Attack in Great Smoky Mountains National Park 'rare,' official says

Knoxville News Sentinel ^ | June 9, 2012 | Jennifer Brake, Lance Coleman

[FreedomPoster]

The full park ranger bear warning needs to be on this thread.

Park visitors are advised to wear little bells on their clothes to make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows the bears to hear the hiker coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidently sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge. Hikers should also carry pepper spray in case they encounter a bear. Spraying the pepper in the air will irritate a bear’s sensitive nose and it will run away. It also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you’ll know if there are bears in the area. People should be able to tell the difference between black bear scat and grizzly/brown bear scat. Black bear scat is smaller and will be fibrous, with berry seeds and sometimes grass in it. Grizzly/brown bear scat will have bells in it and smell like pepper......

[Bratch]

[samtheman]

I’ve hiked, canoed and camped in grizzly country in Canada and Alaska and always wore bear bells when walking. I also carried, in Alaska.

[Romulus]

It’s extremely rare for an eastern black bear to attack a human. Most are quite wild and will avoid you. Making yourself large and noisy while standing your ground is your best bet. This advice is for eastern bears only; I would be much more cautious to avoid all Western bears, especially grizzlies and other brownies.

[momincombatboots]

As a woman, or maybe it’s just me.. I have a super- heightened state of situational awareness. This is not as rare as they would like you to think.. there was a couple who was attacked and as you can imagine what a truly sick psychopath does to cause pain to couples. Moral high ground varies from individual to individual. Mine includes do not put myself or my children in danger. The other problem with this is.. if the criminals think everyone is unarmed and helpless... naturally they are easy prey. Think of the number of crimes we know about which happen in “gun free” zones. Gun free cities... etc. Bear spray shoots a 12 foot stream of high intensity cayenne. Non- lethal bear deterrent.