Posted on 06/03/2018 7:31:16 AM PDT by marktwain
In online discussions of bear attacks, it is not unusual for people to claim that a person is more likely to be killed by lightning than to be killed by a bear. That is true, in a gross sense. You are also more likely to die of a heart attack or to be murdered than to be killed by a bear when you use the entire United States population as a measure.
This comparison is disingenuous. It is easy to avoid being killed by a bear, simply by staying out of areas where there are bears. Lightning strikes occur all over the United States. Significant bear populations are limited to a fraction of the United States. The relative danger of bears and lightning depends a great deal on where you are.
I looked up lightning deaths in areas where there are significant bear populations. What I found was startling. Wyoming is rated as the most dangerous state for lightning deaths, per capita. Wyoming is also one of the top states for fatal bear attacks.
During the decade from 2004-2014, there were two deaths from lightning strikes in Wyoming. During the same period, four people were killed by bears. At least for that decade, for Wyoming, bears were twice as likely to be the cause of death as lightning. The number of people killed by bears has been rising in the last two decades, while the number of people killed by lightning is falling.
Consider Alaska. Lots of bears, and lots of lightning. But Alaska has had zero, zilch, nada people killed by lightning since 1990! During the same period, 1990 to 2014, 16 people were killed by bears in Alaska.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
I suppose being in bear territory in a thunderstorm near a SUV, while the wife is menstruating is about as dangerous as it can get?
><
Yep, that’s a bad combination. Lol
Funny question, but not even a close fight. Grizz can easily weigh twice as much.
Building the retirement home in bear country.. black bear. Every time we’ve been on the land (surrounded by 87,000 acres of USFS) there’s been a bear or two walking around.
I carry a 45 but that’s for the occasional feral hog.
No your surroundings and you’ll be fine.
I meant “Know” not “No” for those looking to correct...
If you coat yourself with bacon grease and climb to a tall bare mountain in bear country during a ferocious thunderstorm using a 10 ft aluminum pole(for good strength to weight ratio) for a staff, while blowing a predator call…
…Your odds of getting killed by either one of the two, greatly increases.
Florida golfers usually just lose limbs!
Hmmm, slow, lumbering, huge RCS Tu-95 vs swift, maneuverable, radar invisible F-22?
One-on-one F-22, every time.
60 some odd Bears vs 187 F-22s, advantage F-22...
People have been known to survive both “attacks”. Not sure about gorillas...
In my experience, You are correct! I’ve spent many weeks on the Yukon River alone in each of the past seven years.
I’m always armed to the teeth for bears AND humans but the bears have left me completely alone despite hundreds of hours of me being in their backyard.
Last year, I finally saw three of the little critters about a mile off. I put my binoculars on them and got a good look at them. But, when we got about a half mile off, they took off into the woods.
So, YES you have to be careful. But, I’ve slept alone on a Yukon River bank many, many nights and I’ve not been bothered by them. By the way, the Fish and Game folks in Alaska quote that there are 17,000 bears in the Yukon watershed in Alaska.
However what would look like afterwards and all that pain the strike sounds better thank you.
Agreed. I watched a sickening video of a grizzly using one paw to hold down a young moose while it ate it alive starting with the tail end. The moose was bawling for help until it died.
In which state are you?
If you dig up a fulgurite you'll find it smells like burnt pepper and is filled with melted bells.
Since neither made it to the Stanley Cup, it's moot.
If he followed his own advice on context, he would notice that a person is much more likely to die of lightning in certain situations than from bears. Those include hiking on mountains in thunderstorms. In Alaska that is easily avoided since it only happens a few times a year.
Wow! this thread has been all over - hockey, bacon grease, metal poles, bears vs gorillas!
I think we need bear control. People should be safe in America so we should get rid of all the bears.
Tough to bear that sort of pun early Sunday morning.
I’ve had a few encounters here in Montana, both black and grizzly, but they always run off when we make a lot of noise. Folks I know who were attacked always happens when they surprise a sow with cubs.
I recentlly got a “Bear Banger” gizmo. Haven’t tried it but looks like it would do the trick.
When I go for walks around the neighborhood, I carry bear spray, though in practice I'm more likely to have to use it on a dog.
I think that’s second only to an unsupervised AR-15.
;-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.