I rarely see bears. Once in a while one walks through our wooded areas, or maybe even strolls across the driveway. I've never seen one with glasses, or hearing aids.
...Bear eyesight is awful, the hearing is ordinary and the sense of smell is terrific.
I was intrigued by your comment and so went a'Googling to see what I could, er... see and hear. All the 'bear facts' sites I looked at say that bears have good/excellent eyesight, and decent hearing.
Is your experience different?
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From yellowstonebearworld.com) Bears actually have excellent eyesight. ... Yes, bears do have an amazing sense of smell, but it does not make up for a lack of vision because they actually have excellent eyesight. Bears can see just as well as humans do during the daytime, but it is during the night that their fantastic vision pulls out all the stops. Like your familyâs dog or cat, bears have amazing night vision. There is a reflective membrane on the back of their eye called the tapetum lucidum which reflects light and causes light sensitive cells to react a second time to the light and therefore greatly enhances their vision at night. This is why if you see a picture of them at night, their eyes look greenish. —————————————————
From Alaska Department of Fish and Game: One common misconception is that bears have poor eyesight. The reasons behind this misconception are understandable, but evidence indicates that bearsâ eyesight is comparable to ours.
âFrom my experience bears can see very well at a distance, at least as well as humans,â said biologist Harry Reynolds. Reynolds is a bear biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Fairbanks and serves as president of the International Association for Bear Research and Management.
Vision: Bears see in color and have sharp vision close-up. Their distance vision (over two hundred yards) has not been tested.
Hearing: Hearing is the black bearâs first line of defense against danger because they can hear in all directions (unlike smell) and they can hear farther than they can see in brushy forest. Their ears develop to full size more quickly than the rest of their body. Their hearing is over twice the sensitivity of human hearing and exceeds human frequency ranges
Odd to read of black bears that are not already hibernating at this time of year.
Denning is never a true hibernation; bears will come out and wander around if it's warmer weather, and may never actually go into that lower metabolism state if there's enough food. OR if there's not enough food and they keep foraging. I imagine Virginia sees bear activity pretty often during the winter.
Grizzly bears are dying at a record pace in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, but wildlife officials say thatâs a sign of a population that has reached its carrying capacity. The leader of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team said this week that, despite the deaths, the grizzly population appears to be growing.
Disagree. Yes, the conventional wisdom is to constantly make noise. If you are going to follow that wisdom it is likely to better to put pebbles in a tin can and tie it to your waist, or use some other source of constant noise.
Among many other problems, the primary problem with motor-mouthing as a bear deterrent is that people get tired of hiking and singing or talking at the same time and unless they stop hiking, they will stop motor-mouthing because it takes too much effort. Motor-mouthing increases the probability of falling and hurting oneself but perhaps that is a separate discussion.
I mean, that's what I said, but okay.
The point was that if I have a choice between a chatty person and another person like me, I should go with the chatty person. Of course all the other things apply.
A constant motormouth is ideal. The problem is when people are hiking they tend to fall silent, get lost in their own thoughts. We always sang, that at least keeps some noise up and you don't have to really think of anything new to say. But it helps if you have more than one song that you all know the words to. Spent an entire week singing "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" ......
Disagree. Yes, the conventional wisdom is to constantly make noise. If you are going to follow that wisdom it is likely to better to put pebbles in a tin can and tie it to your waist, or use some other source of constant noise.
Among many other problems, the primary problem with motor-mouthing as a bear deterrent is that people get tired of hiking and singing or talking at the same time and unless they stop hiking, they will stop motor-mouthing because it takes too much effort. Motor-mouthing increases the probability of falling and hurting oneself but perhaps that is a separate discussion.
My approach is not at all dogmatic. If in dense undergrowth or a new post-burn young forest or near a noisy creek especially where I cannot see well, I make noise. I make a low woofing sound just like a Griz who feels territorially nervous and I sometimes pound my chest with a flat hand. Both noise-making techniques avoid sucking the wind out of me.
Yes, I am trying to alert the bear and perhaps provoke a reaction. Either the bear moves away or it comes close. In either scenario, it allows me to learn of the bear's presence. The bear may stay put but at least it will not be surprised by my presence. Surprises are best avoided.
That is not all. I also look for scat, hair, claw marks, tracks, and popular paths or Bear Highways as I like to call them. In the context of coastal streams I look for salmon that have been dragged away from the river and possibly cached. If berries are present, I look for signs of harvesting. Almost forgot. Being constantly aware of wind direction or air movement direction is also valuable. Bear eyesight is awful, the hearing is ordinary and the sense of smell is terrific.
The more information the better.
Griz (less so Black bears) are most often incredibly noisy animals. If one pays close enough attention, the bear(s) can be heard covering ground or feeding from a considerable distance.
Holy crap...DO SOMETHING SUSAN! That look was classic.
