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True Black Bear Stories |
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TRUE BEAR STORIES
BEAR STORIES FROM YOU! We have set aside this page for a few true and interesting bear stories from travelers, agency people, biologists, photographers, hikers, campers, and anyone involved with bear conservation or rescue. Your story may be selected for this page! These bear stories can be about any kind of bear you may want to tell about. We will put them in the appropriate section (brown, polar, black, etc.) CoveBear reserves the right to edit. Not all stories may be felt to be appropriate for this website or our audience - don't take it personally if yours is not chosen! They are all good stories. CoveBear reserves the right to select and publish preferred appropriate bear stories. The purpose of the bear story page is only to share with other people what it is like to see a bear in the wild.
SHOO-BEAR! Here's a true bear story. When I was little -- about 2 years old -- my Mom and Dad took me on a trip to the Smokies, one of our favorite family destinations. Of course, bears were much in view in those days, and as it often happened, there was a big beautiful black bear foraging alongside the road, and folks stopped to see it. Well, I wanted to see it too. So in my bright red snow coat with a white faux fur-trimmed hood, I started making my way toward it. Meanwhile, my Dad was totally engrossed in filming the bear, not realizing I was about to be in the picture. When my Mom started screaming hysterically (as she was wont to do at the drop of a hat), my Dad calmly put the camera down from his face, probably rolled his big gray eyes tolerantly, raised his long arms, and said, "Shoo, bear!" That was it. Just "Shoo, bear." And it shooed! - Donna Shearer, Lumkin County, Georgia
WAS IT A BEAR? Very good information on your website. Even though all the research and statistics show that black bears are relatively harmless, they still send a chill up my spine. I know I'm not their main food source, but they are opportunistic. I always wonder if I may be targeted. Maybe I'm just paranoid. After last night's experience, I tried searching for information on preludes to bear's predatory attacks. I found nothing. Predatory attacks come from nowhere, without warning. Excellent strategy for bears. However, after I suspected I was on a bear's menu, I might have some insight. Has any research been done to see how black bears approach a target of opportunity? Do they pace back and forth, slowly zigzagging back and forth, perpendicular to the target from upwind, until they make a decision to commit to the kill? If this is true, sleeping campers might have some warning. Last night, I aborted a solo fishing trip because of a bear that I felt was too curious. It was in northern Wisconsin, outside Laona. I paddled through Wabikon, poled through a stream, and took a campsite on the south shore of Riley Lake. I keep a clean campsite. My catch of the day was in a live bag off the back of my canoe. I had canned food. I burned out the cans in the campfire. The wind was blowing away from the campsite across the lake. I went to bed early so I could fish in the morning. I always leave a propane lamp burning on low for a nightlight. Around 10:15 I was awakened by slow footsteps breaking large branches approaching from upwind. They were going about 150-200 feet along an east to west line, about 150-200 feet south of my tent. It must have made 4-5 passes until it got about 35 feet from my tent. I chambered a round into my .380, purposely made noise while getting dressed, and went outside. It paced back and forth about 75 feet from me. At this point, I still don't know what it is. I hope it's a deer, but suspect it's a bear. I shined a AA LED Maglight into the woods. I see eyes, about 5-6 inches apart, 3 feet off the deck, but can't make out a shape. I talked nice to it, saying "Move on, Yogi, I don't want to hurt you, and I sure as hell don't want you to hurt me." I clapped my hands. It wandered off a little. Deer would not wander off, they would run. Then it started pacing that east to west line again. That's when I got nervous. If it were a deer, it should have run unless it was a rutting buck. Either way, an aggressive buck or a bear is something to be concerned about. I cranked up the lantern, and started packing up as quickly and loudly as I could. Even as I was packing, it made a couple east to west passes south of me. I have a few questions running through my mind. Was it, in fact, a bear? If it wasn't, what else that size would not run? If it were a bear, was it contemplating if I had enough calories for the effort he would have to expend to kill me? Did I just avert a predatory attack? My wife was surprised to see me home early. She freaked out when I told her what happened. I hope I'm not paranoid, but this sure sounds like something was very interested in me. Maybe it was just curiosity, maybe it was predatory. Have others have had similar experiences? - Mike Chizek, Two Rivers, Wisconsin
DA BEAR! While I was making dinner in the kitchen I had the big window open - and I heard rustling around outside and it was that skinny bear I had seen . . . messing around the smoker and doghouse area beside the house. I yelled at it and banged on the kitchen wall and it just looked at me (it was standing on its hind legs) and it hit the metal roof on top of the doghouse and then gave one of those awful LOUD snorts that sound like they are coming from the depths of their soul then stared at me!!! I banged the wall and screamed at it as loud as I could, and it went IN the doghouse! That is when I called in the "big guns" - Sonny! He went around on the back deck and got a tomato stake and threw at it as it was coming out of the dog house. Missed! But it scared it till at least it ran. Bowser was with Sonny and when he saw the bear he chased it when it started running. The bear climbed a tree and Bowser kept barking so the bear came down and challenged Bowser and he backed away. Smart dog! Then the bear went backwards - facing the dog - into the woods and Bowser stayed in front of him barking his head off.
Anyway to make a long story even longer, the "park ranger" called shortly thereafter and when I told him what was going on, he was here in about thirty minutes with a bear trap and a can of sardines. He got everything set up and said to call him if it went off before ten PM last night or after 7 AM this morning. Last night at 9:30 we heard the door spring shut - VERY loud! Sonny went out to make sure it was "DA BEAR! " (You know how he loves the ones from Chicago!!) After a trip around the trap with the flashlight he confirmed that it was a bear and not a dog or some other sardine loving critter from the woods, and we called the ranger. He will come and take the bear to a berry patch he has spotted about twenty miles from here and we will all live happily ever after . . . till the peaches get ripe. - Nancy Ward, near the Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas
BEAR SPEAK I have recently experienced first hand a black bear vocalization that seems to be a call to other bears in the area. I was in the northwestern region of the Chattahoochee WMA about a mile east of the Appalachian Trail on the last day of a large game hunt for that WMA. The time was about mid morning to noon. There are two 1-2 acre clover food plots within 100 yards of my position when I heard the sounds. The bear nearest me was in a large mountain laurel thicket on a fairly steep hill. Over the course of the hunt, activity seemed to be moving from the south east into this area. So, that’s probably why the bears were concentrated in the area. While I was there I explored a huge portion of the WMA and there were fairly fresh signs of bear just about everywhere I went. The sound started out with a deeper tone, then the pitch increased rapidly then stopped . . . it sounds like a monstrous bull frog croak, but a much smoother soothing type of sound, “OOooooooorah.” When a bear off the side of the trail from me made this sound, four other bears in the area responded. Of the four other bears, the closest was probably 200+ yards away….the others were farther. The bear closest to me responded to almost every other bear response. I am fairly certain that the bear had not detected my presence. It seems that the bear closest to me said, “Hey, is there anyone else out there?” - Rick Currie, Georgia
BEAR ON THE TRAIL
I spotted a large black
bear while hiking on the Appalachian Trail on July 6, 2007. The sighting
was 1 mile north of where the AT crosses VA Route 620 near the "exit"
for Pickle Branch Shelter - about 3 miles south of Dragon's Tooth. Upon
initial encounter, the bear continued to come closer, although I was not
sure if he/she could see me or not. I tried to hide behind a large tree
but am not sure how effective this was due to the fact that I had been
hiking for a few days and had a strong body odor. Fortunately the bear
turned and scampered the other way after turning up his/her nose to
smell the air.
BEAR AT DAWN I saw a black bear with two cubs in the Smokies this summer, and it was just after dawn. They were walking across a field and the sun was up. They passed close enough to me that I could see their fur glistening with the morning dew. The mama bear turned around and eyeballed me a couple of times, but I was not moving, frozen to my spot, not breathing. The two cubs would stop and wrestle, and then catch up to mama bear. It was very quiet. All I heard was a crow one time. There was a breeze rustling in the tree branches and swaying the field grasses. There was nobody out there but me, watching these two bears walk by. It was quite extraordinary. I felt that, me and the bears, we shared a moment. - John Sydney, Massachusetts
A BEAR-Y NICE MEMORY We went to Great Smoky Mountains National Park last month (May 2007) and saw a mama black bear with three cubs. We had heard that there were some wildfires in the Park before we went there, and we were concerned about the animals. We had read about the black bear in the south Georgia / north Florida wildfires that saved her baby, we had read about that on CoveBear. It was nice to see these bears in Tennessee were safe and not affected by the small number of fires in that area. It must be very upsetting to animals that live in the forest when there is fire. Sometimes they lose their homes and their foods to fire. These bears were off the side of the road to Newfound Gap. It was great to pull over and watch them. They were digging in a log, I guess looking for insects. I think it is too early for them to be looking for berries. These bears looked healthy, and had very shiny coats, but I think they were a little on the thin side. With the drought in the southeast, a lack of water affects the foods that bears eat, so it could be because of that. But I will say, there is nothing like seeing a wild bear in the woods with her cubs. That was just great! - B. Simmons, Wisconsin
NAP INTERRUPTED
I was deer hunting in the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan. I had walked into the forest about 3/4 of a
mile when I found a nice large boulder with another boulder right
behind it - making sort of a "bench" with a backrest if you
will. I sat down and waited to see a whitetail. After about 30
minutes, I began to get sleepy and had just shut my eyes when I
heard a huge crunch of branches behind me. I turned just in
time to see something black jump off the rock I was leaning against!
It was a black bear and the first I had ever seen at arms length. I
literally could have reached out and touched him as he ran past me.
He ran around the rock to my left as
I slipped the safety off my rifle (just in case). I was totally
in awe of this magnificent black bear. He ran out about 30 yards
from me and stood up sniffing the air and with a "HUFF" he vanished
into the brush. It seems the bear had been in the tree
directly behind the rock outcropping I had chosen as my hunting
(nap) stand! I must have disturbed him as I sat down on the rock and
he climbed out of the tree. -
Gary Shade, Minnesota
A PRINCE OF A BEAR
I was walking along a side road on Prince of Wales Island, half a mile from my camp. All of a sudden a large mature black bear steps out of the forest and stands observing me. Of course I stopped to watch the bear as well. He was huge, shiny black and very healthy looking. He took a couple of steps toward me though, which made be nervous so I raised my arms and calmly told the bear to run along now. He took a couple more steps toward me, probably just curious but I was getting more nervous now as most bears run off pretty quickly once you talk to them. I took a couple steps back, telling him to go on but he came toward me again. I got my bear spray ready in case of a charge but then remembered the umbrella I was carrying. I pushed the button to open it, it flipped open and I shook it at the bear telling him to run along once again. He took off. I must have looked like Mary Poppins' evil grandma! It was such a thrill to see this bear though. I saw many on this island. - Linda Holt, Washington
BEAR 287: THE TROUBLESOME CUB’S ADVENTURES CONTINUE A popular book for sale in Great Smoky Mountain National Park bookstores is "The Troublesome Cub," a true story about a hapless park bear. The book is based on Bear 287, a 16-year-old female with a unique history. Bear 287 was originally captured and released on site in Cades Cove picnic area on July 3, 1997. During the first capture, bear 287 was fitted with a radio-collar as part of a research project evaluating the effectiveness of capture and release as a form of aversive conditioning for nuisance bears. On the morning of July 22, 1997, bear 287 managed to get inside a broken dumpster in Cades Cove picnic area and was accidentally dumped into a garbage truck. The truck went to several other locations in the park and the bear was compacted multiple times as trash was emptied into the truck. Later that afternoon, bear 287 was dumped, along with a heap of trash, inside the Sevier county compost facility. The bear climbed the walls inside the building and was later tranquilized by an officer from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). Once immobilized, bear 287 got hung in the rafters and the TWRA officer and workers from the compost facility had to use a bucket truck to remove the bear from the rafters. The TWRA officer notified the park about bear 287 and she was transported to a holding facility at park headquarters for observation. Bear 287 was very lethargic for two days and on July 24, 1997, was taken to the University of Tennessee, College of Veterinary Medicine (UTKCVM) for examination. Veterinarians determined bear 287 had a tear in her urinary tract and they removed urine from her abdomen and around her spleen. They also indicated that the animal had a lot of bruising. The prognosis did not seem good and it was decided to take bear 287 back to park headquarters for observation for a few more days. Bear 287’s behavior improved and on July 29, 1997 bear 287 was taken back to the UTKCVM for re-examination and possible surgery to repair the urinary tract. However, the tear healed and the surgery was not necessary. On July 30, 1997 bear 287 was released at Mount Sterling Gap, approximately 40 miles from the dumpsters in Cades Cove. Bear 287, "The Troublesome Cub," was not observed again until May 17, 2004, when she was seen in a tree at the entrance to Cades Cove picnic area. Wildlife staff had to use cracker shells and bean bag rounds to get her away from the area. For the next two weeks she was observed in the picnic area during the evening and was even seen getting into another broken dumpster. Bear 287 was recaptured on June 1, 2004 and was again taken to the UTKCVM, this time for broken teeth. One loose tooth and one broken and decayed tooth were extracted. On June 2, 2004 bear 287 was relocated the Cherokee National Forest, about 60 miles from the dumpsters in Cades Cove. On August 13, 2005, Bear 287, “The Troublesome Cub” was captured again in Cades Cove picnic area. Once again she was getting into garbage. However, this time she had a 20 pound male cub. Bear 287 weighed 161 pounds, which is rather large for an adult female during summer. Bear 287 and her cub were moved to the Cherokee National Forest. - National Park Service, Tennessee and North Carolina
ALWAYS CHECK BEFORE YOU GO UNDER
One day (a couple summers ago) we were in Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The park has a stream and a picnic area. Well, in the stream we had found this deep spot. So I told my mom I wanted to wait cause I was nervous .. so of coarse she jumps in and as I'm waiting on the rock .. fixing to jump .. I hear the huge scream. My mom had just come out of the water and walking behind me was this huge momma black bear with her cubs. I was snatched out of the water and had a huge bruise on my leg and felt like I had a broken arm, but at least I made it out! So next time you go swimming always check before you go under! - Addie Lamb, Georgia
ONE BEAR LANE There was a pasture where tall weeds would grow for a time in the summer. There was always this "path" going through the weeds in the field. We took it one day, thinking it was a deer path. It led to a stream, and to a big tree near that stream, and there were bushes there too. One day, at the end of summer, we wanted to see if we could find a whitetail buck at the end of that path, and so we followed it. Nothing there. We stopped near the short bushes to stand there and rest, and leaning on our tripods, and wiping our brows, we heard a slight rustle near us. A noise so subtle we almost did not hear it. We looked around and saw nothing. I backed up, bent over and peered into a little bush - I thought maybe it is a fawn or a doe.....but no!.....there was a full-grown black bear curled up in there under that little bush! He had some sort of bone and looked most protective of it. As I realized who belonged to those little red eyes that were peering back out at me, the bear swatted the ground from his ground-hugging position. We got the message and left, walking backwards most of the way. We named the path "One Bear Lane" so we would remember where that bear lived. - Kate Marshall, Georgia
APES IN THE SMOKIES One time I was in the Smokies with my family, and we saw what we thought was a big ape swinging in a tree! It was a black bear hanging over the road in Cades Cove in the park. He was dangling there, holding on with big furry arms, actually swinging his way across the road. Well, I knew there were no apes in the park, of course. He wound up in the other oak tree where he proceeded to chow down on acorns, seemingly oblivious to all the cars stopped below him. I think that bears can be quite comical at times. - Celeste O'Connor, Kentucky
DON'T FORGET TO LOOK UP
We were slightly off-trail one day looking for mushrooms to photograph. There had been a lot of rain the week before, and we thought we would find many different types of fungi in the woods. Suddenly a branch came crashing down directly in front of us. We jumped back, looked all around, looked up, didn't see anything. We stood still a while. Some twigs came floating down, with empty acorn-hats attached. Flakes of tree bark rained down. We looked up again. We were in a grove of oak trees, about seven of them, very tall oaks. Every one of those trees had a black bear in it! It was October and they were having acorns for lunch. They were so high up and most were in and out of leafy branches, so I could not get any pictures of them. But I will never forget them! - Kate Marshall, Georgia
MY, WHAT BIG CLAWS YOU HAVE Just viewed your great black bear photos! We visited Cades Cove in the Smokies a couple years ago. Unfortunately, like so many other people, we never got to see a bear in the wild. I believe we will visit again some day. However, we did see a tree that had been marked by a bear and that was a real surprise to find. We had never seen a marked tree before. Also we did see the bears at Grandfather Mountain and enjoyed visiting there as well. - Jane Cvetkovic, Illinois
GERRY BEAR
Every year I go down to Grandfather Mountain to see the bears. I know the family who owns the mountain and they graciously allow me to get some pictures. I stay in a cabin there. It is so rewarding each time I arrive. I have been visiting many years and the folks on the mountain greet me by saying, " Hi, Bearman!"
I arrived at Grandfather Mountain on Thursday morning and it was raining. As it continued to rain after lunch, I went to Blowing Rock, to do some serious bear t-shirt shopping. They have a store there with the greatest bear shirts. I returned to my cabin with bags of goodies. Thursday night it poured again, and morning it continued to rain hard. No bears that day either. I began to wonder if my whole trip would be rained out! Late Friday, the rain let up and I finally got to go see the bears. It didn't take long for Gerry to hear her name called and walk down the hill towards me along with the other bears - the staff have named them Dakota, Kodiak, Flower and Smoky. Gerry looks great - winter fur, claws look like she has been climbing a lot. I had brought them apples, grapes, carrots, and peanuts. This is a very different situation. At Grandfather Mountain this is allowed for these bears. Of course, out in the wild, you would never bring food to bears. If you are hiking or camping in the mountains, don't give food to bears, and don't get close to bears! - John Derych, New York
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