Re: Bears, Bears, Bears

kutenay mentioned the area signs warning of dangers and notices of the places we travel to. I would like to know how many "attacks" that are reported were in areas with a notice or warning of activity in the area.

One example I recall was from a few years ago in Canmore up in the benchlands area where a runner was killed by a bear (I think it was a blackie but not 100% sure). The woman was running on a trail that was "closed" due to allot of activity in the area. Sadly the woman was killed and the real events of the encounter were not discovered to my knowledge. But as you can guess the Forestry service tracked, trapped and killed the bear because it was "encroaching" into "civilization". (Now the Forestry service must of had a good reason or were pressured politically to take this action. ALLOT of very wealthy and influential people live in this hyper inflated mountain town)

This is just one example of the media and people not familiar with local WILDLIFE spinning the story into a crazy frenzy.

I think that its a fine line between showing people why we need to respect nature and scaring people with dramatic stories.

Respect and Education. Key to enjoying our wonderful outdoors. be it bears, avalanches, snakes, scorpions etc.
For myself I try to keep in mind that we are guests in their environment. After all bears are instinct driven animals and the "behavioral problems" are human educed.