There are stories of clueless tourist seeking out bears and ending up with cracked car glass, scratches, bites or worse. We knew better and purchased bear spray at the Sports Lure in Buffalo WY.
In Yellowstone they had signs up around the campsite to be “Be Bear Aware”. We figure that if we wandered off in to the back country that would be a concern. But at camp we figured we were safe. I am sure they had signs out in the woods saying, “People area – no bears”.
After 3 days of camping with no showers it was time for us to at least get wet. Tower Creek flowed nearby and it looked perfect for a quick dip. We climbed down and found a perfect pool to get wet and then lie on the rocks drying in the sun.
“BEAR!”, yells Mrs Ram.
We both jump. Looking down the river we see a LARGE black bear heading toward us on a route that would quickly corner us.
We grab our things and headed for the trail out. I would like to say I had that bear spray firmly in hand. No that spray was tucked safely away in a bin in our van.
Mrs Ram realized our best option now was to make sure the bear knew we there. Our conversation up the trail was at the top of our lungs.
“DO YOU THINK THAT BEAR LIKES BEER. ”
“I WOULD LOVE A BEER.”
“THE BEAR WILL NEED TO BRING HIS OWN BEER.”
“YOU INVITED A DEER?”
“YES DEAR”
That bear knew exactly where we were and probably thought we were deaf – and nuts.
When we reached the top of trail, a guy there confirmed it was a BIG black bear and we were probably as close as 30 feet at one point. Thankfully we had escaped any harm. We were shocked to see a family run down the trail we had come up because they wanted a close up look at a bear.
Yep. There are people that are more clueless than us.
(Just like Crazy Woman Drive, I was too occupied being scared out of my wits to get any pictures)
The National Park Rangers are advising hikers in National Parks and other Mountain parks to be alert for bears and take extra precautions to avoid an encounter.
They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows bears to hear them coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidentally sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge.
Visitors should also carry a pepper spray can just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear’s sensitive nose and it will run away.
It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat(poop) so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.
Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain plaid, small bells and smell like pepper.