SkiBunny

Are there any statistics on this particular risk?

I feel that my excitement at reaching day 29 on the fly to Canada countdown is somewhat over shadowed after reading one too many 'helpful' RV-ing articles

Will the bear wait whilst I consult my handy pocket guide and decide what variety it is and whether curling up or bopping it on the nose is the appropriate response?!!

MarkG

You can always get one of those 'bear proof suits' that some guy was demonstrating a year or two back. Not exactly the most fashionable thing in the world to wear though .

The 'Grizzly Man' documentary might also give you some pointers so long as you remember that he eventually got eaten...

printer

Stay close to the cities, do not venture out in the wilds for any reason, lock your doors and windows and keep the kids quiet (if you have any)
Bears can smell fear from 100 miles away, nowhere is safe, do yourself a favour, stay where you are, it's not safe outdoors.

steve666

All bears are cuddly, just go over to him/her and give a BIG hug, they like that. Bears also like you going over to their bear cubs, picking them up and throwing them around in a random violent fashion, you have to witness the joy on their faces when they see you doing that. And remember, the bigger the bear the bigger the hug

Mr Lee

I'd suggest smearing honey on your hands as well.

There's nothing cuter than a big old papa black bear slurping honey from your fingers.
Remember to get a friend or relative to video the experience!

Have you read Bill Bryson's "A Walk In The Woods"?
A chapter in there of quite the funniest description of potential bear encounters I have ever read.

steve666

Ahh, Bill Bryson, great writer, haven't seen that bit but I'll look it up on the interweb.

steve666

"I'm in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, in the dark, staring at a bear, with a guy who has nothing to defend himself with but a pair of nail clippers. Let me ask you this. If it is a bear and it comes for you, what are you going to do--give it a pedicure?"
Bill Bryson

gloveman

We have just bought a house in a 'rural' location and I have been having nightmare ever since. If it's not going to be a bear that gets me, it will be a cougar or a dam earthquake - why am I going??

bananahammock

So you can come to the pub with the rest of us!!

MarkG

My friends in Florida said that if you went into alligator country you should take someone with you who ran slower than you did... would the same plan work for bears?

printer

Brilliant idea, is that why they always tell you to walk in pairs?

MarkG

Probably .

R2D2

This photo was taken from an upstairs window of a house in Fort McMurray

MarkG

Is that the Canadian version of a bird bath? A bear playground?

iaink

I can only remember a couple of fatal maulings reported in my 9 years in Canada. Dog attacks are probably more common. I'd be more worried about the drivers than the bears, and wild bears in a remote location are probably a lot safer to be around then habituated bears that are used to being around people and are not easily scared off.

A quick google found a medical report that referred to 8 fatal maulings in Alberta between 1973 and 1988.

Its all a bit academic, even if a bear does get you, it probably wont actually get around to eating you anyway.