Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance

by Stephen Herrero

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493034574
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/01/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	522,063
File size:	26 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Stephen Herrero is recognized throughout the world as a leading authority on bear ecology, behavior, and attacks.

Table of Contents

Foreword Paul Schullery viii

Introduction to the 2018 Revised Edition x

Introduction xvi

1 Grizzly Bear Attacks 1

2 Sudden Encounters with Grizzlies 9

3 Provoked Attacks 31

4 The Dangers of Garbage and Habituation 45

5 Other Attacks 69

6 Aggression without Injury 81

7 The Tolerant Black Bear 88

8 The Predaceous Black Bear 99

9 Avoiding Encounters 119

10 Characteristics of Bears 141

11 The Evolution of Bears 153

12 Bear Foods and Location 159

13 Signs of Bear Activity 184

14 Learning and Instinct 198

15 Aggression and Submission 206

16 Bears and People in Rural and Remote Areas 229

17 Living with Bears 249

Notes 265

Additional Reading 285

Index 286

Editorial Reviews

Bear Attacks represents an important advancement in our knowledge about bears and how they behave toward man. Skillful use of scientific facts and understandable language create a document that will be useful to the wildlife scientist and outdoor recreationalist alike.

Clifford Martinka

With black bears, however, playing dead is futile, since they will continue chewing on you until you are considerably past caring. It is also foolish to climb a tree because black bears are adroit climbers and, as Herrero dryly notes, you will simply end up fighting the bear in a tree.

Bill Bryson

I've read Stephen Herrero's gripping and information [book] and I recommend the same thing for anyone going to bear country, whether a casual day hiker or a back-country pro.

|Los Angeles Times

Now one of the world's leading authorities on bear-man interactions has produced the book that has so long been needed by all who use bear country. Bear Attacks is a compelling account of bear-human conflicts, and a sympathetic and up-to-date portrayal of one of the world's most intriguing carnivores.

Dr. Paul Schullery

By far the most informed and comprehensive book I have read on bears' reactions to human intrusion and vice-versa. Stephen Herrero has given us both sides of the stories of many conflicts between men and bears with understanding and compassion for both. He is writing not just from the records of others but with vision and understanding attained through wide and varied study and personal experience in the field...a very valuable contribution in the interests of human survival, as well as the management of bears in their habitat.

Andy Russell

Ignorance is a basic cause of fear, and ignorance about bears should decline rapidly as this book becomes available and is read widely.

Charles Jonkel

Bear Attacks represents an important advancement in our knowledge about bears and how they behave toward man. Skillful use of scientific facts and understandable language create a document that will be useful to the wildlife scientist and outdoor recreationalist alike.

By far the most informed and comprehensive book I have read on bears' reactions to human intrusion and vice-versa. Stephen Herrero has given us both sides of the stories of many conflicts between men and bears with understanding and compassion for both. He is writing not just from the records of others but with vision and understanding attained through wide and varied study and personal experience in the field...a very valuable contribution in the interests of human survival, as well as the management of bears in their habitat.

I've read Stephen Herrero's gripping and information [book] and I recommend the same thing for anyone going to bear country, whether a casual day hiker or a back-country pro.

Ignorance is a basic cause of fear, and ignorance about bears should decline rapidly as this book becomes available and is read widely.

Now one of the world's leading authorities on bear-man interactions has produced the book that has so long been needed by all who use bear country. Bear Attacks is a compelling account of bear-human conflicts, and a sympathetic and up-to-date portrayal of one of the world's most intriguing carnivores.

With black bears, however, playing dead is futile, since they will continue chewing on you until you are considerably past caring. It is also foolish to climb a tree because black bears are adroit climbers and, as Herrero dryly notes, you will simply end up fighting the bear in a tree.

From the Publisher

I've read Stephen Herrero's gripping and information [book] and I recommend the same thing for anyone going to bear country, whether a casual day hiker or a back-country pro.

Los Angeles Times