Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
BEARVILLE — It's never a good idea to get too close to a bear. Sometimes, though, they might approach you.
The National Parks Service website has some handy tips for how to handle these potentially dangerous situations. For example:
- Identify yourself by talking calmly so the bear knows you are a human and not a prey animal.
- Stand your ground, but slowly wave your arms.
- Continue to talk to the bear in low tones.
- Never imitate bear sounds or make a high-pitched squeal.
- Hike and travel in groups. Groups of people are usually noisier and smellier than a single person.
- Bear pepper spray can be an important thing to carry when exploring the back country. It is not a repellent, so do not apply to your body or equipment.
This is some great advice. But I have to smile at the image of someone proactively coating themselves with a "protective" layer of bear pepper spray. I imagine this same type of person might also violate other rules by trying to imitate bear sounds when confronted with one, which is a definite no-no.
On a separate note, I'm sure that it's true that groups of people are smellier than just an individual person. But seeing it written like that by the National Parks Service just sounds insulting to our species.
Anyhow, here's a video of an unusual bear encounter:
The woman who filmed the video seems to have a preexisting relationship with this bear. Otherwise, she'd be screaming her head off, rather than casually saying, "Close the door, hun."
While some people might have concerns about chatting with a bear, you have to admit this woman is using a lot of the tips from the National Parks Service website. She talks calmly, stands her ground, continues speaking in low tones, doesn't imitate bear sounds or emit high-pitched squeals and she probably didn't douse herself with pepper spray.
The only thing she could do differently in the future to be a little safer would be to make sure she's surrounded by a group of noisy, smelly people.
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