Replies

I stand corrected on the omnivore/herbivore point. I wasn't aware that black bears were similar to raccoons in that respect.

I deliberately put the term "go nuts" in quotes because it isn't exactly accurate -- as you said, many of these attacks have simply not been explained. I was always under the impression that an "unexplained" bear attack is more likely to involve a black bear than a grizzly bear for some reason. A Canadian female cross-country skier was killed in one such attack a couple of years ago while training in the summertime in Quebec, and as far as I know nobody has ever figured out exactly what that attack was all about.

We have blk bear all over where I live. Grizz up on the summits. I see both eating dead fish along the river and have watched them feeding on reds in lakes.

Here's my beef with bear. The biggest problem with bear is when the moose calve in may/june. Bear take 85% of moose calves; pretty tough on the resource. When there's no calve survival, the average age of moose population gets older until all yu have is barren cows; and then the moose just die out. Both grizz & blk take the calves. I think everyone around here has seen bear pullin down calves at one time or another.

Up until about 30 years ago, there was sensible predator control from the air & the bounty system. The new balance of nature approach is just what it is; boom and bust; the land supports 10% of the moose it is capable of. That eventually means no hunting for humans who also subsist off the land. I hear down in Canada that they have the same probs but just close hunting down; prefer feeding increased bear & wolve populations rather than humans. The politicals are beginning to address the predator problem up here; long time over due as we have way too many bear and in places wolves.

Ever been to a garbage dump...black bears will eat any dead meat they can find...In BC we would go to the dump and watch the bears eat roadkill/cow guts/ waste from the fish farms etc. that was left at the dump...ever see a black bear sit on his butt and chow down on some deer ribs...all that was missing was the BBQ sauce...Oh yeah, don't "play dead" with a Black bear..they like to eat guts and the human belly doesn't stand up too well to their claws.