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 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 Ministry of Natural Resources belief that as he was bending over and wearing hip waders the bear may have thought he was prey, we don’t know. And to date they have been unable to trap the suspect bear.

Although he was not hiking there are some important lessons to learn about safety from this event:

Bear Spray – it 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 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 when hiking in bear country consider at least carrying the above three for a safe hike. Other suggestions may be found in book highly rated in Amazon, Living With Bears: A Practical Guide to Bear Country