Are you a stander or runner?

As a park ranger you get asked a lot of questions some of which can be humorous some can be intriguing and some are down right invasive (hint never ask park rangers about their personal lives), but some of the questions make you think about the what ifs.

During my time at Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park I and my coworkers spent a lot of time educating people on how to act in and enjoy exploring habitats shared with grizzly and black bears.  One day before my ranger lead hike I was going through my standard safety talk about what we all needed to do to stay safe while hiking in bear country when a gentleman next to me nudged me and said "Are you a stander or a runner?" In way of an answer I winked and said avoider. The question asked to many of my coworkers and myself is simple if faced with a bear are you going to stand your ground or turn and run away? I always try my best to avoid coming in contact with bears all together.

I am no stranger to bears prior to my time at either Yellowstone or Glacier I had a close encounter of the bear kind at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve where a relocated black bear tried unsuccessfully to push in the front door to my house to get at the tasty salmon his nose told him I had cooked that evening for dinner. As a result of this adventure I was banned by my roommates from cooking anything fish related for the whole rest of the summer. I have also hiked on trails where I've seen plenty of evidence of recent bears in the area.

Bear poop full of berry seeds and worms in Yellowstone National Park

Follow the rules of bear country and most of the time nobody gets hurt. Here are my top four rules:
       1) Hike in a group of three or more.
       2) Carry bear spray on your hip and know how to use it.
       3) If there is a bend in the trail and you can not see around it stop make loud noises wait a few  minutes before walking around the corner.
       4) Know basic bear behavior and how to tell the difference between aggressive and curious bear behavior.
For more information on staying safe check out the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery center's website. 

One afternoon as I hiked down from Avalanche lake, in Glacier National Park, I was answering questions and enjoying the beautiful summer afternoon when I was stopped by a four year old boy wondering what they should do if they saw a bear. I answered his question and asked him what he should do to avoid a bear? "Yell, HEY BEAR!" was his answer. This is my least favorite thing people can yell in bear country. Think about it if you are half a mile down the trail listening to the birds and the bees there is a good chance you are not going to hear the HEY part and just hear the BEAR part. If I hear crashing in the trees around me you better believe the finger is going to be on the trigger of the bear spray. They all agreed that HEY BEAR was a bad idea and thought my suggestion on what to yell was a lot more fun. I told that family and many others if you are going to yell something give the bear and others on the trail some information about you like; "MY NAME IS RANGER JEN!, I'M A VEGETARIAN AND I LOVE MEXICAN FOOD!" I had the family practice with me some things to shout before I continued down the trail. I rounded the bend in the trail 5 feet from where I had just been talking with the family and BAM! bear standing on it's back legs in the middle of the trail! My brain at that point got seriously conflicted and let out a string of obscenities that would make a sailor proud while stepping in a circle, before opting for the half stand your ground half turn and flee maneuver. Imagine if you can a person whose lower half is glued to the ground while the top half of the body does some odd circular aerobics move and you will have a vague idea what I looked like. I gave myself a quick mental slap across the face and told myself to get a grip  after all if I was going to get out of this I need to make some decisions fast. Started mentally yelling questions to myself while flipping through my mental file cabinet of information.
      Question 1: What kinda bear is it? Small rounded ears, tallish, brown fur, WOW!! LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THOSE CLAWS!!! Claw size HUGE. Answer: Grizzly!
      Question 2: What is it doing? Answer: Looking at the crazy person in front of it.
      Question 3: Acting aggressively? Answer: nope, no stamping feet, no flipping rocks towards me, no jaw popping, no huffing, no bluff charging.
      Question 4: Any other behaviors going on? Answer: Nose in the air breathing heavily. So, you have a curious bear standing in front of you trying to figure out if you are a threat. You may not begin talking to the bear in low tones, while making sure to not make any sudden movements.

So, here I stood feet glued to the ground talking Shakespeare, the weather, how it would be lovely if he or she would move out of the trail so that I could continue on my way.  By about half way through our conversation he/she got back down on all fours which is slightly more terrifying when you know just how fast they can close the gap between you and them. This situation got even more complicated a few minutes later when a couple appeared on the ridge opposite me heading straight for the bear's backside. Another sting of sailor obscenities. "PARK RANGER DO NOT MOVE!! WAVE IF YOU HAVE HEARD ME!" I screamed towards them alternating my attention between the bear and the couple. They waved towards me. And the bear and I started having a less friendly more ok bub time for you to move it along type conversation.  After a few more glances in my direction grizzly decided to wander back into the trees and on his merry way.  I greeted the couple on the other ridge as I neared them. "Why did you make us stop?" she asked as they waved. "You were about to walk into the back side of a grizzly bear." I laughed as I waved back. "It was standing about 50 feet in front of me and I did not want you two to suddenly scare it."  Her jaw fell open and he went a little pale before they both asked if I was ok? "Just another day in the park I told them." I asked them to alert people who passed them coming down the tail that there had been a bear in the area and I told those heading up the trail about the grizzly.

The grizzly bear and his twin brother appeared a few more times that summer along the trail and near the campground. They were one year old cubs which had recently been shooed away by their mother and they were in that awkward what should I do with my life stage. Eventually they would learn where the less peoplely areas were and stake out their own territories in the park.