Bear in the Back Seat, Kim DeLozier & Carolyn Jourdan, 2013, Dewey 333.783092, ISBN 9780988564367, 183 pages.
A bear can claw through 9-gauge chain-linBear in the Back Seat, Kim DeLozier & Carolyn Jourdan, 2013, Dewey 333.783092, ISBN 9780988564367, 183 pages.
A bear can claw through 9-gauge chain-link fence or 3/4-inch plywood. p. 38.
The Smokies have a destructive population of feral hogs, which rangers hunt at night to try to eradicate. Bears learn to follow rangers and claim their kills. Rangers get out of the way. "The bear carried a 200-pound hog by the back of the neck like it was an empty paper bag." p. 152. Bears in the Smokies can weigh up to 600 pounds.
Having spent a career admonishing visitors to never leave so much as a peanut, so bears don't associate humans with food, he strangely doesn't question his own actions, leaving the woods littered with fresh hog carcasses, the bears can't help but associate with humans.
In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Rangers will kill a bear that attacks a person or breaks into a tent, vehicle, or building. If they catch it. p. 39.
A bear that is fed by humans, or scavenges humans' food, trash, or fish-cleaning remains, sometimes tries to kill a person as prey. Sometimes succeeds. p. 47.
A hungry bear killed a woman in the park in May 2000. The bear and her year-old cub had begun eating the woman's body. Rangers came and shot the bears. This was a female bear who had had three baby cubs in her den in February 1999: biologists at that time added to her brood an orphaned fourth cub that they were trying to save. pp. 154-158. There are about 1,600 black bears in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (about 2 per square mile), and about 9 million human visitors per year.
Even after this death, the author doesn't reconsider the wisdom of doing everything possible to keep every bear alive. This mother bear's three cubs were already more than she was likely to be able to raise to independence. The bear population is already as high as the natural area can provide for. Yet the author and his fellow biologists seem to base their wildlife-management decisions on, "the cubs are so cute!"
If a bear approaches, scare it off: "Get out of here, bear!" If it keeps coming, spray pepper-spray in its face. If it attacks, fight with whatever weapon you have. p. 132. Do not run. Do not play dead.
"People are not smarter than the average bear." p. 178.
Officials relocate problem bears. One was relocated ten times in a year. It came back every time. It was habituated to humans, casually walking through populated areas. Yet when someone finally shot and killed it, the author's only regret was that the person wasn't caught and prosecuted, as the bear had not /yet/ hurt anyone.
When a bear to be relocated has a broken leg or an open wound, rangers take it to a vet to have a plate screwed to the broken leg bones, or the wound disinfected and sewn up. Yet the author thinks such care is consistent with trying to keep bears scared of humans.
During the author's 1979-2011 career as a ranger in the Smokies, new species of animals arrived: peregrine falcons, river otters, barn owls, coyotes, red wolves, and elk. p. 178.
Thomas Ray
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