in the morning and found tracks going straight through campsites. Have come across them feeding on kills with no aggression towards me (distances of 100+ yards thankfully). Definitely wouldn't want to be up close and personal with one.