Mr. Tarbull,

Excellent words of warning!

Bears have poor eyesight.  I'm not sure how close you were, but it is
apparent you startled the bear and I would guess close enough it felt the
need to charge to scare off the threat. In our upright stance, we can
appear to be an upright, aggressive bear to those dim eyes.  Holding your
arms out and waving them may help a bear realize you are human.  It seems
once this animal got a whiff of your scent it realized its error and ran
off. Do make noise, but not a growl.  And its best to continually make
noise while you walk so the bears hear you coming.  You might not see
them, but that is better than walking into them or their offspring.
Alerting them to your presence before they get to you is always in order.
Running is not a good idea, better to back off as quickly and safely as
possible.  They can always outrun us and if you are meant to be a meal,
they will catch you regardless of where you run or hide. They are more
likely to use caution if you remain facing them.



>     On another note, the MOS conference this year will be held in bear
> country. Be careful how you speak to them. They don't like anything that
> sounds like a growl or threatening voice. I already knew this, but I made
> that mistake yesterday in Shenandoah Park. I'm not sure exactly what I
> said,
> intending to just let them know I was there and urge them to move on. I
> think it was something like "AH, come on!"
>     For the first time in my life I had a bear come right at me. I was
> tired
> after  along day fishing and was in no shape to deal with it but I
> scrambled
> into some underbrush to find a place to hide and pray. From about twenty
> feet away I saw the bear finally turn and run. Apparently he doesn't like
> chicken.
>     I clearly made a mistake - probably the tone of my voice. Up until now
> all of the bears have run from me. Maybe I'm looking less threatening in
> my
> old age. Don't let it happen to you. Just stay back and shut up. If they
> see
> you, they'll run. I think I got too impatient because I dearly needed to
> see
> my truck and rest before the drive home.
>     By the way, the birding was great down there.
>     Jerry
>
>


-- 

William Randolph
Keedysville, MD