Bear Safety Part 1: Bear Behavior & Why Bears Attack

This is intended to provide insights on bear behavior and why bears attack.

In this video I outline some of the differences between brown bears (grizzlies) and black bears. I discuss different types of bear encounters including,
Non-Encounters,
Peaceful Encounters,
Habituated Bears,
Defensive Attacks,
and, Predatory Encounters.

And at the end I provide some advice on how to be prepared for and how to survive a bear attack.

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Where you can find lots of the gear that I use.

The Book
Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance by Stephen Herrero

Some stories about people I know who have had predatory encounters with black bears.

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Any opinions expressed in this video are mine and mine alone and are not related to my employer or any other organization or individual. I have not been paid to make this video or to endorse a product. If I am ever paid for an endorsement or provided other compensation I will state it clearly in the video. Any advice or demonstration I provide is just advice. The viewer should take responsibility for their own actions, follow any manufacturers warnings and directions and act safely and responsibly when travelling in the backcountry.

I made this video for educational purposes and have no intention of monetizing the content. I have used clips of other videos collected from the internet for the purposes of bringing evidence to the educational material. I have paid to use some of this content and declare fair use under U.S. and Canadian law as this is for educational purposes without profit.🇺🇲🇨🇦🇨🇦

[b.w.]

Excellent video! I've worked extensively with captive black and brown bears and been around them in the wild too, so I'm always a little skeptical about videos like these. So many people over simplify bears and their behavior (they'd either have you believe they're harmless teddy bears, or bloody-thirsty killers with no in-between). If there's one thing I've learned about bears, it's that they are incredibly intelligent and, because of that, no two are quite alike. I feel like you did a wonderful job covering the scope of possible encounters, acknowledging them as powerful and potentially dangerous animals without exaggerating the threat, and giving solid advice on how to react based on the situation. The video examples and your break down really tied it all together. Thank you for the breath of fresh air. Everything you said was spot on.

[psefti]

3 weeks into covid 19 isolation, 100's of miles from bears, what am I doing here?

[whtbobwntsbobget]

When you said brown bears are brown and black bears are black ... that's when I hit the like button

[jerseygirl]

"It's black, fight back; if it's brown, lie down; if it's white, good night."

[Howitchewstofeelgum]

Me, living in Germany with a 0.1% chance of ever encountering a wild bear: Better watch this video, just to be on the safe side.

[pillowjones]

I learned from another video that all I have to say is, “eyeyeyeyeyeyey” and I’ll be just fine.

[ranelgallardo]

Bear cub: Look mom, a human!

Momma bear: Don’t go near them, they got diseases.

[QuesoGr]

When a brown bear attacks play dead. When a black bear attacks, embrace your inner Russian.

[harrymarsee]

Refreshing to see a YouTuber get to the point quickly.

[alangeorgebarstow]

Human: "I don't wanna use my bear spray. Keep going, keep going..."
Bear: "I don't wanna use my human spray. Keep going, keep going..."

[diogenesofsinope]

The skinnier the bear the more danger you’re in. From personal experience

[SugaryPhoenixxx]

"Hope you enjoyed my yard" Typical Canadian.

[Marti-tnmn]

“Usually just talking to them is all it takes to make them to move on”. Just like what happens with girls

[griller]

Did anyone else worry about a bear coming out of the woods behind him lol

[cloudshifter]

"It's more likely to get hit by lightning"
Me who his house got hit by lightning and almost died: *sweats*
Bear: It's my turn now

[richardwildeman]

This is by far the best video on the subject on the internet! Your channel in general is the best for backcountry camping knowledge, hands down! Thank you so much for all your hard work.

[Tyrell_Corp]

I got off a hiking trail in Yosemite to go… “Relieve myself against a rock”. Suddenly, it got very quiet. Birds stopped singing and I got the sensation I wasn’t alone. After I zipped up, I couldn’t help but feeling something was out there so I peered around a big tree and sure enough about 25 yards away, there was a very big brown bear grazing on the floor which looked up at me. I calmly began picking at a branch as though I was simply foraging and posed no threat. I then slowly turned my back to it and continued picking at branches until I slowly made my way out of there. Yeah… My heart was going through my chest. SLOWLY - it’s a thing.

[sirspookybones]

wild bears dont exist in the UK but I'm still more likely to get killed by a bear than find love

[ghosthuntergirl]

“If a black bear attacks, I recommend fighting it.”

Me: 🤓

[jonasf]

i love the guy who did not shoot the bear, he really tried to avoid shooting the mother in front of it's child. That shows a lot of balls and social intelligence.