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 ...
It's not the honey bears like, it's the bee larvae inside. Looks like a grenade went blew the hive to a 1000 splinters. The first frost is their trigger to final gorging before hibernation.
Lightning won’t chase you up a tree
Bears repeating
Is my tinfoil hat a plus or a minus in a thunderstorm? A grizz attack?
Know your surroundings and you’ll be better. 😊
Lol, I carry the spray, a air horn screwed to a pressure can, a 50 caliber S & W and a Remington 870 loaded with magnum triple ought buckshot.
Google “Ken Cates bear attack”. He was an Alaska native and great woodsman for a couple decades. He had the wrong caliber and was 5 feet away from it when the fight started. He lost.
So, “preparation” and “alertness” are the key I think. But, when asleep on the Yukon river bank that’s hard to do.
I will be retired to my old family home in a couple years. The house is on the edge of a tiny village about 150 yards from both a State and National Forrest.
When I was young the only predators around were fox and a couple bobcats and we would play in the woods from dawn to dusk. Nowadays I have photos of bear in my backyard and neighbors are always posting photos of the bear wandering around the village. One person snapped a photo of a cougar that was finally acknowledged as real by the DNR.
When I go out to the property I own, that is all wooded, I now carry a Sig 10mm. I used to carry a Smith 44mag but wanted more rounds and the ability to use single action without having to cock a hammer while being attacked.
Ursa just a small joke this morn.
Bear Lightning!
It's like ball lightning only instead of balls you get angry Sizzly Bears. If the lightning strike doesn't kill you then the Sizzly Bear will hunt you down and devour you instead.
When I was growing up, there were no wolves in northern Wisconsin, and bears were rare and afraid of people.
Now I carry a firearm when in the woods. Bears and wolves have become common. As long as they are actively hunted, they tend to avoid humans. But the wolf hunt was stopped by a federal judge.
If a bear or wolf shows interest in you, and does not run away, you are in grave danger.
Not the biggest fan of bears.
You have good reason!
The more I learn of bear attacks, the more I see them as serious threats.
Dumbass headline. The question is not lethality, but probability.
Yes. Lighting Bears! An octosharks, ya know.. sharks that are half an octopus and half of a shark!. And.. and sharks with laser beam eyes! And... and.... whoa, I better chill. :-)
Yeah! Weir every where!
I knew it but see post 24... !!
At least you're safe from the lightning when you're underwater.
The gorillas in America are all in zoos, wildlife parks, or laboratories...not much chance of encountering one while hiking in the woods. But even in Africa, does anyone ever get killed by a gorilla? Do they have a history of attacking people?
I checked Amazon for information. While they do sell them, there are no reviews. Why is that?
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