As bear lurked, hikers find man’s remains
near Great Smoky Mountains campsite
Charlotte Observer [NC],
by
Joe Marusak
Original Article
Posted By: NorthernDog,
9/12/2020 6:12:45 PM
As a bear lurked, hikers found a man’s remains scattered near a campsite in the North Carolina portion of Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Friday, rangers said Saturday. After finding an unoccupied tent, the backpackers saw what appeared to be human remains scattered across a nearby creek, “with a bear scavenging in the area,” according to a park news release. The hikers “quickly left” to get cell coverage and reported what they encountered to authorities, rangers said. Rangers said the remains were found near Hazel Creek Trail. Park visitors can access the trail by catching a 30-minute boat shuttle
Reply 1 - Posted by:
jntsrgn 9/12/2020 6:26:16 PM (No. 538814)
Black bears don’t attack and eat people. Scavenge the remains? Yes.
11 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Bmoc 9/12/2020 6:41:37 PM (No. 538831)
Exactly #1. I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and encounter bears here in the Hiawatha National Forest on a steady basis while hiking. You don't mess with them and they won't mess with you. In the spring when they have cubs, you go 90 degrees away from them. Earlier this summer, I ran into a mama and her triplets. I took over fifty photos and they barely noticed I was there. A few weeks earlier, that would have been a problem.
I suspect that other predatory creatures got to this man before the bear did.
12 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
JimJr 9/12/2020 6:41:59 PM (No. 538832)
#1, Black bears are more likely to kill and eat humans than Grizzleys.
9 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Kate318 9/12/2020 7:19:06 PM (No. 538853)
Went on a 7-state RV trip this summer that included WY, ID & MT. They take bears very seriously up there, with lots of education on precautions. Always have your bear spray, and know how to use it. Coming from NE, at first I thought it was a joke. Nope.
8 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
NYbob 9/12/2020 7:31:07 PM (No. 538861)
Black Bears have killed many people over the years, for all kinds of reasons and they can climb trees. On average it's one human per year. So don't be that human. The NPS recommends fighting back with anything at hand, with everything you've got. If it is a Grizzly play dead and pray.
11 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Hazymac 9/12/2020 7:43:51 PM (No. 538868)
The Bear Whisperer Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend Amy were eaten by brown bears in Katmai NP in 2003. Park rangers tried to warn them. Brown bears and black bears are omnivores. Polar bears are carnivores. Human beings could be food for all North American ursines, so it's probably best to stay well away from ba'ars if you aren't carrying something like a Marlin lever action .45-70 rifle, which makes the kick of a 12 gauge shotgun seem tame by comparison. (I'm not kidding about this!)
In the book on Treadwell the author stated that although grizzlies (brown bears) are somewhat more likely than black bears to attack people, a black bear is more likely than the brown bear to finish off an attack by killing the human victim. You pays your money....
There is a significant population of black bears thirty miles north of Tampa. Occasionally one will wander down into Hillsborough or Pinellas County. Leave 'em alone.
11 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
smokincol 9/12/2020 8:45:02 PM (No. 538909)
the hiker was in the bear's territory. bears don't like people in their domain. who said black bears are harmless..
5 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
curious1 9/12/2020 8:53:06 PM (No. 538914)
Another example of why you don't take three steps into the wild without being armed. You aren't the apex predator without technology, on land or in the ocean. He should have had at least a .357/44-magnum/50 or shotgun with slugs and buck at a minimum.
5 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
JHHolliday 9/12/2020 9:00:08 PM (No. 538917)
The blacks are mostly ok unless they have cubs. Black bears attacking humans is rare. Dogs kill more humans every year than bears do. That said, an adult black bear is 3 times the size of a Labrador. Just leave them alone. They really mean you no harm unless threatened in some way.
2 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
GoodDeal 9/12/2020 10:25:39 PM (No. 538968)
The bear couldn’t find food because of climate change so he took down a Biden supporter who won the Darwin for being in bear country unarmed because he didn’t like guns because they kill people.
6 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Californian 9/12/2020 11:46:33 PM (No. 538999)
The bear and camper were both armed. The bear was a better shot.
1 person likes this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Trigger2 9/13/2020 12:48:38 AM (No. 539029)
Why go hiking this time of the year when black bears are eating everything in sight in preparation for hibernation?
1 person likes this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
RuckusTom 9/13/2020 2:05:18 AM (No. 539045)
J. D. Paddington, famed frontiersman from the 1870's, is known throughout history for fighting and killing 10 black bears at once with nothing more than his hunting knife.
Unfortunately, he was fighting 11 of them at the time.
3 people like this.
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Comments:
They may never figure out exactly what happened, but camping alone in bear country always carries some risk.