Scout not seriously hurt in bear attack

[GernBlansten]

I just love the last line of this story! Imagine the revised tour permit required to allow that.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071015/ap_on_fe_st/odd_bear_attack

WHITE HAVEN, Pa. - A Boy Scout played dead when attacked by a bear during a camping trip, avoiding serious injury.

 

Chris Malasics, 14, curled up in the fetal position in his sleeping bag after the bear ripped down his tent at Hickory Run State Park around 11:30 p.m. Friday.

 

"I was just trying to figure out what to do to not get hurt," he told the Daily Local News of West Chester.

 

As the bear started tossing Malasics around, a Scout leader tried to create a disturbance by banging pots and pans and flashing car headlights. The bear eventually wandered off.

 

Malasics, of Chester Springs, was taken to a hospital for treatment for his cuts and bruises. He was also given a precautionary rabies shot.

 

Malasics said the experience will not deter him from going camping. In the future, though, he intends to make sure he has a pepper spray for bears, and perhaps a gun.

 

"I know how to shoot," he said.

 

[OldGreyEagle]

Just what every scoutmaster needs, gun and bear pepper spray toting youth, or adults for that matter.

 

Actually, Hickory Run State Park has had quite a few Bear incidents. Last month a scout was bitten while in his sleeping bag, it seems the bear was after the candy the youth had in there with him. A few years back another bear attack occurred there.

 

 

[CA_Scouter]

I went to Yellowstone last month backpacking, and I was told there were two ways to handle bears:

 

1. If you surprise a bear and they go after you, they are assessing you as a threat. You should lie face down, spread your legs to prevent being turned over, put your hands around the back or your neck to protect your spine. Play dead as long as it takes.

 

2. If they go after you in your tent, they''ve already assessed you and decided you are food. Fight back vigorously.

 

So I''m not exactly sure what the correct behavior is now... is there a definitive source on the subject?

 

I guess since the kid was only nipped at, he had no need to fight back vigorusly, but if it was a more agressive attack, then fighting back probably should have been the choice.

 

Oops, guess I answered my own question! :-0)

 

 

[GernBlansten]

While on a wilderness trek in Alaska last year, our guide said, "Run from moose, stand for bear".

 

On our boundary water expedition, our guide said bears are just big raccoons. Don''t corner them, feed them and they will leave you alone.

 

At Philmont, we were told by our ranger the story of a scout who while opening a hot cocoa packet, blew into it spraying cocoa dust on his face. He awoke that night with a bear licking the cocoa from him.

 

I''ve encountered two bears at my house. One in my back yard, one in my garage. Both I approached aggressively, exaggerated movements, looked big, lots of noise. Both decided I wasn''t snacking material and chose to leave, although not as fast as I would have liked.

[Its Me]

Well since we are sharing bear stories.

 

Last summer we rented a remote cabin in Shenandoah national park. It was a 1930's CCW type of cabin built a mile or so off the road back in the woods.

 

Anyway, we had seen bear tracks so I thought one had been there recently. On the second morning I existed the cabin to head to the privy which was up the hill behind the cabin. As I exit the front door and march ten feet up the trail I see a big black bear 50 feet up the privy trail. I saw him first and tried to call for my wife and kids to see. When I did he stood up on his haunches and we began a stare down. Well about five seconds went by and I thought "this can't be good". So I inflated my chest and yelled in a powerful voice "GET". Between the "get" and the commotion in the cabin he dropped and high tailed it away.

 

The kids were mad that I scared him away. I was glad I had spare underwear.

 

 

(This message has been edited by Its Me)

[beaver1onit]

 

When will they ever learn not to put food or snacks in their tents, bears can smell food a mile away. Hickory Run State Park has had three or four attacks this past summer and the area has been posted and the rangers have warned all camping groups about the bear problem. They have trapped seven or eight bears in the last few months and moved them.

[dan]

I have been told that it depends on the type of bear on what your reaction should be. Brown and Black play dead if attacked, If they are getting ready to attack, look as big as you can and talk loudly to the bedr. Grizzly do not play dead or be aggressive. Anyone know for sure?

[SR540Beaver]

Just a week ago I sent out a reminder email to the new scout patrol I''m ASM for concerning snacks. We had a couple of boys who joined late in the year who brought vast amounts of snacks with them on our last outing. Now, our last outing was a state Centennial event with 5,000 scouts camping Jamboree style in a huge city park. Also, most of Oklahoma isn''t bear country. However, the eastern edge of Oklahoma is bear country and so is Arkansas and we have been known to camp there before. We have troop tents and food is forbidden in them. A bear''s sense of smell is 7 times greater than a bloodhound and they have been known to walk in a straight line upwind for 3 miles to get to food they have smelled. A piece of chocolate or granola bar ground into the tent floor today could prove deadly next year. Besides, even if you don''t live in bear country, those pesky racoons, skunks and other critters will rip and tear tents to get to a tasty treat. Even though the news article didn''t say, I''m willing to bet the boy had food in his tent at the time, has had food in his tent before, had spilled food on his clothing or had carried food in his gear. All deadly things to do in bear country.

[Ohio_Scouter]

dan,

 

Steven Herrero''s book, "Bear Attacks: Their Cause and Avoidance", has a lot of good information about bear attacks. His book analyzes bear attacks in the US, Canada and Alaska for over 100 yrs. Even though there are many anecdotal bear attack books, such as Larry Kaniut''s books, Herrero is considered the premiere work because he analyzes patterns and types of attacks and how people survived or why they didn''t survive.

 

He separates Black bears from Grizzly and Brown bears since the behavior is so different. A very helpful hint is how to tell the difference between a defensive attack and a predatory attack. Most experienced bear hunters know that there are two types of attacks, but what is surprising is that Black bears who are predators do it almost always during the day and Grizzlies do it at night. Predatory bears are aiming to kill and eat you. Defensive bears who attack are guarding territory, cache, kills or cubs. He gives vital instructions about dealing with Defensive attacks. But with predatory bears, he insists that if you lay down and act submissive that you will be killed. The only thing to turn back a predatory attack is to fight. But you have to know the difference.

 

Another surprising statistic is that black bears rarely attack in defensive of their cubs (Grizzlies fiercely defend their cubs). Black bears will usually run or protect cubs and not attack humans while defending cubs. Most daytime Grizzly attacks are defensive. Most daytime Black bear attacks are Predatory.

 

No one who is riding a horse has ever been attacked by a bear. Horses have thrown riders in fear of a bear, and the bear hasn''t attacked the thrown rider either.

 

Black bears have a higher rate of predatory behavior during low berry production years. Berry crop failures are significant factors for Black bears who need to fatten up before hibernation.

 

Every situation is different, but the valuable help of this book is the analysis of hundreds of attacks by both types of bears and clearly giving you an understanding of how to react to aggressive behavior.

[eisely]

Ohio Scouter:

 

Can you give the complete citation for the book?

[GernBlansten]

Just ordered a copy for myself.

http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-Causes-Avoidance-revised/dp/158574557X/ref=sr_1_1/103-7524367-8964659?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192572943&sr=8-1

[Ohio_Scouter]

eisely,

 

Yes, the title is Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance, Revised Edition, by Stephen Herrero, Lyons Press, Guilford, Connecticut, an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press. Copyright 1985, 2002. ISBN 1-58574-557-X. I bought my copy in the summer of 2004 during our Troop''s high adventure trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks through Grand Teton Natural History Association, P.O. Box 170, Moose, Wyoming 83012, or Telephone 307.739.3606, www.grandtetonpark.org, for $16.95 US at the time. Let me know if you need anything else.

[OldGreyEagle]

Just received an EMail from the Council Office, as Hickory Run is not all that far from us, and the scout last month was from our council. Seems the Council is asking troops that have plans to camp at Hickory Run consider alternative locations. I would second that thought

[Gags]

That''s disappointing to hear, OGE. Hickory Run is a great place to camp. They have a permanent Orienteering course established with free maps available. More importantly, they have Boulder Field (which just so happened to flash by on my laptops screen saver as I wrote this). Boulder Field is a bit of a geologic anomaly, but unfortunately, is also an excellent example of how easily vandalism / graffiti can permanently damage nature, as many of the rocks have been "tagged" over the years. See pictures here: http://mysite.verizon.net/res8o5lp/id8.html

 

If it looks like just a field of rocks - it is. But let loose a bunch of scouts to scramble out into the field for an hour or so, and you will have one tired group of kids. I was even able to impress the 16 year olds. 2 Points for Mother Nature on that one!

 

Lastly - the Lehigh River is next door - a great step-up in whitewater adventure from canoeing the Delaware, Potomac or Shenandoah. Plus they don''t put a guide in the raft with you (they''re in kayaks) - so you get a good lesson in team building to go with the fun. (We use Whitewater Challengers - very scout friendly, and well run. I was not impressed with what I saw of the other guiding companies on the river). There is also a bike trail that runs for 20 miles or so along the river.

 

So you get orienteering, biking, rafting and rock scrambling all in one area (and weekend!).

 

But back to the original point - while camping there with my family 2 years ago, I was driving my Mom back to the hotel where they were staying (Dad''s a little too fragile for tent camping now-a-days), and sure enough, what runs across the road but a large black bear. First time I''ve ever seen one in the wild (after 25+ years of camping in the mid-atlantic region).

 

So understandably, while you may want to reconsider a trip to Hickory Run this fall, I encourage everyone in the area to keep it high on their trip list, and reconsider visiting once the bear situation "improves".

 

--Gags

[OldGreyEagle]

Been down the Lehigh many times with Whitewater Challengers, I love their Scouting Weekends they have, up to 10-15 dollars cheaper if you go on Sunday and you get a free t-shirt. If camping overnight they have a leaders "retreat" room well lit and air conditioned with good coffee.

 

Ever done the Glen Oaka (sp?) trail in winter? Or seen the abandoned train tunnel in winter? Nice place, but still with the bear population in an uproar, not a place to stay over night right now