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September 17, 2007
Encounters Of The Wild Kind
Ok, tell me the truth. Do you ever come to my blog with the expectation that I'm going to have posted some crazy story about being bitten by a venomous Central American snake or having my arm chewed off by a feisty badger? Or something equally outrageous? I'm happy to report that I still have all of my appendages and I haven't been given an anti-venom in order to survive. But I do have a little story.
I've lived, worked, and played inside of national parks for over 7 years. Thus, it is seemingly a given that I will have experiences with wild animals through the course of my life. Experiences with wild animals range the spectrum from what are called animal sightings to animal encounters. In a general sense, an animal sighting is a simple observation of a wild animal. And, an animal encounter is an interaction between a wild animal and a human wherein each creature modifies their behavior as a result of the incident.
I usually see animals many times per day. For instance, a herd of elk are napping in the shade of my big cottwonwood tree as I type. I also occasionally have animal encounters. In 2005, my friends and I spotted a mountain lion watching us while we hiked; when we made eye contact with it, it dissappeared into the brush.
On Friday, I had an animal encounter. I had planned to run 8 miles out-and-back down a dirt road a few miles from my house inside Yellowstone National Park. The 4 out miles included a 1300 foot descent, and the 4 return miles back up this same hill. About 2.5 miles into the run, a thunderstorm quickly developed. An earlier thunderstorm had produced dangerous lightning that required a fast conclusion to high school cross country practice. I didn't want to play games with the weather, so I turned around and headed back to my car early.
About 3 minutes after turning around to head back uphill, I looked to my right at a hill above the road and saw a grizzly sow and 2 cubs. At a distance of perhaps half a football field, the sow was looking me. She stood on her hind legs and gave 3 gruff "barks," the quintessential grizzly warning call. The otherwise inattentively foraging cubs turned their heads my way to see what their mother's fuss was all about. I was lucky in that the way the road curved, I could effectively dissappear from the bears' view within moments by backtracking down the road. That's exactly what I did. It was all over just seconds after it began. I had no time to get scared until afterwards.
We're all a little on edge about grizzlies right now, and for good reason. In the last 8 days, both my neighbor and another local hunter were mauled by bears in 2 seperate but close-to-home areas that I have previously called my running turf. It seems that the stars have perfectly aligned to cause these incidents: 1) Grizzly bears are doing their fall feedings at lower elevations this year because drought decimated their favorite high elevation foods. 2) Hunting season has begun, so people are creeping alone and silently through the woods. 3) Hunters leave "gut piles," or leftovers from their kills, which is like a grizzly bear tasty treat.
These most serious incidents are sad on several levels because both humans and bears were injured during the encounters. There are just so many things that we as humans can do to decrease our risk of negatively encountering a grizzly bear. Make noise when traveling through thick brush. Travel in groups. Carry non-lethal, bear detering pepper spray. Do not approach gut piles, ever. Travel through areas with good visibilty. If you see a grizzly bear, don't run. If a grizzly bear charges you, pepper spray it. If a grizzly bear attacks you, play dead. Report all grizzly bear sightings and encounters to local authorities so that they may track their movements and actions.
I did some things right (I had my dog with me. I was traveling in an area with good visibility. I wasn't near hunting areas, and therefore, gut piles.) I also could have done several things better (I could have carried pepper spray. I could have run with other humans.). Certainly, learning about these maulings and having my own bear encounter has, again, humbled me with regard to this beautiful, powerful, amazing place I live. And it's also humbled me with respect to my place within the Yellowstone food chain. Be safe out there, all!
Posted by Meghan at September 17, 2007 1:59 PM
Comments
GEESH Meghan, glad ur safe & yes keep that pepper spray on ya please!!
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THESE Two ummm might be a little tough for this Jersey boy to follow.
If you see a grizzly bear, don't run. ( well run or Crap myself or both seems like my option here)
If a grizzly bear attacks you, play dead. ( will try but after one paw nudges me and the screaming starts coming out of my mouth might not seem like I am playing dead so well)
Seriously please be safe,OK!! I just have ugly ass gators & 90 year old drivers on the roads...hmmm I might need to move-lol
Posted by: Bob Gentile at September 17, 2007 10:31 PM
When I start reading your entries, I always figure it's a good sign that you're posting them, because you're probably safe. The day when your name pops up in my running news search (as a non-race-related story) will be when I really worry.
I'm glad you're safe. My bear safety strategy is to live on this side of the country, because the bears here are mostly harmless.
Posted by: Alison at September 18, 2007 10:34 AM
Meghan, your entries are so informative on wild life, I try and memorize them! I always forget who to stare at or not (cougar - yes, bear - not?). I always forget pepper spray and love to run along - although our forests are nothing comparing to Yellowstone, and rumor is we only have black/brown bears, no grizzly. But I do worry about your safety - please take those advices you give us to heart:)
Posted by: olga at September 18, 2007 12:14 PM
You may not die until after we meet. (After that, sure!)
Maybe you should wear pepper-spray cologne.
Grizzlies and lions are about the only creatures that scare me. For some reason black bears don't. I hope you get another (bigger) dog to run with. Two dogs are a powerful deterrent.
Posted by: JeffO at September 18, 2007 9:02 PM
I'm glad you are safe too. I've wondered about having a dog with you - I thought maybe a dog would make the bear even more anxious, especially if it was barking at it. Or are dogs smarter than that? Is your dog off leash? If so, did she turn right around and run back to you? Stay safe...
Posted by: backofpack at September 18, 2007 10:43 PM
Good point. After writing that I thought, "some dogs are morons and could get you killed".
A grizzly is more likely to chase the dogs than the person. Problem is, most of us aren't willing to leave our beloved pets to their fates. Our dogs try to save us and we try to save them and everyone gets hurt or killed.
Better to have one good Pointer. They detect animals from further away and freeze, like a stalker/hunter.
I guess - not an expert myself.
Posted by: JeffO at September 19, 2007 8:41 AM
Coolhand Luke! I can't believe she did her bark at you. Thank goodness for the furtuitous curve in the road. Here I thought I was going to do have the Ursus Horriblus encounter and you beat me to it. I have to admit, I only sometimes carry bear spray. Is that like only sometimes wearing a helmet? I'm with Bob, though... I'm afraid my behavior would just revert uncontrollably into the wrongest possible "don't's" out of sheer terror: run, scream, leave my own "gut pile".... actually, I've been pretty unnervous in my bear sightings but maybe that's because they were't rearing up and barking at me! So, when you said you backtracked to get out of sight, does that mean you had to wait and then go back again?? Or was there another way back to your car? Are you going to run there again or has it become another "previous running turf?" (--> end of Matlock session).
Posted by: Kendra Borgrizzle at September 19, 2007 12:43 PM
Hi y'all, it's me! Thanks for your comments! Here's a little commentary about your commentary:
About "doing the right thing" when encoutnering an animal:
"Doing the right thing" is almost always counterintuitive to human instinct. Reportedly, bear mauling victim #1 fought the grizzly until he was able to shoot it. The bear fought back until it was shot. The human was severely injured in the process (and who knows about the bear). Bear mauling victim #2 jumped into a tree. The bear pulled him out of the tree. The human remembered to roll into the fetal position and play dead. The bear stopped mauling the man, and he was only injured a bit.
About my dog running with me in the wilds:
Sometimes I run with my dog leashed, sometimes unleashed, depending on the circumstances (When I'm in the national park, I follow the rules and run with my dog leashed and in legal dog areas.). I agree with those of you who wrote that dogs can sometimes agitate wildlife further. For example, in 2004, my dog and I were followed by a mountain lion for about 45 minutes. I think the mountain lion was attracted to/curious about my dog. I also think dogs can scare off wildlife, depending on the circumstances, because of the "safety-in-numbers" phenomenon. It's all circumstantial. I will also say that I think having a dog with me has several times discouraged the human animal from messing with me.
About what I did after the griz encounter:
I mentioned that I was doing an 8 mile out-an-back down a gravel road and back up again. The gravel road extends from pavement in Mammoth, near my house, to pavement at the North Entrance of the park. I began in Mammoth, near my house, with the intention of running to the North Entrance and back to Mammoth again. I had been headed back towards my car to get out of the way of a thunderstorm when I met up with the bears. After that, I ran the 1.5 miles or so in the "out" direction, where the gravel road ended at the North Entrance. Since I was now amidst a thunderstorm, I called a friend for a ride home, and didn't have to worry about griz again.
About my "running turf":
I'm sure I'll go back to these running areas again. I try to avoid the national forest during hunting season because it can be dangerous to be a pedestrian out there. The grizzlies are only temporarily down here at the lower elevations trying to fatten up for winter. In a month or so, they will be denning up. Where ever I run around here there's a chance I'll encounter wildlife (And many of the wildlife experiences are remarkable and wonderful!), but I try to minimize the chances as best as I can.
About fear:
I feel bad if I've scared my readers, as I don't wish to do that at all! It's natural to be afraid if this kind of stuff, and I probably spend too much time being scared myself. I think all of us wilderness visitors, trail runners, hikers, etc. should have a healthy dose of respect for wildlife and understanding of the food chain that they are out playing in. It's probably several times more dangerous for most of us to drive to trailheads than it is for us to be out on trails.
Have a nice day!
Posted by: Meghan at September 19, 2007 1:57 PM
Thanks Meghan for the follow up About "doing the right thing"
and to be honest, IF I ever encountered a Griz & since I DO want to survive this... I bet I would actually curl up like a ball and play dead as that big sucker is pawing me...but now my problem is when you say UMMM Bob what are you doing?!! (as I am curled up in a ball)) and I say "I saw a Griz"...then u say "Yes Bob u are correct but it's just a photo in the Yellowstone visitors lobby"--haha... ahhhh see now u peeps are have to be more specific :-)
OK I am denning UP now --LOL I love that word "Denning" is is football season and usually at this time back in the day I would DEN Up with a few cold beers and watch the games but NOOOOOOOOOOO now i have to keep focused and train for this JFK thingy :-(
Posted by: Bob Gentile at September 20, 2007 6:42 AM
What? No pictures?
I'm guessing I would have left a dung pile about the time that old sow started barking at me. Thanks for the tips on wildlife encounters. You live in a beautiful area. I would probably react as you did but I fear that somehow I'd want to hang around and try to observe the bears ending up as a tasty post gut pile "observation" treat.
Run Happy!
Eric
Posted by: Eric Barnes at September 20, 2007 8:15 AM