Bearing All

One thing about bear spray is you have to carry it with you.  The second thing is you need to know how to deploy it.  On both fronts, I have been less than reliable. 

I’ve faithfully  carried it hiking in the Appalachian Mountains, the Canadian Rockies, and the Colorado Rockies.  Fortunately, I never had to deploy it.  The good thing about guide training in Alaska is that they take these things seriously and actually show you how to use the stuff. That’s how I learned that had a bear approached me and I had bravely sprayed the can, absolutely nothing would have happened.  

Given the size of the black bears here in Alaska, that could have been a real problem.  I have never seen such huge black behemoths. They lumber out of the trees when you are least expecting, looking as big as grizzlies, wave their brown noses back and forth to catch your scent and pad forward on giant paws one swipe from which would send you reeling. 

I realized I need to be more careful after I took my German Shepherd Eiger for a walk one lunchtime at the End of the Road at Thane.  (There are only 80 miles of road in Juneau so everyone knows what you mean when you say the end of the road. There’s even a sign that helpfully says “End”).  I parked the car. It was a sunny day, and I walked along a the-world-is-stunningly-beautiful-and-this-is-why- you’re-in-Alaska kind of path, through a brilliantly verdant forest of sitka spruce and hemlock. I scrambled over waterfalls cascading into the milky turquoise waters of the Gastineau Channel below and caught glimpses of snow-capped mountains beyond.  I chatted with a man carrying a rifle who was walking his collie-huskie mix.  Eiger off leash as usual played with the other dog. It was a blissful but short walk. I was scheduled to lead a hike.  When I got back to work and told fellow naturalists how beautiful the path was, one of them got out their cellphone and showed me a video of the black bear that lives at The End of Road.  It was huge.  (Snapshot above). Now I know the real reason why that man carried a rifle. Once again, I had forgotten my bear spray and Eiger’s bear bell.

In the past three weeks, guides regularly have reported seeing bears.  One posted a video of a black bear checking out the garbage cans in an alley in downtown tourist-central Juneau. Another guide encountered three on her hike in a busy section of the park. 

Black bear at Salmon Creek, Tongass National Forest, Alaska

A popular anecdote we tell guests on the way back to their ships is about Cocoa the Bear who walked into the local supermarket. Shoppers fled and animal control officers found it in the cereal aisle, face down in a box of cocoa puffs. Another story tells of a couple celebrating their daughter's 2nd birthday when they heard a scrabbling up above. A bear fell through the skylight, plop into the middle of their kitchen and proceeded to lick the frosting off the birthday cupcakes.

Black bear prowls through Juneau garden

Rarely do they attack unless they feel threatened. Mostly they are lumbering gentle giants who just want to be left alone to feed. They emerge from hibernation high up in the mountains when the snow melts in April and May, and they are hungry.  Recently, I saw a mother and cubs in the wetlands when I was driving home. Last week, I walked Eiger to the waterfalls near the glacier on a sunny evening.  Almost back to my car, I met a ranger who told me he was on the look-out for a bear that had been sighted.  Just as I was loading Eiger into the car, a woman drew up beside me, rolled down her window, put one finger to her lips and pointed across the road.  There was the black bear, exactly where moments before I had been walking. 

So what is the secret of deploying bear spray? In guide training we went out into the bus parking lot and divided into groups.  One person played Aggressive Bear, another Competent Guide.  The guide instructed the group to stay calm, cluster behind her, not to run or make sudden movements (bears can easily outpace you at 30 mph and they do climb trees), and she talked talked firmly and calmly to the mock bear. 

And now for the step I never knew: if the bear looks stressed, RELEASE THE SAFETY CATCH ON YOUR BEAR SPRAY. 

Recent black bear sightings around Juneau

(All photo credits to Gastineau Guiding naturalists, except the very last one, which is my encounter).