Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance (revised edition) [Paperback]

Stephen Herrero (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2002

Of the animals in North America, none commands such dread, awe, and interest as the bear. Creatures that fear little, bears compete for survival with the only other animals that can threaten their existence: Humans.
Bear Attacks is a thorough and unflinching study of attacks made on humans. This is the sometimes horrific, yet always instructive, story of Bear and Human, written by the leading scientific authority in the field. This book is for everyone who camps, hikes, or visits bear country -and for anyone who wants to learn more about these fearsome but always fascinating wild creatures.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[R] equired reading." --Rocky Mountain News

"Well-written...essential for the casual park visitor as well as the wilderness backpacker." --Booklist

From the Inside Flap

What causes bear attacks? When should you play dead and when should you fight an attacking bear? What do we know about black and grizzly bears and how can this knowledge be used to avoid bear attacks? And, more generally, what is the bear's future?

Bear Attacks is a thorough and unflinching landmark study of the attacks made on men and women by the great grizzly and the occasionally deadly black bear. This is a book for everyone who hikes, camps, or visits bear country – and for anyone who wants to know more about these sometimes fearsome but always fascinating wild creatures.

From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158574557X
• ISBN-13: 978-1585745579
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #207,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Animals > Bears

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What to expect when you're expecting to be mauled, September 4, 2005

By 

Bryan Newman "alaskanoutfitting.com" (St Paul, MN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance (revised edition) (Paperback)

This is the single greatest academic look at bear attacks. Herrero is so exhaustive in his efforts to describe every type of bear attack that after a while you wonder how you can possibly survive a night outside. It seems that in every situation, no matter what you do to avoid a mauling there is a story where it leads to a mauling. But his complete look at all types of maulings comes to two conclusions. First there are basic strategies that work in almost all situations and second, bears are unpredictable so there is no magic answer for all situations.

The book does have a lot of graphic bear attack stories, but this is not a typical "bear attack" book. In the end this book is an academic book full of scientific analysis and statistics. Between attack stories, it can be dry, scientific reading. But if you want to know everything you can about you won't do better than this book

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Bear Book Hall of Famer, August 29, 2004

By 

William R. Cramer (Spring, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance (revised edition) (Paperback)

This is it!! The authoritative piece of literature on avoiding bear attacks. An absolute must for anyone who travels or works in bear country, especially grizzly bear country. I have over 350 books and publications on bears and refer to this book when friends want advice on their next hike in bear country. I learned how really useless "bear bells" are in bear country and that in itself might have saved me from many "ugly" encounters of suprising a grizzly bear on the trail. Sometimes it is only one small bit of advice that "saves" you from so many problems in life and this book is full of great advice.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars informative scientific review, November 19, 2000

By 

TODD RAMBOSEK (LAKEWOOD, OHIO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance (Paperback)

This is a great book. I love to hike in bear country and feel much more prepared now that I have read it. Herrero presents his data in both a scientific and honest way careful not to overstate what we do or don't know about bears. He is clearly the world's authority on bear behavior as he has been on site after nearly every bear attack in north america in the past 30 years. He describes in detail (often gorry but necessarily so) what happened in each account and provides a critique of what the injured did or did not do correctly in the given situation. Clearly anyone who reads this book will be better prepared to enter bear country with both respect for bears and how to avoid confrontation. I highly recommend this book.