Be careful with that bearspray

[Rockskipper]

http://www.postindependent.com/news/local/bear-spray-on-maroon-bells-bus-blasts-passengers/

A tourist accidentally triggered a can of bear spray inside a public bus heading to the Maroon Bells on Sunday morning, a Pitkin County sheriff's deputy said Wednesday.

The incident occurred around 10:20 a.m. about a mile from the parking lot at Maroon Lake when the college-aged woman leaned on her backpack and released the capsaicin pepper spray near the back of the bus, Deputy Anthony Todaro said.

The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority initially reported that 40 people were exposed to the spray, which triggered a large response from fire and police agencies, Todaro said. However, when emergency responders arrived on scene, they discovered just two people were heavily exposed to the substance, including the woman who triggered it, he said.

The bus was allowed to air out, then continued on to the lake, he said. RFTA sent another bus to take some passengers who decided against making the trip to the lake back to town, while Todaro gave the woman who sprayed the substance and her two friends a ride to Maroon Lake after she'd recovered, he said.

 

[Bob]

ha, guess they found how it works............. all because of black bears?!

 

[Rockskipper]

Yup, blackies in the Maroons are really horribilis.

 

[regehr]

in case anyone was wondering why, when you fly in a bush plane, they make you keep the bear spray outside of the main cabin!

 

[Rockskipper]

It's illegal to carry it even in your luggage on a commercial plane.

 

[Brendan S]

ha, guess they found how it works............. all because of black bears?!

The rare predatory black bear isn't exactly no big deal. I mean she's in a an area with problem bears and a couple weeks after a dude got dragged out of his tent by the head by a predatory black bear. I'd rather people carry spray than have incidencts with people getting hurt/bears getting killed.

Reading a bunch of Stephen Herrero and other bear biologists over the last couple years, as well as one of the field biologist I work with having a couple unnerving experiences being pursued by likely predatory black bears (he carries spray now) has def made me less cavalier towards black bears.s 95% of the time they ain't no thang but a black bear in hunt mode is pretty scary.

 

[Rockskipper]

The blackies in my little town (Roaring Fork Valley in CO) are having a real hard time because of a lack of food. We've had a couple even come into houses lately. I keep bear spray in my car and my house both.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

The rare predatory black bear isn't exactly no big deal. I mean she's in a an area with problem bears and a couple weeks after a dude got dragged out of his tent by the head by a predatory black bear. I'd rather people carry spray than have incidencts with people getting hurt/bears getting killed.

Dragged out of a tent? Hardly! He was sleeping out in the open and got a little scratch on the head because the bear was checking to see if he was dead and then got scared off when he woke up.

This is from a staff member that was there at the time.

 

[Wanderlust073]

Forest Service

Dragged out of a tent? Hardly!

Last year I was talking to a couple rangers, telling them I was a little anxious for picking a camp site in the Smokeys that was under a bear activity warning. There had been a story in the news about a kid who had been yanked out of his hammock and mangled in the middle of the night, for 'no reason at all - rogue bear'. So of course they blasted the bear.

Anyway, both rangers told me the story in the paper was bullshit but they didn't need a public argument with the parents. Truth of the matter was the kid had been munching on candy in his hammock and tossing the wrappers out on the ground.

I always take the first report of 'rogue bear attack' with a grain of salt now and wait to see what truth eventually comes out.

Sucks to be a bear I think.

 

[Rockskipper]

@IntrepidXJ, I think he was maybe referring to this - doesn't sound like the same incident you were at.

http://archives.realaspen.com/artic...g-climber-near-Maroon-Bells-in-Aspen-Colorado

A climber awoke to a bear ripping through his tent Saturday morning above Crater Lake.

The bear bit the 51-year-old man's leg through his sleeping bag repeatedly before he managed to fight the animal off and call the other members of his group for help, according to Pitkin County sheriff's deputy Levi Borst.

“The bear lingered around the campsite after the attack, despite many efforts to scare it away,” Borst said.

The two other climbers in the group controlled the bleeding with first aid supplies they had with them. They also activated an emergency transmission from a GPS transmitter before fleeing their campsite at Minnehaha Gulch.

The injured climber hails from the Front Range but his name was not released.

Upon receiving the GPS alert, the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office immediately contacted Mountain Rescue Aspen who sent rescuers into the field where they met up with the injured climber along the trail. The man was able to hike out under his own power, authorities said, and was taken to Aspen Valley Hospital where he is awaiting surgery.

The three climbers had planned to summit North Maroon Peak later that morning.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife and U.S. Forest Service personnel are investigating the early morning tent invasion.

It was the second such attack in fewer than 24 hours.

Earlier, at 5:30 a.m. Friday, a bear pounced on a tent containing two men camping at Crater Lake, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Mike Porras said. The bear bit one of the men on his left side but he was not seriously hurt.

Bear attacks are becoming more common in the Aspen area.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

@IntrepidXJ, I think he was maybe referring to this - same incident you were at?

http://archives.realaspen.com/artic...g-climber-near-Maroon-Bells-in-Aspen-Colorado

Actually, I was referring to the recent one that's been in the news....forgot all about these from last year.

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2017/07/09/bear-attacks-camper-dylan-ward-boulder-county/

 

[Brendan S]

I'm referring to the same one as you, @IntrepidXJ. The severity of his injuries is kinda beside the point. My point is those of us that have had dozens/hundreds of bear encounters where they run away makes it easy to forget that black bears do act predatory occasionally and it's a completely different behavior then what we typically experience. I'm just saying they're worth respecting and can be dangerous.

"It sounds like a predatory attack. I assume the bear was intent on killing and eating that guy," said Dave Garshelis, a wildlife research scientist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources who studies bears.

Garshelis explained that bears are typically wary of people, and it's likely the bear was trying to drag Dylan away from the other campers so that it could more easily prey on him.

"I assume it wouldn't have dragged him if he was alone."

From http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/black-bear-attack-campers-head-colorado-spd/

 

[Rockskipper]

@Brendan S mentioned Herrero, and I found this. Very interesting:

https://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000000812441/stephen-herrero-on-black-bear-attacks.html

 

[IntrepidXJ]

I'm referring to the same one as you, @IntrepidXJ. The severity of his injuries is kinda beside the point. My point is those of us that have had dozens/hundreds of bear encounters where they run away makes it easy to forget that black bears do act predatory occasionally and it's a completely different behavior then what we typically experience. I'm just saying they're worth respecting and can be dangerous.

I agree with you and I sometimes carry bear spray in Colorado for black bears, just in case.

I was just bringing up how sensationalized that story was!

 

[Brendan S]

@Brendan S mentioned Herrero, and I found this. Very interesting:

https://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000000812441/stephen-herrero-on-black-bear-attacks.html

That paper is great, as is his book Bear Attacks. Really great read on behavior of both black and grizzlies.

 

[Rockskipper]

The media really loves these bear stories, as it plays on our greatest fears. They love to hype it all up.

This is also interesting, about his book:

http://www.vitalground.org/bear-attacks-their-causes-and-avoidance-by-stephen-herrero/#.WXFhMdPysn0

"An Alaska physician who had treated bear mauling victims noted that many “…were men between the ages of 40 and 60 who suffered from high-frequency hearing loss.” Herrero reports this anecdotal evidence and goes on to suggest that “If you are over 40 and you spend a lot of time in bear country, it is probably worth having your hearing tested.”"

 

[Wanderlust073]

"An Alaska physician who had treated bear mauling victims noted that many “…were men between the ages of 40 and 60 who suffered from high-frequency hearing loss.” Herrero reports this anecdotal evidence and goes on to suggest that “If you are over 40 and you spend a lot of time in bear country, it is probably worth having your hearing tested.”"

Hmm, men 40-60 with high-freq hearing loss spending time in bear country...

 

[Rockskipper]

LOL! Oh, those wascally gwizzlies!

 

[Wanderlust073]

This poster 'ursusguy' shares some good info in this thread (and a zillion others on the same site). Just sharing to share it.

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2269694

 

[Rockskipper]

A friend just came back from camping and he bought the brightest flashlight he could find. It was so bright you literally couldn't look at it. He got it because he was threatened by another camper in the dark, and he wanted it in case he had someone else come into his camp at night, but I wonder if something like that would have an effect if a bear was coming in after dark.