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24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too Far the Other Way, October 5, 1999
Zaidle is on the right track in disabusing people of Disney notions, but he goes too far the other way, and reinforces some other Hollywood notions about blood-thirsty beasts. I've walked right next to wild moose dozens of times, and have run smack into bear on the trail more than once. Trust me, it is FAR, FAR more dangerous to drive down the Seward Highway or up the Parks Highway to get to your trailhead than it is to hike on that trial. Zaidle would have you believe the bear, moose, dear, etc. all "want your blood" (not to mention cats, dogs, salmon, trout, sea bass, herring etc). In fact, most bear are scared of to death of people (only the two-year olds and garbage bears aren't), and the moose just don't give a damn about you. From time to time a bear will attack a hunter after a botched shot, or while the hunter is cleaning his game. Sometimes they'll try to break into a cabin to get food. But these attacks are rare, and the vast majority of the time the bear looses. Most of the on-trail attacks involve sows with cubs, and these can usually be avoided if you know how to behave. Unlike some tigers, bear do not target people for food. If an adult grizzly *really* targeted you for its next meal, it would stalk you and nail you from cover. You'd never see it coming. This is an animal that can weigh a thousand pounds and still run faster than Jesse Owens. It would hit you hard enough to snap your spine like a twig. This never happens, at least I've never heard of it. Even children survive most bear attacks. It's more likely you have something the bear wants, or that the bear is protecting something from you, like a moose kill or cubs. Sometimes the bear is just tossing you around for fun. Unless it's real hungry, or has gotten to used to people, it's not going to like the taste of you one bit. There are exceptions, of course.. With moose, the only attacks I know of have been from mothers protecting their young. Wolves? 99%, perhaps all, of these reports are really attacks by the extremely dangerous wolf/dog hybrids, which lack the fear but don't have the domestication. Domestic dogs? I suspect this has more to do with the owner than the dog. Stern discipline, the right breeding, and kindness are the keys. Some of the half-wild rots and shepherds out there should be shot down, along with their owners, but this doesn't make the breeds bad. Bottom line, don't go into bear country expecting to feed the bear (this is likely to get *you* shot, by a local), or to gun them down for no good reason (which is likely to get you charged with a criminal offense). Use all your senses. I've always heard bear long before I've seen one. Don't wear the god-damned bells (they annoy the crap out of me, and keep you from hearing). Talk, or whistle loudly from time to time instead. And don't bother with the pepper spray. Experience shows it rarely works, and it may give you a false sense of security. Either don't carry anything (which is what most locals do when they're not hunting), or carry a very, very large weapon and know how to use it. Shotguns with high-powered slugs are ideal. As far as handguns, .44 Magnums are designed to kill people, and may or may not work on a bear. Try .454 or .50 AE instead (even though these are a lot more expensive than a shotgun, they are easier to carry). Hunting rifles are too clumsy at close range, and may just go in one end and out the other. A hunter's 30.06 was all they found of him in one incident earlier this year. Bear, moose, and other potentially dangerous wildlife are wonderful creatures. They aren't human, but that doesn't mean they don't feel pain, desire, etc. Part of learning to respect animals is learning to understand that they aren't put here for you--either to entertain you or feed you. You are simply not that important.
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by Larry Kaniut
by Larry Kaniut
