Canoe The Ozarks

In this neck of the woods, that would be Mr. and Ms. Black Bear of course.

In all my years of canoeing in the Ozarks, I have yet to see one of these
magnificent land mammals.  But they are certainly out there.

According to the MDC (Missouri Dept. of Conservation), public observations of black bears and black bear cubs continue to increase,
and over the last 12 months the Department has received 85 reports of bear sightings.

I would love to see a black bear in the wild (from a distance), but just
how dangerous are black bears?

I went to the Forest Service for some answers to this question.

How Dangerous are Black Bears?
Black bears can injure or kill people, but they rarely do. When pressed, they usually retreat, even with cubs. Attacking to defend cubs is more a grizzly bear trait. (Grizzlies live only in Alaska, northern and western Canada, and the Rocky Mountains south to Yellowstone.) Black bear mothers often leave their cubs and flee from people, and those that remain are more likely to bluff-charge than attack. Still, it is prudent to use extra caution with family groups that allow close approaches because mothers are generally more nervous than other bears. Nevertheless, chances of being attacked around campsites by any black bear are small. During a 19-year study of bear/camper encounters in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota, only two injuries were reported in 19 million visitor-days. The study included the year 1985 when bear nuisance activity was at a record high. The two injuries were by one bear on September 14 and 15, 1987. The bear was killed the next day.
(more info available at:  http://nrs.fs.fed.us/epubs/ht66.html)

But what if a black bear comes into my campsite?

What to Do If a Black Bear Visits
A black bear in camp requires caution but is not cause for great alarm. Most are timid enough to be scared away by yelling, waving, and banging pans. But a few are too accustomed to people to be bothered. Many people have lost their food and vacation by being timid. Campers experienced with black bears simply chase them away before the bears settle in to eating a week’s supply of vacation food. They make sure the bear has a clear escape route and then yell, wave, and rush to no nearer than 15 feet of the bear. This is especially effective when several people do it together. If alone, a person might create the illusion of numbers by throwing sticks through the underbrush. Don’t feed the bears or try to pet them. Touching a wild bear can elicit a nip or cuff.

A recent study by the National Park Service showed that bears sometimes are harder to chase after they have begun eating. Some bears in that study gave low intensity threats when people slowly approached closer than 15 feet, but all bears that were chased retreated. No visitors were attacked. People are often more timid at night, but bears retreat at night as well as by day. Capsaicin spray repellent usually persuades black bears to leave when it is sprayed into their eyes. Capsaicin, the active ingredient of cayenne peppers, has long been used by mailmen as a dog repellent. In more than 200 trials, no bear gave any sign of anger after being sprayed, sometimes repeatedly. Most immediately turned and ran, stopping eventually to rub their eyes. The repellent irritates the eyes for several minutes but causes no injury(http://nrs.fs.fed.us/epubs/ht66.html).

Ok, so it’s off to the rivers and woods we go.  Armed with new information
and a cayenne vaporizer, we’re poised for our first sighting.

Seeing a black bear for the first time in the Ozark wilderness would truly be
an awesome, unforgettable experience.  OH MY!

by William Hughes.