General Cycling Discussion - Beware riding in the woods!

In light of the rising frequency of human - grizzly bear conflicts, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is advising hikers, hunters, and fishermen to take extra precautions and keep alert of bears while in the field. We advise that outdoorsmen wear noisy little bells on their clothing so as not to startle bears that aren't expecting them. We also advise outdoorsmen to carry pepper spray with them in case of an encounter with a bear. It is also a good idea to watch out for fresh signs of bear activity. Outdoorsmen should recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat. Black bear scat is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear scat has little
bells in it and smells like pepper. :D

Do they have leeches in Canada?

We do have leeches in Canada. Do they help keep Grizzley bears away?:D

Actually, I was watching something on Discovery channel the other day about moose in Alaska- yep, just like Northern Exposure! One of the conservation officers was saying that compared to moose, bears are nothing to deal with! Not that they're nothing, but they can be more easily scared away since bears are actually quite timid and afraid of people. HOwever, he said moose can be far more dangerous, especially during the fall rut and in spring, when they have calves. It's much harder to scare them away and it seems more people actually die from encounters with moose than with bears! They actually showed footage of a female moose trampling some guy in the Anchorage area because she had a calf-poor man later died. And some stupid woman also died because she was trying to pet the calf and pull its ears. You'd think people would know better! However, alaska tends to attract people from other places who are trying to escape the big city, but they know nothing about wildlife. They may live near Anchorage but moose are wild animals!!!!

We sure see our share of Moose up here in Northern Ontario. I don't recall hearing about to many moose attacks on humans but we do have way to many fatal accidents involving moose and automobiles. I wouldn't even want to guess how many people are killed every year around here from collisions with moose. They are big and they are fast. You really have to be on your toes when you are driving these northern highways.

Keep you eyes open and maybe stick to biking.

Originally posted by wabbit
...compared to moose, bears are nothing to deal with! Not that they're nothing, but they can be more easily scared away since bears are actually quite timid and afraid of people.
Great post about the careless attitude of people towards wildlife.
The only thing I'd add is that Grizzlies are to be avoided at all costs.

From western Canada, with love!

Here in British Colombia, Vancouver the biggest wild life threat we have had was a leopard. Grizzlies and wolves are around, but I don't hear much warnings about them.

Originally posted by Captain Crunch
we do have way to many fatal accidents involving moose and automobiles. I wouldn't even want to guess how many people are killed every year around here from collisions with moose.

I wonder what percentage of those have the same cause as the vast majority of other auto accidents, i.e. people not watching where they are going.

I wonder what percentage of those have the same cause as the vast majority of other auto accidents, i.e. people not watching where they are going.

I confess to almost coming off my bike whilst riding through the woods the other day - I was too busy watching the mad antics of the grey squirrels and not watching the track.... ;)

Richard

Most of these human fatalities following encounters sound like nothing more than natural selection to me. As opposed to the animal fatalities, which I attribute to humans taking the "I am number one" mentality much too far.

Over here, the things I don't want to encounter are boar. They are in many places over here, but my rides don't take me through underbrush and such (being a road rider, that is a good thing ;) ) very often.

OTOH, there are a lot of vicious geese here!

Cheers...Gary

Pepper spray is a must when in bear country.

Most bears prefer it over Tabasco.

I must admit that most motorist don't always look where they are going but the highways we have in Northern Ontario are very narrow and if a Moose decides to run out in front of you because it is being chased by killer mosquitos and black flies then there is very little you can do to avoid it. Some of these animals weigh as much or more than some cars and when they meet at speeds of over 80 kmh it is not pretty.
We can't always blame the motorists in these accidents.

Since when do they have leopards in western canada? I know they have mountain lions and bobcats and maybe lynx, but leopards? I thought snow leopards were in asia!

Speaking of the mad antics of the squirrels and being distracted by them: at this time of year, as we all know, squirrels start to get rather porky. The ones I see in our yard are getting to be the size of woodchucks! And they're still out there, since the weather is pretty balmy and there is no snow yet. It's actually pretty funny to watch them chasing each other- it's like one of those Marty Stouffer videos, "Wacky animals" or whatever.

Once, a friend of mine was out jogging, on a day in october or november (can't recall which) and he got so distracted at the sight of a huge, fat squirrel that he twisted his ankle and had to limp home. He couldn't run for several days after that. He learned his lesson!