Posted on 09/26/2014 5:48:51 PM PDT by Coleus
Hikers were undeterred Friday, but people who live in bear country were unnerved by a fatal black bear attack earlier this week near a West Milford hiking trail.
Darsh Patel, 22, a Rutgers University student from Edison, was found dead by police in the 576-acre Apshawa Preserve after he and four friends ran from a 4-year-old, 300 pound black bear that was trailing them. Patel’s body was found with bite and claw marks on it. Authorities, who searched two hours for Patel, shot and killed a bear that was found near his body acting aggressively.
“They’re normally so docile,” said Suzie Struble, who has lived across from the Northwood Drive entrance to the Apshawa Preserve for five years. “If you live in West Milford you just know – there are bear here.”
Related: Police release 911 calls from hikers after deadly West Milford bear attack
Struble said she usually doesn’t give the animals much thought. A fence in the backyard keeps them at bay. But until authorities are sure that the bear they killed near Patel’s body is the aggressive one, “I’m a little leery,” she said. Cathy Crouthamel, also a five-year West Milford resident, said she won’t allow her 3-year-old son, Tommy, outside since the attack. “It’s unnerving she said.” But Julia Tabeling, a 35-year West Milford resident who lives beside the preserve, said she didn’t begin to see and hear bears in the neighborhood until the early 1990s.
“I run into many that aren’t aggressive,” she said. “We follow the rules, keep our garbage inside.” “You have to have a healthy respect for them,” Tabeling said. Even still, an encounter can still be dangerous. Dick Webber, a 40-year resident of West Milford, who lives on Macopin Road next door to where the 9-1-1 call was placed on Sunday, said he had a bear challenge him two years ago in his backyard, which connects to Apshawa Preserve.
Webber, who worked on and off as a guide for 11 years in Alaska and Canada, said he has killed three bears in life – black bear and grizzly – who charged his clients while out in the wild. “I’m familiar with them,” he said, adding, “I thought this would happen here sooner or later because black bears are black bears.” The bear that challenged Webber two years ago was snacking on cherries from a tree in his backyard. “When I saw him coming I backed away toward my side door,” he said. “I know not to make eye contact.” And barking from his two Jack Russell Terriers drove the animal away, he said.
“There’s a little bit of a shortage of food for them right now,” Webber said, referring to apples not yet being on the trees. “That was probably just a hungry aggressive bear – and we’re food.” It is still unclear whether the bear that was shot by authorities is the same animal that killed Patel. Wildlife officials are still conducting a necropsy, the results of which will not be ready for “some time,” said Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection.
The results of Patel’s autopsy were not accessible on Friday.
An estimated 2,400 to 2,500 bear live in the northwestern section of New Jersey, said Hajna.
During the fall, bears are getting ready to hibernate and are looking for food. To minimize conflicts with them, the DEP suggests storing food and trash in containers with tight-fitting lids, disinfect garbage cans frequently, bring indoors any uneaten pet food and bowls, avoid feeding birds when bears are active (if you must, keep feeders 10 feet off the ground and clean up seeds and shells from the ground daily), clean grills of food residue and remove fruit or nuts that fall from trees in your yard.
If you do encounter a bear, remain calm and do not run. Make sure the bear has an escape route, avoid eye contact, back up slowly and speak with a low, assertive voice, according to the DEP.
The bear attack was far from the minds of two Glen Rock mothers who took the opportunity of beautiful weather and a day off school to go hiking in Ramapo Mountain State Forest in Oakland.
“I totally forgot about it,” said Caroyln Stallone, who brought her son Michael, 8 and daughter Katie, 11. “But I hate to think it would stop me.” Cathy Jabson, of Franklin Lakes, said she often hikes alone and wonders what she would do if she ran into trouble. “I guess I should have a whistle,” she said. Her brother, Mark Prusha, of Park Ridge, said he was not concerned about taking extra precautions because of the attack. “It’s a freak accident. It was the first time in 150 years.”
Sometimes, you get the bear. Sometimes, the bear gets you.
These people think bear attacks are like lightning strikes. Yet they probably wouldn't venture into inner city Newark after dark.
When interviewed, the bear said that he had never eaten Indian before. ‘I will definitely eat Indian again’, said the bear, but the bear said that next time he would bypass the hummus...
How to recognize different kinds of bears:
If you are stalked by a bear, run as fast as you can, and climb the nearest tree.
If it is a Black Bear, it will chase you to the tree.
If if is a Brown Bear, it will climb the tree to get you.
If it is a Grizzly Bear, you won’t make it to the tree.
My son and I just killed bears over 300lbs during the Wis bear season.
It is amazing how a bear behaves when you place some high velocity lead and copper in the right place.
I’d trade the whistle in for a .50 caliber pistol.
That reminds me of the following joke:
A couple was visiting the Tongass national forest in Alaska for the first time. A wooden sign at the entrance warned the visitors to watchful be for bears in their area. The sign advised that there were three types of bear in the forest.
Brown Bears, Black Bears and Grizzlies.
It advised visitors that they should visit the gift shop and pick up pepper spray and bells as these tended to negate any threat from the bears.
Finally, the sign gave information on how to determine if any bears are in your area.
If you come across bear feces in the forest, a quick examination can determine what type of bear it might be.
If there are a lot of berries in the feces, it is a black bear.
Finding fish or small animals in bear feces, means that a brown bear is in your area.
Grizzlies can be identified by finding bells and cans of pepper spray in their feces...
Even if you are alone you should never run from a bear. For one thing a bear can run 30 mph although if you are going downhill you might do a little better than the bear for a while. But with 5 people you can easily scare off a black bear.
Open Carry. Preferably large caliber.
If you are with one or more other persons, the caliber is irrelevant. .38 special, 9mm, .308, heck even .22 is fine. Any of those is powerful enough to damage the foot of the person standing closest to you.
I don’t have to be faster than the bear I just have to be faster than you!
As an old rancher in West TX I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the 576 acre preserve, were talking less than one square mile. Now I understand it’s different terrain but dang that’s small!
“.. 576 acre preserve, were talking less than one square mile. Now I understand it’s different terrain but dang that’s small!”......
Yes, compared to some Texas ranches the “preserve” is small but the article didn’t say what the surrounding territory and wooded areas might be in size. A bear will travel a great distance for food and from what this article states, food might have been the motive for the attack and killing. The preserve was a place where the human “food” was concentrated, hence the bear going there for, lets say, “easy pickings”. Where I live (In central Wisconsin) bears are quite common and move from one wooded area to another all the time. I have had them in my own yard at different times. So far, most bear around here have not yet been aggressive enough to feed on humans.
A few weeks back, I was walking along a path with my son's dog. It was getting dark, and as we were crossing a bridge heading home, we met up with a family of six skunks. Fortunately, we got out of their way, pronto.
I'm now taking my walks before it gets dark. Actually, the most dangerous creatures on this trail are the Lance Armstrong wannabes.
Several year ago my wife and I rented a place in Taos NM for a week. Early one morning I was sitting on the steps of the back porch drinking coffee and had a Momma skunk 4 little one walks through the fence about 5 ft from me. Two of the little ones walked between my feet and the steps, lets just say I didn’t make a move until they went into the back yard.
This is my neck of the woods. I hike enough that I’m averaging 15 or so bear interactions a year. Including seeing a similar sized bear in August at the location of the attack.
I don’t think most people are going to worry about it tbh. It’s not going to effect me one way or the other.
The area is surrounded by other state parks, state forests, and reservoir conservation areas, something like 28,000 acres in total in the immediate vicinity. There are ALOT of bears in the area, much much worse than 20 years ago.
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