Bear Safety
Showing posts with label Bear Safety. Show all posts

Practice Bear Safety While Visiting Pisgah National Forest

Friday, October 12, 2012

No comments
The U.S. Forest Service is encouraging campers and visitors to the national forests in North Carolina to practice black bear safety while visiting the forest.

The warning comes on the heels of six bear encounters on the Pisgah Ranger District in the Pisgah National Forest over the past two weeks. The incidents occurred in the Graveyard Fields, Black Balsam, and Shining Rock Wilderness areas just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. In these cases the bears took food from camp sites. While no injuries were reported, visitor’s tents and packs were damaged.

While black bear attacks on people are rare, such attacks have sometimes resulted in human fatalities.

Visitors are strongly encouraged to prevent bear interactions by practicing the following safety tips:

* Do not store food in tents.
* Properly store food by hanging it in a tree or in hard-sided secure container.
* Clean up food or garbage around fire rings, grills or other areas of your campsite.
* Do not leave food unattended.

For more tips, visit www.fs.usda.gov/nfsnc, click on “Bear Safety Tips and PSAs.”


Jeff
Hiking in the Smokies
Read More

New Smokies Video Emphasizes Bear Safety

Thursday, July 1, 2010

No comments
A new video podcast, Day Hiking and Wildlife, associated with the recently launched program “Reward Yourself - Hike the Smokies Challenge”, is now available for viewing. This 6-minute podcast is the second of a three-part series on hiking safety and informs the viewer of wildlife behavior, particularly black bears, and the appropriate responses and regulations to be followed by Park visitors.

The chance of seeing wildlife in the backcountry is one of the exciting things about hiking, but it's important to understand the rules and regulations and proper etiquette for a safe and rewarding experience when visiting. The video podcast is an in-depth informational piece about bear country and sets up practical advice for keeping bears wild and away from people and developed areas. Kim Delozier, the park’s chief wildlife biologist, is featured in the podcast and emphasizes the responses people should make and actions to take if encountered by a bear on a trail.

The first podcast developed for this program, Day Hiking in the Smokies: Expect the Unexpected, is a 5-minute video on weather and how to prepare and respond to potential weather extremes and the mountainous terrain.

Both podcasts, developed by Great Smoky Mountains Association, can be viewed at the Hike the Smokies Challenge webpage.

Be forwarned: the "acting" in this newest video is a little distracting from Mr. Delozier's excellent advice on what actions you should take if you were to encounter a bear on the trail.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.
Read More