Wildlife Agent Says Black Bears Now “Hunting” Humans In Canada
BY Herschel Smith
2 years ago
A retired Canadian fish and wildlife agent has voiced concern that black bears are “hunting” humans more frequently in Alberta, but that’s not a big concern in Wyoming, some biologists said.
Veteran wildlife agent Murray Bates says he’s noticed a disturbing shift in the pattern of black bear behavior over the course of his 34-year career.
“Grizzlies were protecting their territory, young and food, but certainly, on occasion, killing a human,” he said. “The key word here is hunt. During my tenure I was starting to notice a shift in black bears attacking humans and grizzlies maintaining traditional patterns of attack or kill.
“The records and experts may state otherwise, but I found myself investigating more complaints of black bears tracking humans as prey, then killing and feeding on them,” Bates added.
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“I would still rather encounter a predatory black bear than being involved in a surprise encounter with a grizzly bear at a carcass; time is not on your side in the latter whereas with a proper response a predatory black bear can be deterred (first choice is bear spray, followed by standing your ground and fighting with rocks, sticks, and etc.),” he said.
I’m not surprised. When hunting is discouraged and guns are outlawed, the predators will roam free to do what they want.
Suck it up, Canadians. There’s more to come with the impending laws against basically any firearm, including hunting with bolt action rifles. Get used to it, change your government, or carry non-permissively.
And as for his advice to “stand your ground,” that’s not even done in America without a weapon. The whole notion is legalization of the use of weapons in stand your ground cases rather than having a duty to retreat.
It’s probably not a big concern for Wyoming because they carry guns.
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On December 20, 2022 at 10:54 am, Bill said:
Bears gotta eat too.
On December 20, 2022 at 9:13 pm, Biff said:
Believe it or not, a true wildlife biologist understands the connection between bear territory and people moving in. The biologist will then understand how to maintain a healthy bear population via hunting in regards to the invasion of people in to the bears habitat. The biologist will then make recommendations regarding human population and trash cans available to bears. When a bear population has exceeded the carrying capacity in it’s territory, due to the lack of predators and or an artificial food source, the bears will then be in the areas where people live. And guess what? They are BEARS! Not racoon’s, the are big top of the food chain animals. So yeah Bill, Bears gotta eat too! Listen to the doggone biologists! But how to you tell some scum bag developer to stay out of bear country? Learned all this from some very good biologists.
On December 21, 2022 at 1:19 am, TheAlaskan said:
Who says it’s “bear country” Biff? Got news for ya Biff…everywhere up here in Alaska is “bear country.” And those “scum bag” developers are all of us, Native, European, all of us and WE are the top of the food chain. And we don’t pack any of that I’m scared bear spray because it just gets in the way of a clean draw of the 44 magnum when us scum need to enforce our “people country” claim without prejudice.
Savvy?
On December 21, 2022 at 11:00 am, Latigo Morgan said:
My brother and I were stalked by a black bear in the Santa Rita Mountains in Southern Arizona in the late 80’s. We were tracking the bear up a canyon, but lost the trail. After goofing around up there for a bit, we headed back down to the truck and found bear prints in our footprints. That was a weird feeling. I had my Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Mag and he had his Reminton New Army BP revolver.
On December 21, 2022 at 1:24 pm, Biff said:
Alaskan, if the shoe fits…
On December 22, 2022 at 11:41 am, Ned said:
In central AZ there are a lot of bears. Recent massive fires (one started by a Prius that parked off the highway shoulder as the auto went up in flames) have concentrated bear populations. But the bears here mostly tend to be pretty shy. Mostly. But I expect that will change.
What I find funny is the “scum bag developer” reference. In Gila county, maybe 3% of the property is private. And most of the problems are between elk or javelina and humans. Because fuckwits feed the animals, and people routinely get stomped by elk.
I remember Jeff Cooper talking about human/coyote interactions. He opined that at one time, boys were off in the boonies with their bbguns and 22 rifles. Coyotes stayed the hell away. I hear that bullshit “they were here first” thing regarding the coyotes in town that live on small game and pets. I recently saw three coyotes in the middle of the day in a “scum bag developer” tract here. The coyotes clearly didn’t fear the residents. A boy with a pellet rifle and/or a Wrist Rocket would at least change their behavior to nocturnal.
We also have a large mountain lion population. I expect human interaction problems with them to increase as well. Because most of the people moving into these new subdivisions are from cities or from California, and have a distorted Disney perception of wildlife.