Understanding Bear Avoidance

A great portion of the “hills and hollers” here in Tennessee and Kentucky provide promises of adventure, tranquility, and some really remote camping, Fishing, and hunting. Along with those adventures comes something with its own set of wilderness rules, that something is the Black Bear. Bears are one of the main attractions in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and they draw quite a crowd during the summer and fall. The bears in Southern Appalachia are perhaps the most “civilized” bears in the country. By civilized I mean not afraid of people. I mean we have all seen the videos of tourists feeding these ‘friendly’ bears. After years of youtube and instagram videos they have been deemed friendly, that could be no father from the truth. Bears are not friendly but they are an extremely intelligent apex predator. They have learned that people nearly always have something good to eat, and that they are willing to give food away. Therefore a solid understanding of bear behavior and preventive measures is paramount to the adventurous outdoor enthusiast.

Bear behavior is pretty straight forward. They are generally shy and prefer to avoid human interactions. Food will override the shyness and bring the animal in dangerously close proximity to humans. It’s at that point that a wrong move can trigger defensive behavior from the bear and also at that point you’re probably too close to do anything about it. Other things that put a bear into a defensive posture are if they are defending, what they deem, a food source such as a cooler full of picnic snacks. A bear with cubs can be extremely dangerous as can be a surprised bear.In short a bear is always dangerous when it’s close to humans so make it a habit to not get close to them when possible.

There are numerous things one can do to simply prevent close contact with a bear. Preventive measures will keep you from needing to take defensive measures. Or as an old football coach used to say “ the best defense is a good offense” In this case prevention is your offense. One of the most simple means of bear prevention is noise. As stated earlier a bear is a shy animal and prefers not to interact with humans. If you know you’re in bear country you can talk loudly, sing, clap your hands, anything that will make a nearby bear aware of your presence. A hiker’s bell attached to you or your pack is a great start. Hiking or camping in  groups can also be effective as bears will generally avoid groups of humans they encounter in the wild. Whenever possible stick to established trails as the bears already know that humans use these trails and will tend to stay a safe distance from them. Finally, and oddly enough the easiest to to and most common to not do, is proper food storage. The one thing guaranteed to make a bear come close to you is food. When in bear country the how and where of food storage is crucial. All food should be kept in closed, preferably bear resistant,  containers, when possible, and all food waste should be removed from any camp sites.If you’re backpacking into the wild you should hang your food from a trees branch high enough to keep it away from the bears, and far enough from where you’re sleeping to keep the bears away from you. No food should ever be kept in a tent with you! A tent wall won’t stop a bear that smells the honey bun you had for a snack.

There are several non lethal options for Bear Defense. Most lethal options are not legal in the parks so we will pass on discussing them. First is bear spray, basically pepper spray on steroids designed for use against bears. It is a great idea to buy 2 canisters and use one to practice with. Second is air horns and whistles. These are good against black bears as they will generally break contact upon loud noise. Third, and mentioned earlier are bear bells. These simply serve as a noise warning to let bears know you are in the area.

The best way to avoid bear issues is simply to avoid bears. Never feed them , store your food properly, and if you encounter a bear simply back away slowly and go around. Most of the bears you encounter don’t want to deal with you any more than you want to deal with them.