What to do when meeting a bear. Rules of conduct when you meet an aggressive bear

2009 turned out to be a berry year in Karelia. Literally once bending down, you could pick up a few handfuls and enrich the body with vitamins. With hunting, too, everything was relatively good, although I had to nurse the game for 15-20 km, but, nevertheless, the results were.

Approximately at the beginning of the second week, having gathered for a morning hunting “detour”, literally, a hundred meters from the camp, I stumbled upon a miracle picture laid out right in the middle of the road.

An interesting photo, it confirms the vegetarian preferences of the bear's autumn diet. Some acquaintances even believed that I myself enriched this composition with berries. Pfft, I have nothing else to do.

A little further I found broken branches, stripped bark, another pile, damn, how much does he eat? All these signs seemed to express Misha's dissatisfaction with our neighborhood. Well, yes, maybe he did not like the evening songs of our company!

Jokes are jokes, but how much can you do, if something happens. Misha make his signature couple of jumps, and you may not have time to reload on bullets. I became afraid to hunt alone and imposed myself on a more experienced hunter. Both are safer! But it was time to leave, no one met the bear. The agonizing expectations of the next trip to Karelia began. And so it happened...

2010 in Karelia. The summer turned out to be hot, they say in the republic it reached 35 degrees, and this is the north! Due to forest fires across the country, the opening of the hunt was postponed to September 1. Although there was no information about fires in Karelia, a trace of a ground fire was nevertheless found.

There are no berries! Well, almost none. The thought immediately flew by, and whether Misha switched to meat. But many hunters comforted, they say the bear can smell for kilometers, he doesn’t need problems, he will leave.

The morning of that day... I overslept a little, it had already blossomed for a long time, and in order not to lose more time I went hunting, without tea and breakfast. As I like - one with his toz 34 with a pervak and a three in the trunks.

Quietly, almost silently, I crept along the path, looking for game, so did he. I did not hear any sound, but as if, like an animal, I felt it. We looked at each other at the same time. The heart rate has clearly increased, because in front of me, 12 meters away, is a brown bear, with a frighteningly black color. The main thing is not to panic, while everything is fine, if Misha wanted something from me, he would overcome the distance of 12 meters in an instant. Now the main thing is not to annoy him with your presence, because he is still standing, has not left, who knows what kind of thoughts he has!

What to do? When I met a bear in the forest, I immediately remembered a reminder or instruction given to me by old hunters, and I had no choice but to adhere to this instruction. Do not scream, run and do not climb a tree, all this bear makes us better. I am slowly without sudden movements, went up to a large thick pine tree and stood behind it, between times breaking the gun. With shaking hands, the release of adrenaline into the blood did its job, put the bullets, well, everything is not so scary now! I didn’t intend to kill him, although the thought flew by, such a trophy, but I’m alone and don’t strike him on the spot, the wounded man will not only tear me apart and also all the men one by one. All this time the bear stood in the same place and sniffed, he lost sight of me.

What a shot, I have a camera, I took it out, focused on it, but remembered about the flash and did not dare to take risks, you never know! It's a pity, but while turning off the flash, he retired into the forest.

Relieved! I decided to smoke. The wind carried smoke in the same direction as Misha, why didn’t he smell me and we met almost head-on? The bear was not young, big, perhaps, the sense of smell was broken from old age! After standing still for a while, he decided to continue hunting and continued on his way with caution.

So, what is the meeting of a man with a bear in the forest, for me personally everything went smoothly. In my case, we can say that this is happiness and luck, this is a rarity and I was lucky, I experienced many feelings, from fear to joy, I gained hardening and confidence. Many of the hunters envied me, but you need to understand that everything could be different, you need to understand what a large animal is capable of and be ready to meet him, be sure to carry bullets with you and be ready to make the right decision.

"If a bear wants to eat you, he will eat you."

Of the large animals, the elephant, hippopotamus and bear are dangerous for humans. All three species are dangerous: brown, white and black American. Zoologist Mikhail Krechmar tells how to behave when meeting a bear. You can listen to the recorded lecture on our Youtube channel, and for those who prefer to read, we have prepared an article based on the lecture. The material will be useful to tourists, travelers, hunters, summer residents and everyone who has a rest or lives in the forest zone. Because where there is a forest, there is a bear.

Mikhail Krechmar

Russian zoologist, writer, documentary filmmaker and journalist. Member International Association for the study and protection of bears - studied brown bears for more than 20 years. Author scientific papers and monographs on the behavior and ecology of mammals, including the book The Furry God.

Conflicts between bears and humans are not uncommon. Often the outcome of such a conflict is the death of a person, and even more often - the death of an animal. To avoid this and get out of the situation with minimal losses, it is important to choose the appropriate tactics of behavior and respond correctly.

Where can you meet a bear

To understand how likely it is to meet a bear, consider the range of its habitat and the total number of each species. On the territory of Russia there are 3 types of bears: brown, white and Himalayan.

Brown bear

The brown bear can be found in the forests of almost the entire territory of our country and even outside the forest zone - for example, in the Chukchi tundra. Signs of its habitation are found even in the immediate vicinity of Moscow and within the Moscow and Leningrad regions.

Total population brown bears in Russia - 200 thousand individuals. These data are approximate, because it is very difficult to calculate the exact size of the population, and no one knows the real numbers.

Polar bear

Its habitat is limited to the Arctic, respectively, the probability of meeting with it is very small.

There are 10 times fewer polar bears in the world than brown bears - only 20-30 thousand individuals. And in the territories adjacent to Russia (Svalbard-Novaya Zemlya, Laptev, Chukchi-Alaska populations) there are 8-10 thousand of them.

Himalayan (white-breasted) bear

The smallest species, about 5-6 thousand individuals. Distributed only in the south Far East(Primorsky Krai, South part Khabarovsk Territory), but despite this, conflicts with his participation often happen, because there are a lot of bears and a lot of people in this territory.

Which bears are the most dangerous

Bears are dangerous regardless of age. The most dangerous are young bears, who are actively exploring everything that surrounds them, and large dominant males, who already have their own territory. But first things first.

Bear cubs (30-35% of the population)

Very small cubs no older than 1-2 years always stay close to their mother. They weigh a little, from 5-10 to 60 kg, and are no longer a danger to humans, but to camp property. The main threat comes from the mother, who is always somewhere nearby. If you see a bear cub, know that the bear is nearby and can follow you at any moment.

You can easily drive away the cubs with improvised means, but this must be done carefully so that they do not start to whimper and call for help from their mother. However, they should not be underestimated at all: at least 2 cases are known when grown-up second-year cubs killed people.

"Middle class" - teenage bears (about 50% of the population)

These are animals aged 3-7 years, which have not yet conquered their territory. They are forced to wander between foreign areas of large males and females with cubs until they are driven away.

These bears have a pronounced "teenager complex": they go into a campground, turn over everything that smells unusual - they overturn, they can easily ruin a tent and tear an inflatable boat to tatters. There is no malicious intent in these actions, they are just interested in everything, they want to try it on the tooth, slash it with their claws - as a result, they get so excited that they smash the entire camp.

They can be driven away with improvised means, however, this is not as easy as in the case of cubs. But in no case should they be underestimated - even the smallest lone bear weighs from 60 to 150 kg and can easily cope with a physically strong person.

Teenage bears may not look mature, but they are already strong and capable of killing © scfh.ru

Females with cubs (15% of the population)

Large animals weighing 70-220 kg. Often come into conflict, as they seek to protect offspring. They are extremely difficult to drive away and must be handled with great care. In order not to provoke the bear's aggression, the cubs must not be offended - you just need to move away from them and not touch them.

Big bears (15-20% of the population)

This category includes adult males-dominants and large solitary she-bears. They enter into conflicts with a person in the season of starvation, to protect their prey or if they are unexpectedly disturbed. Usually they do not seek to destroy a person, and in 95% of cases they can be dispersed peacefully. However, it is in this species that there are cases of predation in relation to humans.

Large males do not give way and do not consider it necessary to avoid something in their territory. If you set up your tent on a bear trail, the bear will walk right through your tent without turning anywhere.

A large beast is hard to drive away, but it is easy to provoke an attack. If such a bear decides to attack, it will be difficult to stop him.

A large animal seeks to protect its territory and may try to drive away a person © scfh.ru

What to expect from bears

When do bears attack people? There are a number of situations in which an animal can cause harm to a person or his property. Consider all options.

Entry into cities and towns

This is usually done by teenage bears and she-bears with cubs. They come in order to profit from something: they eat available food supplies, trample on vegetable gardens, small domestic animals, smash summer cottages. For example, in Khabarovsk over the past two years there have been cases when bears went straight into supermarkets and had to be driven out of there with great difficulty.

Bears are not afraid to approach human dwellings. This male was seen near the hut of zoologists in the South Kamchatka Federal Reserve - he uses the outhouse as a marking point © From the blog of naturalist photographer Igor Shpilenok: shpilenok.livejournal.com

If normal recycling and waste disposal is not established near the camp site, poultry farm or meat processing plant, this may attract bears. They especially like cattle burial grounds with insufficient burial depth or generally superficial ones. Such poor-quality burial cost the lives of many bears.

The beast can also come to the smells of food from the tourist camp. For example, you warmed up the stew on the fire, it boiled over and spilled onto the coals - as a result, all the bears within a radius of several kilometers know that somewhere nearby is delicious.

Territory defense

Protecting the territory is characteristic of large and adult animals - they will seek to drive a person out of their possessions. With oncoming traffic, such an animal may simply not give way and go through the camp.

Protection of offspring

This is the most important basic instinct of the mother. The mother bear always strives to protect her cubs.

Mining protection

Another nasty one dangerous topic. If a bear dug up prey somewhere, he will sit on it and protect it. The problem is that you don't know where this prey is buried. Usually everything happens like this: a fishing team or poachers caught a fish, it rotted and threw it into the bushes in a compact pile. A bear came, fed and lay down next to me. And here you are walking by, but the bear does not know that you are not interested in its prey - it does not know and attacks.

Rutting period

Hormonal surges in brown bears last from May to June, and in whites from April to June. At this time, both males and females are very easily excitable and react to all large moving objects, and it does not matter to them who it is: another bear, elk, deer or a person. They attack actively and often suddenly.

Predation

The most annoying part of the conflicts and the least predictable. There is nothing to reassure: if the bear is engaged in you, he will bring his work to the end. There are no options here.

Hungry migration

Periods of starvation occur in spring and autumn. But in the spring, the animal leaves the den with a fair amount of fat, which allows it to live comfortably until the first grass appears. The animal becomes more dangerous in autumn, when a poor harvest of berries, a poor approach of fish - that's when the bear begins to look for food and is actively engaged in predation. There are whole seasons of starvation, then the animals massively come to the villages, attack livestock and people.

show of strength

The bear is considered an omnivore, but still it is a predator. He considers himself the strongest and able to cope with an animal of any size, including a man. In this way he demonstrates his superiority. In places where animals have not seen people for a long time (for example, in some regions of Chukotka), there have been cases when a bear rushed at an all-terrain vehicle - he did not understand what it was, and decided that he could fill up a moving object.

How to avoid an attack

Experienced people who often encounter bears (hunters, shepherds, hunters, reindeer herders) have an expression: "A bear is a beast without eyes." This is true: the animal's vision is monochrome and very poor - it distinguishes only nearby objects. If you stand still, and the wind blows ON you FROM the bear, then it can pass at a distance of 5 meters and not notice you.

Like most forest mammals, the bear is guided by movement, smells, sounds and touch. He has excellent hearing and sense of smell: there was a case when a bear smelled a dead elk at a distance of 12 kilometers from the carcass and unmistakably approached it.

A bear receives a lot of information through touch - with the help of paw pads. But how exactly this happens is not entirely clear.

If possible, you should try to avoid meeting with a predator at all. There are several rules that will help insure against an attack.

You need to move in groups, while trying to speak loudly, make noise along the way.

Bears very rarely attack groups of tourists, they simply avoid them © From the blog of naturalist photographer Igor Shpilenok: shpilenok.livejournal.com

It is advisable to have a dog in the group. She smells a bear and begins to bark, indicating where the beast is - he understands that he has been found and leaves. But you can trust only those dogs in which the human defense reflex is elevated to the absolute. Many people died in the taiga because a frightened dog rushed to the owner, knocked him down, and instead of the dog, the bear "broke" the owner.

If a dog is not able to sacrifice its life for the sake of a person, it is much more dangerous to go through bear places with it than without it © scfh.ru

Have protective equipment on hand: from metal utensils (or something similar that you can knock on loudly) to a flare.

Ways to scare away: what works and what does not

When meeting with a bear, it is important to be able not to fight him off, but to prevent a conflict in principle. The beast needs to be scared away so that it not only does not want to attack, but generally runs away from the person. There are many ways to scare away bears.

Voice

Regular situation: you are walking along the path, and towards the bear, very passionate about something, does not pay attention to anything. There are thickets of bushes on the sides of the road, you have nowhere to go - what to do? Wait until the bear approaches 20 meters, and then in a calm voice, as in normal communication, say something like: “Where are you, fool, breaking into?” After a few seconds, you will no longer see this bear.

metallic knock

Bears are frightened by a sharp, unpleasant sound. You can hit a jar on a stone or a spoon on a metal bowl - the beast will stand on hind legs, look around and hold off. There was a case when a sailor who was shipwrecked walked 40 kilometers through very densely populated bear places: he picked up a pebble from the ground and hit it with the butt of a knife, a rather loud and unpleasant sound was obtained - the bears did not approach the sailor.

The article will focus on the owner of the Taiga - a brown bear. Be sure, before you go to the forest, study the information about what kind of animal such a bear is and how to behave when meeting with it.

Bear literally means "honey eater", "honey badger".

What the bear can do:

Runs at speeds up to 60 km/h.
Swims great. Can swim up to 7 km.
Good for climbing trees. However, the older the bear, the weaker his desire to do this.
The force of the bear's blow is approximately 1200 kg. It can easily break the ridge, tear out the ribs and break the skull of the bull with one blow of the paw. Breaking a car door is an easy task for him.
With its teeth, a bear can bite through the barrel of a smooth-bore weapon.

Rules of conduct in the forest

Move through the forest, carefully examining the area. The bear marks its borders, tearing bark from trees, peeling stones and slopes. If you notice bear tracks or excrement, go away.
Avoid dense forest. For movement, choose as open an area as possible, with low grass. The sooner you spot a bear, the more likely you are to get away unharmed.
It will be better if you move through the forest in groups, moreover, talking loudly.
Don't camp on bear trails. Chooses open places with good visibility.

Bear trail

Do not store food near the camp. Carry away provisions for 30-40 meters from the tents. Place it at a height of approximately 4 meters from the ground. Also, do not take very fragrant products (for example, smoked meats) into the forest.
Destroy leftover food. Burying in the ground is not an option, anyway, the bear will smell the smell and find the “burial”. We must not allow the beast to have an association of man with food.
Do not take your dog on holiday. With its bark, it can attract a predator. And, besides, if the bear still comes to the camp, the pet can pounce on it. Such hospitality will greatly upset the beast.

How to understand that a bear wants to attack

The fact that the bear wants to attack, says the following:

raised hair;
erect ears;
direct look.

The attack might look like this:

the bear abruptly rushes towards the person;
stands on its hind legs;
strikes.

What to do when you meet a bear?

Assess the state of the predator (young - old, healthy - sick, aggressive - calm, scared or not).
Don't try to run away, it's useless.
Shouting and even more so growling at the animal is not worth it.
Don't look the predator in the eye.
Do not throw stones or sticks at the animal. This will provoke his aggression.
Fight with yourself as you wish, but the bear must not understand that you are afraid.
You need to try to seem like a big beast to the bear. You can unzip the jacket and open it. After start to gradually recede. If there are two of you, then one person can sit on the shoulders of the other and both open their jackets. In this case, you need to speak loudly. The bear may take you for more strong beast and leave.
If you have a backpack, throw it as far away from you as possible. Perhaps the bear will play curiosity. And while he will study your property, you can slowly leave. You need to go diagonally backwards.
In an emergency, you can climb thick high tree. But this is only if you are sure that the bear is old, or you are dealing with a cannibal bear (there are no other options here).

If a bear is watching you while its ears are laid back, then do not move. And only after he takes his eyes off you, begin to gradually move back (diagonally). But don't turn your back on the predator.

Pretend to be dead. Of course, a bear can sniff a lying person and go home. But the probability is too low. Most likely, he will either drag the person into his “pantry”, after having beaten him up pretty much, or immediately start eating.
Go big in your pants. The fact is that the bear is a scavenger. He is not bothered by such scents.

If the bear nevertheless attacked, then there is nothing left to do but fight him off. Weak spots bear - nose and eyes. Throw stones, sticks, dirt in the bear's face. Try to separate yourself from him with some object (wood, large stone). If the bear knocked you down, then try to stick a stick (knife) in his eye. The fight is for survival.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones.

It seems to me that every Uralian knows from childhood what to do if you meet a bear in the forest. And every Uralian knows from childhood that the coolest entertainment in the Urals for men is bear hunting. And every Uralian has a couple of stories related to bears in the forest. For example, I forgot a lot from student practice in the Visimsky Reserve, but here is a clayey stream with two bear paw prints - one huge, the other smaller, in which turbidity is in clear water slowly settled before our eyes, that is, a mother bear with a baby, walked along the stream in front of us for a couple of minutes, I will never forget.

While my friend was alive, whose husband was a very successful hunter, and in the 90s a serious poacher, he hunted bears several times and their skins adorned their big house, she regularly told me terrible hunting stories about bears. Inspired by these stories, I was absolutely convinced for a long time that true, deep Ural hospitality is taking your dear German colleague to hunt a bear. And Aliya Sultanova and I tried every year to lure our financial director on a bear hunt in the forest. One day he, usually very restrained, said in his hearts: “OK, take me on your hunt, but I really hope that we won’t meet a bear.” And they didn't meet.

In the mushroom and berry season, the probability of meeting a bear is generally high.
Therefore, it will be useful to follow a few rules.

How to behave in the forest so as not to meet a bear?

1. If you are not a hunter, then it is better not to go into the forest alone, but to go in company, talk loudly, laugh, strum something. You can also sing out loud. The bear hears well and will not approach you.

2. Do not move through the forest at dusk and at night. The bear is a nocturnal animal.

3. Arrange a halt in an open high place, talk loudly.

4. Try not to go into dense thickets of bushes, thickets of tall grass.

What to do if you meet a bear?

.
1. Bears have good hearing and an excellent sense of smell, but the beast's eyesight is relatively poor. If you are the first to notice a bear in the distance, try to carefully move away without attracting his attention. Better go around it in a wide arc.

2. Never approach cubs if you see them in the forest. Hurry up, leave without making noise, there is a ferocious mother bear nearby.

3. Never run away from an approaching bear if you are not sure that you will have time to run to a reliable shelter. Flight from a predator provokes pursuit. The beast can reach speeds of up to 60 km / h. Move away from the bear slowly, quietly, without turning your back on the bear.

4. Under no circumstances in the forest, as a place of a possible location of a bear, do not approach the remains of dead animals, fish abandoned by poachers ... A bear disturbed in prey in most cases goes on the attack.

5. You can try to scare away the bear with the ringing of metal objects, a loud cry, voice, shots in the air, rockets, flares. Don't shoot the bear, a wounded bear will definitely pounce on you.

6. Do not climb a tree from a bear, it will still get it.

I got the most cheerful advice from my friend Zhenya Svitov, he says that he always walks through the forest with an umbrella, he always helps.

So: if you see a bear unexpectedly and next to you, abruptly open a bright umbrella!

Good luck in the forest! Mushroom season is in full swing.

The photos are mine, but the bears are not from the Urals.

Due to the fact that it is impossible to foresee each specific case of a meeting of a person with a bear, taking into account the prevailing circumstances, it is impossible to give a single summary of recommendations on this issue, which gives absolute guarantees against an accident when an animal attacks. At the same time, these tips can reduce the likelihood of a conflict situation to a minimum.
A bear rarely attacks a person: only if it is disturbed in a winter den, injured or taken by surprise with prey. She-bears are dangerous, having cubs with them, "rods".

In order to avoid encounters with a bear in the forest:

1. In the forest, make noise, sing, talk loudly, or tie a bell to your backpack. If possible, travel with a group. Avoid dense bushes, thickets, windbreaks. Always let the bear know you are here.
2. You can not create around settlements, bases and camps, field detachments, tourist groups, on halts and routes of garbage dumps, dumps, warehouses of food waste, which contribute to the concentration of animals next to a person. Even the burial of organic remains at a considerable depth cannot solve this problem, since bears, having a well-developed sense of smell, easily detect and dig them out. Food waste is recommended to be removed (if it is impossible to dispose of it) at a considerable distance from housing, the dump site should be clearly marked with signs, and local residents should be warned about it. If it is not possible to organize the removal on their own or by the forces of nearby villages and organizations, food waste should be destroyed by burning.
3. Having dogs with you that are not afraid of the presence of the beast, with a vicious reaction will greatly help to protect you from the appearance of a bear. In no case can not be used to protect indoor and decorative dogs. Best used for protection purposes for huskies and German shepherds. Remember that pets and their food can also attract bears.
4. Under no circumstances should you approach the remains of dead animals, dead fish and other natural bait, which is a significant source of decomposed animal food. First of all, this concerns the extraction of the brown bear. Remember: a bear disturbed on prey in most cases goes on the attack.
5. In order to avoid encounters with a bear, it is advisable not to use bear trails while moving through the taiga and tundra. The paths pierced by the bear differ from all other paths in that they are two parallel chains of holes at a distance of 20 cm from each other. You should also avoid moving along the banks of rivers and along spawning grounds at dusk and at dawn, as well as at night.

Occurring behavioral features of bears:

1. The defensive behavior of a bear is usually the result of the fact that you have violated the boundaries of his personal possessions, frightened or embarrassed him. A typical example of defensive behavior is the reaction of a she-bear with cubs when she suddenly encounters a human. A defensive bear perceives you as a threat to himself and his cubs, or maybe he is just protecting his food from you. External signs can range from mild stress to extreme aggressiveness such as assault.
2. The bear can come close not only for defensive purposes, but also for reasons of a different nature. Just out of curiosity, or because he's used to people. He may be interested in your food. Sometimes bears walk in circles downwind, trying to smell the scent. Being at a short distance, they begin to slowly and carefully approach, pricking up their ears and raising their heads higher.
3. Bears that live near people let them get closer without expressing much concern, especially in places where they are used to meeting people. The bear, accustomed to people, keeps the distance not so strictly, but it is always kept. Invading his personal space is dangerous.
4. The predatory bear will be extremely interested and will focus on you as potential food. A bear that is initially curious or testing you may turn out to be a predator if you can't fight it back. He will insistently approach you or appear suddenly, his head held high and his ears pricked up. Under any circumstances, bears rarely attack people.

In order to avoid dangerous situations when meeting a bear:

1. Whenever you see a bear, stop, remain calm and assess the situation. If the bear is unaware of your presence, you can leave unnoticed, do it quietly, at a time when the bear is not looking in your direction. Watch him closely. Go around the bear, making a wide detour, or go back the way you came here. The most common situation is when the bear avoids you and you are unaware that he is nearby. The closer you are to a bear when it detects you, the more likely it is to develop a defensive defensive reaction.
2. If the bear is moving towards you, watch closely to see if its behavior changes. Try not to look threatening, stop. Talk to the bear in a confident tone. This can calm him down and help calm you down. Let the bear know that you are human. If the bear cannot recognize who you are, it may come closer or stand on its hind legs to get a better look or sniff. A standing bear with its paws down usually shows curiosity and is not dangerous.
You can try to slowly back away diagonally while keeping your eyes on the bear, but if the bear starts to follow you, stop and stay where you are.
3. Don't shout or throw anything at the bear to defend yourself. This may provoke him to attack.
4. Don't run! You won't be able to run away from the bear.

Human behavior during a direct attack by a brown bear.

Finding yourself face to face with a defensive bear can be a terrifying ordeal. Despite the fact that in most of these cases, the bears do not dare to attack, it happens the other way around.
1. If the bear comes too close - not a step back! Continue speaking in a calm voice. If the beast stops approaching you, try increasing the distance between you again. At this stage in the development of events, any bear will most likely refuse to continue the encounter and leave, unless he is aggressive.
2. Attacks are of two main types - defensive or predatory. Your first reaction in both cases should be the same: no step back! If you fail to scare off the bear in advance, and he nevertheless rushes at you, your reaction to the attack should be twofold: if the bear is defending, pretend to be dead, if the bear attacks you, try to resist it!
3. If it's a predatory attack, it's your turn to act aggressively. Let the bear know that you will fight if he attacks. The more persistent the bear behaves, the more aggressively you should react. Raise your voice, knock on trees. Use loud instruments. Never imitate a bear's growl or squawk.
4. Look the bear straight in the eyes. Challenge him. Try to look bigger than you really are. Stomp your foot, taking a step or two towards the bear. Move up slowly. Stand on a log or stone. Threaten the bear with any object that comes to hand. Remember: most attacks stop suddenly.
5. If this is a defensive attack, drop to the ground at the very last moment. Lie on your stomach with your legs slightly apart, or curl up into a ball. Cover your head by interlocking your fingers at the back of your head. In this position, you protect your face and neck. Bears often try to hit the face if it is not protected. If the bear flips you onto your back, keep rolling on the ground until you are back in the face-down position to protect your stomach and vitals. If you are wearing a backpack, it will help to somehow protect your back and neck. Don't fight or scream. Stay still for as long as possible. If you move and the bear sees or hears you, it may return and renew its attack.