Bear attacks when hiking do occur. For example on May 18, 2010 Gerald Marois was walking in the woods alone in southern Ontario (Canada) when he was attacked by a bear.
Although he was a local resident this is a region where many people including this author hike frequently as well.
Gerald heard the bear first before he saw it, which was 50 feet away. He immediately started to climb a nearby oak tree as the bear charged and then followed him up the tree. The bear bite him on the leg and pulled off boot before knocking him to the ground.
Staff from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources believe that as he was bending over and wearing hip waders the bear may have thought he was prey, we don’t know. And they were unable to trap the suspect bear.
Although this is not a bear attacks when hiking situation there are some important lessons to learn about safety from this event:
- His bear spray had been forgotten and was sitting comfortably on a shelf at home. When hiking in bear country always consider carrying bear spray.
- Mobile (cell) phone – after he was knocked to the ground he called his wife for help. When hiking alone always carry a mobile phone in case of any emergency.
- GPS receiver for hiking
– he did not have one with hime and his wife, the police and medics could not locate him for over one hour. It turned out okay but having a GPS would have permitted rescue teams to quickly reach him.
In this situation an air ambulance flew him to a hospital in Toronto where stitches to his face and plastic surgery on his leg will be required.
While there are a number of things you should do to avoid bear attacks when hiking consider at least carrying the above three items for a safe hike.
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