Customer Reviews

Living With Bears: A Practical Guide to Bear Country

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A wonderful, well written book, full of useful information on how to live with bears. I especially liked the tips spread throughout the book by noted bear biologist, Tom Beck. I also liked reading about what different communities in the U.S. and Canada do to try to minimize bear/human conflicts. I have over 350 bear publications in my personal library and I must say that this is one of my favorites. A welcome book for anyone who lives in bear country or is planning a visit to bear country.

Linda Masterson's "Living With Bears" deserves a 5-star rating.
I plan to use it in my classes on bear safety and will urge its distribution in any community in bear country.

This book is a thorough primer on how to comfortably coexist with black bears -- especially those living near your home.

The author is a professional writer noted for her thorough background research. This work is no exception. Not only did she spend two years reading and interviewing bear biologists and managers, but she worked closely with veteran bear expert Tom Beck, formerly of the Colorado Division of Wildlife. His knowledge and integrity are widely admired by his colleagues - several of whom thoroughly reviewed this book prior to publication. The author has also spent years assisting the pros in dealing with problem bears or teaching the public to avoid problems.

Even though most of this information has already been presented in scattered publications, this book pulls all the basics together in one package and presents them in a way unusually well tailored to the general public - vastly increasing its potential effectiveness.

It is superbly designed to facilitate reading and learning, even by kids with short attention spans. Nearly every page has at least one photograph or a diagram (e.g., on how to set up an electric fence). Many pages have sidebar comments and other tidbits of information. All this is presented in a sophisticated layout that gives you a feeling of space and thus relaxed reading, rather than dense text that hints that reading will un-bear-ably tedious.

Subjects addressed include
* state by state geographic distribution of black bears;
* basic bear biology; elements of bear behavior;
* denying bears access to garbage, bird feeders, gardens,
farm produce, livestock, and homes--for instance through
careful sanitation and use of electric fences;
* tactics to avoid hitting a bear with your car;
* relocating problem bears;
* modifying bear behavior, for instance through mild
punishment.

Guidance is also provided for avoiding bear problems while hiking, running, riding, camping, fishing or hunting.

There are chapters on how to behave if you encounter a bear or are attacked, including how to use pepper spray to protect yourself.

Grizzly bears are addressed to the degree necessary for readers to distinguish them from black bears and to understand a bit about how you should behave differently during encounters with each species.

Interspersed among those 19 subject chapters are numerous case studies from communities across North America.

Where questionable advise is given about how best to cope during close encounters, this is because major questions are still unanswered to the satisfaction of most experts.*


Stephen F. Stringham, PhD
Director: Bear Communication & Coexistence Research Program
Director: Bear Viewing Association
Author of Beauty Within the Beast and Bear Watching in Alaska

This book should be required reading for anyone who vacations or moves into bear country. Through the words of expert biologists in the field as well as the experiences of communities that have developed plans to keep bears and people safe, Linda Masterson offers valuable advice. When it comes to coexistence with bears, education is the key, and this book offers very practical education. As an educator for Appalachian Bear Rescue and a presenter of bear programs, I find this book to be an invaluable resource.

As a wildlife biologist and someone who has worked with black bears for many years, I believe this book is a wonderful resource for anybody who lives in bear country and for people planning to visit a place where bears exist. Linda Masterson provides the fundamentals of bear behavior so people know what to expect when encountering one of these beautiful animals. She also gives the reader tools to help manage encounters as well as proactive measures to prevent habituation in places where people camp or live with bears. This book is humorous and a pleasure to read.

There are more than 900,000 black bears in North America. These bears range from Florida to British Columbia and as a result of the expansion of human settlements and a reduction of their natural habitats, human-bear contacts and conflict are increasing every year. Sometimes with tragic results for both humans and bears alike. Living With Bears: A Practical Guide To Bear County describes Black Bears and their behavior; explains how to "bear-proof" your home; how to stash trash safely; how to hike and camp in "bear country"; addresses the issues of bird feeding, gardening, and farming in "bear country"; describes bear behavior modification techniques and strategies; and teaches how to avoid bear encounters and attacks. Enhanced with illustrative case studies from the United States and Canada, a bibliography, a comprehensive index, and featuring an extensive appendices that includes Black Bear Populations by State/Territory; Bear Resources, Organizations and Volunteer Groups; Government Agencies - United States; Government Agencies - Canada; Wildlife Education & Information Bear Deterrents; Recommended Reading Viewing; and Sample Community Ordinances, Living With Bears is an invaluable addition to personal reading lists for hikers, camper and wilderness enthusiasts, as well as school and community library Pets & Wildlife reference collections.

This book is full of great stories. It is simply the best resource I have found on living with black bears. As a land manager, I find this book to be invaluable. In fact, this is one of the best books I've yet read. Enjoy!

We live in the mountains of WNC and bears are becoming more and more often sited near homes. We had a mother bear and 2 cubs up a tree in our yard is why I bought this book. It is chock full of helpful information and wonderfully easy to read stories of bear encounters and stories of what communities have done to decrease bear encounters. I learned right away what was attracting the bears to our yard and we have stopped composting food outside, and bring our bird feeders in at night. We've also switched the black oil sunflower seeds that the bear tore down and ate with smaller feeders with just already hulled sunflower pieces that leave no attractants on the ground. We stopped using millet seed also as the birds don't really like it anyway and throw it on the ground. But bears do like it!!! We keep our doors and windows locked now after reading about how clever bears are about getting to the "white boxes" in houses after learning what they are. The helpful tips don't end here. But I also learned not to be so very afraid as I gained a tremendous amount of info about bear behavior and what to do if I encounter one outside or inside.

Everyone who lives where ANY wild animals are, not just bears, would benefit from reading this book, and equally important, the animals would benefit from people reading this book. It tells how to coexist and enjoy nature without creating or having to deal with problem animals. When people and animals clash, the animals always lose in the end, so help yourself and them with the good advice in this book.

Practical, informative and just what we needed to live safely with the bear (or bears) that live near us.

This book is awesome!! The perfect guide to co-existing with our big furry creature. I live in bear country and the bears are definitely out and about. Linda Masterson's book has helped me tremendously with methods of establishing boundaries and educating me on bear behavior. The book is easy to read and I would highly recommend you have it on hand!