A visit to Yellowstone Bear World can be fun and thrilling. But when you venture into the backcountry, your chances of encountering a bear increase exponentially. And while Yellowstone Wildlife Park has plenty of safeguards to ensure that guests are safe, there’s nothing to keep wild bears from walking up and attacking you in the backcountry, a few feet from your campsite, tent, or car.
So, how can we survive if we do encounter a bear? Here’s what experts recommend.
- Always carry bear spray
No matter where you are, you should always carry bear spray when you are inside a wildlife park. This potent and pepper-based mace is proven to be very effective at deterring bears. But the bear spray is useless if you do not know how to effectively use it. Aim and spray bear spray at the bear’s face, not at its chest. The bear spray needs to get into the bear’s eyes or nose to deter it from attacking.
- Don’t be stealthy
If a bear is charging you, stand still and yell. This may seem counterintuitive. After all, you don’t want to turn your back on a huge, furry animal that could be coming for your throat. But, this is exactly the kind of behavior that spooks and provokes bears.
- Don’t be a tease
Bears are easy to enrage, startle them, run from them, tease them. They’ll respond by chasing after you. And then, they’ll attack. Therefore, it’s dangerous to tease bears, even in a joking manner.
- Don’t run
Running from a bear is the worst thing you can do. Bears are powerful and when they want to catch something, they almost always do it. A bear that’s running after you is highly likely to catch you and then it will probably attack.
- Play dead
If a bear attacks and you have no bear spray or other weapon, play dead. Just lie still on the ground until the bear loses interest in you. If you run or fight back, the bear may attack and injure you, or it may continue attacking until it kills you.
- Box its nose or eyes
If you see a bear approaching and you have no bear spray or other weapon, use your fists to box the bear’s nose or eyes. This may not stop the bear from attacking, but it will give you a chance to escape.
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