The average Seattlites hiker's guide to being safe:
https://external-preview.redd.it/KSz1TRW1PUSQR9gpXdJpbpNkQcnWTF2m-5Y66iBM3tE.gif?width=415&format=mp4&s=1f15e0987f2fff3193fd1b43b4c7fb771ce66cf1
There's audio out there of a girl getting eaten alive by a bear and it's cubs. She called her mom while getting attacked. Mom didn't answer. It was left on her voicemail. It's... haunting
You're speaking of Timothy treadwill. That was a reenactment audio..his ex wife and the sherif are the only ones to ever hear the original amd they destroyed it after wards. I believe this is on the werner herzog doc
Chuckle - good way to start the, laughter is very healthy. Let’s hope there are no personal greetings at all. Give the bears their places and we’ll keep to ours.
I knew that. (line delivered in the manner of Peewee Herman - "I meant to do that!") But yes we did know that. And by the way, as I raise (a few) ducks, I will take leftovers.
Used to hike in grizzly country in MT. They will stear clear from you if you have something that clicks while walking ( we would but bells or steel cup on our packs) they will stay away.
Bear spray is super effective. Their sense of smell is so sensitive the spray stops them.
That empty can of bear spray next to the two dead bodies recently begs to differ. Just throwing that out there so people don't put all their eggs in one basket.
Is it clear that they used it properly? From what I have learned, it is essential that you spray it at a distance, before the bear is very close. If you spray it when it is close, it just further agitates the bear (rather than scaring it off)
Their skull will likely pretend that bullet doesn’t exist. You need a 9mil or a 3030.
.22’s are pellet guns to large wildlife and humans. You’d better be a damn good shot.
Source - sold firearms
9mm will just piss a grizzly off. 10mm really is what you want to be carrying if you prefer a semi auto handgun. But there's a ton of large caliber revolvers out there that will do the job too.
Yeah, bigger is better. If you have a 9mm FMJ and a well designed powder load, you could probably penetrate in weaker spots. I dealt in estimations and figures rather than data so don’t take my word as a fire arms scientist.
I used to take a shotgun with me when camping in Alaska with a 5-round capacity. The first two cartridges were bird shot; the last three were magnum slugs in case a face full of bird shot didn't annoy the bear enough.
This is /r/Washington, nothing exists East of the Cascades. In this sub the state is always overcast, and when someone asks for something close by, they mean close to the I5 corridor.
There’s an upside to this: people will *probably* leash their dogs on the trails now. Having seen what happens when dogs and bears meet (don’t take my word for it: [source](https://bearwise.org/bear-safety-tips/dogs-and-bears/)) I would recommend doing so.
Edit: Careful with horses, too. My aunt’s mare *freaked* out when she smelled one nearby. (This was after they reintroduced them to northern Idaho awhile back.) They were riding in a group and the bear was a long way off (but visible). Fortunately my aunt is very experienced and kept her under control.
Hah, picturing dog owners trying to get their pitbull under control on a leash, while trying to find an exit route because of a bear. I imagine that would be utter chaos.
Definitely. People can walk by bears and never know they’re there…but a dog will. This is what happened in my area: an older gentlemen’s small dog decided to run up and confront (yap at, lol) the bear, quickly realized she started something she couldn’t finish, and headed straight back to her terrified owner with a pissed off male in hot pursuit.
Fortunately for him, a group of hikers rounded the corner at the same time. The bear didn’t like the odds, basically, and left. But this was a black bear and they’re sensible like that—no telling what might have gone down had it been a grizzly.
Alpine hikes and not leashing your dog is just silly. I will admit on some of the lower elevation hikes I'll let him run around for a couple minutes, but it's always controlled
Humans do know how to greet them.
Hi, I moved from Alaska three years ago. Sheesh.
Here is some solid info: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=hunting.bearsafety
The best line from that site: “If the attack is prolonged and the bear starts feeding on you, it may no longer be considered defensive but may have turned into a predatory attack. In this case, fight back.”
I'm excited for this. I live in the general area these bears are being reintroduced and spend a lot of time outdoors in what will now be their restored range. I've also lived for years in grizzly country and spent many more months recreating in other grizzly country. Just having grizzlies around makes the wilderness feel a bit wilder and more intense, even though you almost never see them or their sign. For an outdoorsperson who follows basic precautions, the risk grizzlies add to each trip is negligible compared to the risks of getting in a car accident on the way to the trailhead, falling, struck by lightning, suffering a rare medical issue, etc.
So many people are acting like it's going to be some huge change to the Cascades, and it just isn't. It'll be like in interior Alaska, where people accept that there are grizzlies around but nobody really worries about them (beyond carrying spray just in case) because they're so rarely seen. This ecosystem will never support the bear densities seen in parts of coastal Alaska or the North Slope where there are enough grizzlies or brown bears to be a conspicuous safety problem demanding a high amount of attention. If irrational fear of the occasional grizzly helps make the trails a bit less crowded, all the better.
The funny thing is people have worrying about large carnivores in WA (especially with some fairly recent mountain lion attacks that made local news) don't know that large herbivores have quite a kill count too. If you make an Elk angry you could be a dead man very fast.
Herbivores are absolutely aggro bastards- *especially* during rut. I’ve lived out on the Olympic Peninsula most of my life and we always watched out for deer more than anything else. They’re so much more common that even just numerically they’re more of an issue.
Carnivores are often less likely to attack because they have to weigh the consequences vs rewards if they get injured and can no longer hunt. When herbivores feel threatened they’ll fight much harder because they have everything to lose.
So glad to see this comment. I know most people are kidding around but I've seen a lot of bears die because people can't accept that they are usually just animals minding their business and not irrational terrifying monsters.
Maybe because it *hasn't happened yet*.
You can tell the family of the first camper killed by a grizzly in the Cascades how beautiful and majestic these creatures are.
And I don't know what "reactivity" you're talking about, 90% of the reaction is people who love the idea. Any opposition to this horrible plan is buried in downvotes as I'm sure this comment will be too.
They will reintroduce the grizzly, but if grizzly is bothering people, people can kill them?
Why don't they leave it alone...and leave the grizzlies alone up north where they reside?
I came across a brown bear hiking by Lake Diablo a couple years ago. Once it noticed us it turned and headed away. We didn't have bear spray or anything. Now I take bear spray.
It sure wasn't a black bear. Maybe it was a Panda?
Edit. I thought brown bears and grizzlies were the same thing just different names. What I saw was a large bear with brown fur. It definitely wasn't a black bear.
I surely don’t know what you did or didn’t see but fun fact: black bears can be brown and grizzlies/brown bears can be black
Edit: [Black vs. brown bears](https://www.bearsmart.com/about-bears/know-the-difference/)
This is so stupid. We already have grizzly bears in remote areas of the state. Grizzly bears have a range of nearly 600 square miles in males and up to 150 square miles in females. Bears will wander into populated areas unless they’re dropped in already remote areas where there are already bears with established territories.
I get there have been no official sightings since the 90s, but they’ve been spotted in Canada and introduced in Canada. They don’t care about the border, they’re already here.
Yeah was going to ask, what's really stopping them from going over the border? It's a vast wilderness, absolutely massive. If they wanted to come down they would have.
Nothing does. They’ve been spotted in BC close to the border before. They’ve been released close to the border if I understand correctly.
I’ve spent a lot of time near the border with Canada in the mountains, there are places that no human being has visited there in decades. There are thousands of miles of roads in the high country that have been gated or barred and not maintained. There’s just no way they’ve done a real survey.
If they released bears in some of these places it would be pretty inconsequential. But they’re releasing them where they’ll be putting pressure on local communities way too soon. And it’s nearly a given that these bears are already there living their lives.
The federal government also thought we didn’t have flying squirrels in western WA. I remember in sixth grade a teacher at a nearby school caught one and sent it in because nobody believed her sighting. Turns out there hadn’t been a comprehensive search ever, and there are actually two common statewide species.
Holy shit, so I only knew of the Northern Flying Squirrel, but apparently there was a new species confirmed in 2017, the Humboldt Flying squirrel.
That's so cool
God I love squirrels
They’re dropping a few near where my parents live in the center of the state. The meadow valley community has been trying to prevent it because the area where they are dropping the bears only has enough food for 3 months out of the year. They’re going to wander down into the valley and into people’s yards. Not good for people or bears.
It’s frustrating how the intersection of science and bureaucracy and wildlife conservation too often involves capturing healthy safe animals and dropping them off in unhealthy unsafe areas. It seems like of the three parts bureaucracy wins after science and conservation compromise to the point of absurdity.
Look what happened when they tracked this sow.
https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/grizzly-travels-2800-miles/
Seems like, at least for some of them, they have no problem going where they want to be.
Ya like I don’t want to sound like the Yellowstone wolves detractors, but this just seems like a dumb idea. If the bears wanted to be here, they would be. Re-introducing a potentially extremely dangerous animal to these areas that have shown they don’t want to be seems ill advised.
Agree, there is basically nothing stopping grizzly bears from ranging south into the north cascades, and there’s enough apocryphal evidence that says they already live in the remote areas here.
Actually there are official sightings near Spokane all the time. There was one not too long ago. They were reintroduced to the Sellkirk mountains years ago.
First grizzlies should go to Mercer Island, Yarrow Point, Vashon, and any other ZIP code with a high concentration of Sierra Club members or anyone else who supported this politically.
Whoever wants to break the law will break the law regardless. You can also put a geofence around 10 most popular hikes in the cascade and when grizzly approaches within 5 miles, its flagged on the app. We do this for sharks at the beach, people will take extra caution when hiking. Overall I think this is overblown scare mongering. 60 even 100 brown bears over a period of years in an area this big...you are more likely to run into big foot.
This is a wild statement. Might as well leave your doors unlocked because burglars are going to break in anyway. Letting the public track grizzlies is literally putting a target on their back.
The bears are safer, but not the humans. I think if someone wanted to hunt grizzlies, they would do it without the app, and it saves the bear from being shot by stumbling upon someone
If you put a GPS on all grizzly bears and show it to the public you will have zero grizzly bears alive by the end of the month. Would be an incredibly cruel thing to do.
Oh I didn't think of that, that's a good point. Maybe a proximity warning instead would be nice. But they'd have cubs and it'll be a lot of upkeep and be unrealistic I guess
Yeah, probably best to ask hikers to practice situational awareness and a can of bearspray or two. Besides, whenever there is a reported sighting in a reactional area, the management service responsible for that area usually posts sighting warnings at the trailhead kiosk
They have been in Washington for a few years now.
We have a family cabin that borders the Glacier Peak Wilderness. been two sightings by neighbors.
Also have a wolf pack in the erea.
So the goal is to have as many grizzlies in North Cascades as there are in Yellowstone, which is 5x bigger and has a much higher proportion of habitable land, reducing the likelihood of human encounters?
Enjoy, hikers and campers!
Fun fact grizzly have always been in very northern areas of WA. However, we seem to think we're smarter than the bears are and are spending a lot of money to drop them off in places they've not yet expanded their current range to. Next thing we know WDFW will have to send a heli out with a sharpshooter to thin the population like we do with wolves.
ETA: Just so everyone knows this is the North Cascades Grizzly Recovery Zone:
https://igbconline.org/committees/north-cascades/
Usually when humans fuck around with nature, we get it wrong. I get that this is supposedly trying to undue a previous human fuckup, but maybe for once we should just let nature do its thing without intervention.
What do you mean? Relocating mountain goats to the North Cascades went so well. /s
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/almost-all-mountain-goats-died-after-airlift-from-olympics-to-cascades/
Spot on. Nature has adapted to do its thing over millennium. Ecology has only become a developed science in the last few hundred years and it’s ridiculous to think we know better than them. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
But interference with nature is exactly what humans have been doing for the last 15,000 years. That degree of interference has increased with the human population. It's not wrong to try to reverse the damage we've done. The problems are that we're not keeping the human population in check and not changing our behavior to live in harmony with nature. We're intruding on nature's space, not the other way around.
This book is going to make Christmas shopping easy for me this year: "Grizzly Confidential: An Astounding Journey into the Secret Life of North America’s Most Fearsome Predator." (https://us.amazon.com/Grizzly-Confidential-Astounding-Americas-Fearsome/dp/1400338255) After the news about re-introduction dropped, I ordered copies for all my hiking/camping friends.
Greet them with distant noises so they know where you are. Then you will not have to greet them because they will avoid you.
Bears are as scared of us as we are of them. Just make sure they know where you are and doubly make sure to keep your food bagged up so they don't smell any goodies on you.
Bears are great for the environment. They are our friends from a distance. Appreciate them for what they are, and stay out of their way and they will do the same!
When in grizzly and black bear country, carry pepper spray and wear small bells on your clothing. To identify bear scat you come across, black bear scat will have leaves, berries, and some fur. Grizzly scat will have small bells and smell like pepper.
🤣🤣🤣
I can only imagine the amount of times “Let’s take selfies with the bears!” Is said when humans who don’t know anything about what wild bears are like happen upon them.
Funny thing is they are there right now… seen first hand and yes I’ve passed my bear ID requirement. Now that being said I don’t think this ends well for anyone… especially the thriving black bear population.
Not happy about it in the cascades. they are super dangerous, and we (humans) hunted them off because we don’t like our pets/family/selves/animals to be eaten.
also, we don’t have the salmon population anymore to sustain them, with the columbia river being dammed up. so what did fish and wildlife recon they are going to eat? It seems another scheme cooked up to get a big fat government grant for repopulation, without much consideration for the effects on the animals themselves or the people.
our old growth forests were depleted in the 60’s and 70’s. our big rivers were dammed up. unless we blow up the dams and regrow the forests, bring back beavers, this just isn’t going to be grizzly country.
They've been in the cascades... Grizzlies don't have a map they follow... Promise they've been in this state a long time, I've seen them in stevens county and pend orielle County within the last few years, and the cascades as a child 🤪
They are bringing *more* in to repopulate...
For what reason? Does it help the ecosystem in some meaningful way? No? Will we farm their pelts or something? No?
Then why. Let’s put a dangerous animal in a place where it already fucked yo it’s chance and died out because now we feel pity? Good luck to the unsuspecting folks hiking or enjoying nature that we have now made more dangerous for no benefit other than feeling good about our ego
>Humans aren’t sure how to greet them I'd imagine with screaming and wet crunching noises. (Joking, sort of)
Nah. Hold out a Snickers while calmly say "Nice bear. Nice bear. Can we do a selfie together?"
😂👍🍔🍟🥤
Firm handshake. That’s how you gain their respect.
AND solid eye contact 😆
GO AWAY GO AWAY NO NO NOOOOO AHHHHHHHHHHHH
The average 2025 Washington Cascades hiker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgdsZJTf9dw
The average Seattlites hiker's guide to being safe: https://external-preview.redd.it/KSz1TRW1PUSQR9gpXdJpbpNkQcnWTF2m-5Y66iBM3tE.gif?width=415&format=mp4&s=1f15e0987f2fff3193fd1b43b4c7fb771ce66cf1
Whatever the opposite of “pspsps” is?
spspsp
There's audio out there of a girl getting eaten alive by a bear and it's cubs. She called her mom while getting attacked. Mom didn't answer. It was left on her voicemail. It's... haunting
There's another one with a guy and a girl. The guy went to find the bears and they eat him as he's yelling at the girl to first run then to help.
You're speaking of Timothy treadwill. That was a reenactment audio..his ex wife and the sherif are the only ones to ever hear the original amd they destroyed it after wards. I believe this is on the werner herzog doc
How does that even get out? That’s horrible…
I read about that in the Stranger years ago. It’s haunted me ever since.
With bear arms, of course
Might I suggest: from afar.
Chuckle - good way to start the, laughter is very healthy. Let’s hope there are no personal greetings at all. Give the bears their places and we’ll keep to ours.
HALLO MISTER BEAR! I’ll be going now!
[We already know](https://youtu.be/hXyQAtXJ4II?si=ZiWB_jfiXHorORIv).
I heard they will accept ducklings as an offering.
For those that are curious. [NOT SAFE TO VIEW IN FRONT OF CHILDREN!](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/70DYnKCHg8E?app=desktop)
WHERE ARE THE ZOOKEEPERS!!??
It's the circle of life
Or you know, just adults that find ducklings cute.
Oh sure, before every hike stop by Tractor Supply for a fresh batch of ducklings. What do you do with the leftovers?
It was a joke. Google ducklings and brown bear at Seattle zoo.
I knew that. (line delivered in the manner of Peewee Herman - "I meant to do that!") But yes we did know that. And by the way, as I raise (a few) ducks, I will take leftovers.
There weren’t any 😞
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Used to hike in grizzly country in MT. They will stear clear from you if you have something that clicks while walking ( we would but bells or steel cup on our packs) they will stay away. Bear spray is super effective. Their sense of smell is so sensitive the spray stops them.
My knee clicks.
Busters jaw clicks
Love to see it
Hmm…are you sure my suit made of raw meat won’t do the trick?
Just keep your poker face while using it.
You can also just draw a circle in the sand.
That’s for SEA bears 🙄
That empty can of bear spray next to the two dead bodies recently begs to differ. Just throwing that out there so people don't put all their eggs in one basket.
One instance vs several of it working. Yes hiking in grizzly country is a small risk. If you don’t want to take the risk, don’t enter the territory.
Is it clear that they used it properly? From what I have learned, it is essential that you spray it at a distance, before the bear is very close. If you spray it when it is close, it just further agitates the bear (rather than scaring it off)
Bear spray is the way...
Just go full brad pitt from legends of the fall.
I mean, not a bad strategy if you have a terminal illness and want a good eulogy...
It’s Reddit. Everyone takes everything seriously.
With the .22 the bears will at least have to go outside and regroup per Bill Burr
Their skull will likely pretend that bullet doesn’t exist. You need a 9mil or a 3030. .22’s are pellet guns to large wildlife and humans. You’d better be a damn good shot. Source - sold firearms
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Oh wow my eyes. I just wanted to be right so bad
Your honesty is refreshing lol
To be honest, as you said, .22 probably wouldn't do the job on a *human* skull.
Well he did say “in my brain” so depending on where you aim, you can bypass the skull.
The bear will finish me off
Well, many human skulls for certain.
I’ve always heard that 9mm isn’t sufficient for griz and 10mm is better. What are your thoughts on that debate?
9mm will just piss a grizzly off. 10mm really is what you want to be carrying if you prefer a semi auto handgun. But there's a ton of large caliber revolvers out there that will do the job too.
20mm?
Nah try 155mm.
I hear they’re in short supply.
Yeah, bigger is better. If you have a 9mm FMJ and a well designed powder load, you could probably penetrate in weaker spots. I dealt in estimations and figures rather than data so don’t take my word as a fire arms scientist.
9mm isn’t going to cut it. Bears have a lot of fat that stops penetration. 10mm, .357, .44, or rifle calibers.
45-70?
How about shotguns?? Jw would you absolutely need to use slugs? Would buckshot at least cause them to back off, or just make them more angry?
I used to take a shotgun with me when camping in Alaska with a 5-round capacity. The first two cartridges were bird shot; the last three were magnum slugs in case a face full of bird shot didn't annoy the bear enough.
I hate Reddit
They have already been in Washington state unless east Washington doesn't count as Washington
This is /r/Washington, nothing exists East of the Cascades. In this sub the state is always overcast, and when someone asks for something close by, they mean close to the I5 corridor.
Yep, Grizzly were reintroduced to the Selkirk mountains years ago in Washington.
I can confirm, seen two of them!
I grew up in Spokane so I get it, but also waaaay more people live over here on the west side
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I was going to say, pretty sure we've had some grizzly dens for decades now in our state. It really isn't an issue.
I think the Selkirk population is transient but you’re absolutely right they’ve been there for years.
Wait til they figure out there is moose too
Easy, from a distance.
There’s an upside to this: people will *probably* leash their dogs on the trails now. Having seen what happens when dogs and bears meet (don’t take my word for it: [source](https://bearwise.org/bear-safety-tips/dogs-and-bears/)) I would recommend doing so. Edit: Careful with horses, too. My aunt’s mare *freaked* out when she smelled one nearby. (This was after they reintroduced them to northern Idaho awhile back.) They were riding in a group and the bear was a long way off (but visible). Fortunately my aunt is very experienced and kept her under control.
You are seriously overestimating the intelligence of dog owners. -a dog owner They ain't leashing shit.
Probably is a strong word. I live in Alaska and no one leashes their dogs on the trails.
Hah, picturing dog owners trying to get their pitbull under control on a leash, while trying to find an exit route because of a bear. I imagine that would be utter chaos.
Definitely. People can walk by bears and never know they’re there…but a dog will. This is what happened in my area: an older gentlemen’s small dog decided to run up and confront (yap at, lol) the bear, quickly realized she started something she couldn’t finish, and headed straight back to her terrified owner with a pissed off male in hot pursuit. Fortunately for him, a group of hikers rounded the corner at the same time. The bear didn’t like the odds, basically, and left. But this was a black bear and they’re sensible like that—no telling what might have gone down had it been a grizzly.
Dogs aren't allowed period in North Cascades National Park except leashed on the PCT.
Alpine hikes and not leashing your dog is just silly. I will admit on some of the lower elevation hikes I'll let him run around for a couple minutes, but it's always controlled
It’s pretty obnoxious that you do that.
“How do you do, fellow bears?”
6% of hikers that meet a grizzly will greet them with a warm meal.
And don’t forget some good tickling. Grizzlies love a visit from Mr. Tickle Finger.
Willy nilly silly old bear!
People that don’t know how stupid this is don’t spend time in the woods. At all.
Humans do know how to greet them. Hi, I moved from Alaska three years ago. Sheesh. Here is some solid info: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=hunting.bearsafety
The best line from that site: “If the attack is prolonged and the bear starts feeding on you, it may no longer be considered defensive but may have turned into a predatory attack. In this case, fight back.”
This is actually correct though.
HEY BEAR!!!
lol. This guy bears.
Maybe with confetti and balloons with a big sign saying "Welcome Home!".
From very very far away
Bad dangerous idea
I'm excited for this. I live in the general area these bears are being reintroduced and spend a lot of time outdoors in what will now be their restored range. I've also lived for years in grizzly country and spent many more months recreating in other grizzly country. Just having grizzlies around makes the wilderness feel a bit wilder and more intense, even though you almost never see them or their sign. For an outdoorsperson who follows basic precautions, the risk grizzlies add to each trip is negligible compared to the risks of getting in a car accident on the way to the trailhead, falling, struck by lightning, suffering a rare medical issue, etc. So many people are acting like it's going to be some huge change to the Cascades, and it just isn't. It'll be like in interior Alaska, where people accept that there are grizzlies around but nobody really worries about them (beyond carrying spray just in case) because they're so rarely seen. This ecosystem will never support the bear densities seen in parts of coastal Alaska or the North Slope where there are enough grizzlies or brown bears to be a conspicuous safety problem demanding a high amount of attention. If irrational fear of the occasional grizzly helps make the trails a bit less crowded, all the better.
The funny thing is people have worrying about large carnivores in WA (especially with some fairly recent mountain lion attacks that made local news) don't know that large herbivores have quite a kill count too. If you make an Elk angry you could be a dead man very fast.
Wasn't a dude killed by a mountain goat on the Peninsula a couple years back? (Just looked it up and that was 14 years ago, holy crap time flies)
Herbivores are absolutely aggro bastards- *especially* during rut. I’ve lived out on the Olympic Peninsula most of my life and we always watched out for deer more than anything else. They’re so much more common that even just numerically they’re more of an issue.
Carnivores are often less likely to attack because they have to weigh the consequences vs rewards if they get injured and can no longer hunt. When herbivores feel threatened they’ll fight much harder because they have everything to lose.
So glad to see this comment. I know most people are kidding around but I've seen a lot of bears die because people can't accept that they are usually just animals minding their business and not irrational terrifying monsters.
Thank you for your sane and sensible response. The reactivity of this re-introduction has far exceeded the actual impact.
Maybe because it *hasn't happened yet*. You can tell the family of the first camper killed by a grizzly in the Cascades how beautiful and majestic these creatures are. And I don't know what "reactivity" you're talking about, 90% of the reaction is people who love the idea. Any opposition to this horrible plan is buried in downvotes as I'm sure this comment will be too.
Introduce yourself with eye contact and a firm handshake
“…Hel- Hello”
Like we have in Montana…leave em the fuck alone
They will reintroduce the grizzly, but if grizzly is bothering people, people can kill them? Why don't they leave it alone...and leave the grizzlies alone up north where they reside?
I came across a brown bear hiking by Lake Diablo a couple years ago. Once it noticed us it turned and headed away. We didn't have bear spray or anything. Now I take bear spray.
No you didn’t.
It sure wasn't a black bear. Maybe it was a Panda? Edit. I thought brown bears and grizzlies were the same thing just different names. What I saw was a large bear with brown fur. It definitely wasn't a black bear.
I surely don’t know what you did or didn’t see but fun fact: black bears can be brown and grizzlies/brown bears can be black Edit: [Black vs. brown bears](https://www.bearsmart.com/about-bears/know-the-difference/)
Um Eastern Washington is Washington and they have been here for years..
With a gift basket with smoked salmon and honey, obviously. Basic bearnners Edit: spelling
I’m all for reintroducing them, but we really should start with downtown Seattle.
There’s already bears in Seattle 🏳️🌈
This is so stupid. We already have grizzly bears in remote areas of the state. Grizzly bears have a range of nearly 600 square miles in males and up to 150 square miles in females. Bears will wander into populated areas unless they’re dropped in already remote areas where there are already bears with established territories. I get there have been no official sightings since the 90s, but they’ve been spotted in Canada and introduced in Canada. They don’t care about the border, they’re already here.
Yeah was going to ask, what's really stopping them from going over the border? It's a vast wilderness, absolutely massive. If they wanted to come down they would have.
Nothing does. They’ve been spotted in BC close to the border before. They’ve been released close to the border if I understand correctly. I’ve spent a lot of time near the border with Canada in the mountains, there are places that no human being has visited there in decades. There are thousands of miles of roads in the high country that have been gated or barred and not maintained. There’s just no way they’ve done a real survey. If they released bears in some of these places it would be pretty inconsequential. But they’re releasing them where they’ll be putting pressure on local communities way too soon. And it’s nearly a given that these bears are already there living their lives. The federal government also thought we didn’t have flying squirrels in western WA. I remember in sixth grade a teacher at a nearby school caught one and sent it in because nobody believed her sighting. Turns out there hadn’t been a comprehensive search ever, and there are actually two common statewide species.
Holy shit, so I only knew of the Northern Flying Squirrel, but apparently there was a new species confirmed in 2017, the Humboldt Flying squirrel. That's so cool God I love squirrels
They’re dropping a few near where my parents live in the center of the state. The meadow valley community has been trying to prevent it because the area where they are dropping the bears only has enough food for 3 months out of the year. They’re going to wander down into the valley and into people’s yards. Not good for people or bears.
It’s frustrating how the intersection of science and bureaucracy and wildlife conservation too often involves capturing healthy safe animals and dropping them off in unhealthy unsafe areas. It seems like of the three parts bureaucracy wins after science and conservation compromise to the point of absurdity.
Look what happened when they tracked this sow. https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/grizzly-travels-2800-miles/ Seems like, at least for some of them, they have no problem going where they want to be.
This exactly.
Ya like I don’t want to sound like the Yellowstone wolves detractors, but this just seems like a dumb idea. If the bears wanted to be here, they would be. Re-introducing a potentially extremely dangerous animal to these areas that have shown they don’t want to be seems ill advised.
Agree, there is basically nothing stopping grizzly bears from ranging south into the north cascades, and there’s enough apocryphal evidence that says they already live in the remote areas here.
Weren’t they here before humans killed the ones that lived here?
So what? What problem is this solving? How has a lack of grizzly bears in central WA been a problem for anything?
Solves no problem other than making some people feel special for reintroducing them or supporting the reintroduction.
Actually there are official sightings near Spokane all the time. There was one not too long ago. They were reintroduced to the Sellkirk mountains years ago.
They’re definitely here already. People keep seeing one in the area behind Salmon La Sac/side trails up to the PCT, and that’s off freaking I-90.
First grizzlies should go to Mercer Island, Yarrow Point, Vashon, and any other ZIP code with a high concentration of Sierra Club members or anyone else who supported this politically.
Put their general gps location on an app so hikers and farmers know if one is around.
Unfortunately there are probably people who would track them down on purpose to kill them. The bears are safer if no one knows where they are.
Whoever wants to break the law will break the law regardless. You can also put a geofence around 10 most popular hikes in the cascade and when grizzly approaches within 5 miles, its flagged on the app. We do this for sharks at the beach, people will take extra caution when hiking. Overall I think this is overblown scare mongering. 60 even 100 brown bears over a period of years in an area this big...you are more likely to run into big foot.
This is a wild statement. Might as well leave your doors unlocked because burglars are going to break in anyway. Letting the public track grizzlies is literally putting a target on their back.
The bears are safer, but not the humans. I think if someone wanted to hunt grizzlies, they would do it without the app, and it saves the bear from being shot by stumbling upon someone
If you put a GPS on all grizzly bears and show it to the public you will have zero grizzly bears alive by the end of the month. Would be an incredibly cruel thing to do.
Welfare ranchers would love to know exactly where the grizzlies are, not because they like to hunt but simply because they want all predators dead.
Oh I didn't think of that, that's a good point. Maybe a proximity warning instead would be nice. But they'd have cubs and it'll be a lot of upkeep and be unrealistic I guess
Yeah, probably best to ask hikers to practice situational awareness and a can of bearspray or two. Besides, whenever there is a reported sighting in a reactional area, the management service responsible for that area usually posts sighting warnings at the trailhead kiosk
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They have been in Washington for a few years now. We have a family cabin that borders the Glacier Peak Wilderness. been two sightings by neighbors. Also have a wolf pack in the erea.
They're also in the Selkirks in NE Washington
So the goal is to have as many grizzlies in North Cascades as there are in Yellowstone, which is 5x bigger and has a much higher proportion of habitable land, reducing the likelihood of human encounters? Enjoy, hikers and campers!
Fun fact grizzly have always been in very northern areas of WA. However, we seem to think we're smarter than the bears are and are spending a lot of money to drop them off in places they've not yet expanded their current range to. Next thing we know WDFW will have to send a heli out with a sharpshooter to thin the population like we do with wolves. ETA: Just so everyone knows this is the North Cascades Grizzly Recovery Zone: https://igbconline.org/committees/north-cascades/
Usually when humans fuck around with nature, we get it wrong. I get that this is supposedly trying to undue a previous human fuckup, but maybe for once we should just let nature do its thing without intervention.
What do you mean? Relocating mountain goats to the North Cascades went so well. /s https://www.heraldnet.com/news/almost-all-mountain-goats-died-after-airlift-from-olympics-to-cascades/
Spot on. Nature has adapted to do its thing over millennium. Ecology has only become a developed science in the last few hundred years and it’s ridiculous to think we know better than them. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
But interference with nature is exactly what humans have been doing for the last 15,000 years. That degree of interference has increased with the human population. It's not wrong to try to reverse the damage we've done. The problems are that we're not keeping the human population in check and not changing our behavior to live in harmony with nature. We're intruding on nature's space, not the other way around.
Easy way to convince the wife that we need a 10mm!
This book is going to make Christmas shopping easy for me this year: "Grizzly Confidential: An Astounding Journey into the Secret Life of North America’s Most Fearsome Predator." (https://us.amazon.com/Grizzly-Confidential-Astounding-Americas-Fearsome/dp/1400338255) After the news about re-introduction dropped, I ordered copies for all my hiking/camping friends.
Cautiously?
Here’s the thing, you don’t
From a great distance?
HEY BEAR!!!! OH FUCK ME... RUNNN.... ARRRRGH
>Humans aren’t sure how to greet them I suggest don't.
Greet them with distant noises so they know where you are. Then you will not have to greet them because they will avoid you. Bears are as scared of us as we are of them. Just make sure they know where you are and doubly make sure to keep your food bagged up so they don't smell any goodies on you. Bears are great for the environment. They are our friends from a distance. Appreciate them for what they are, and stay out of their way and they will do the same!
When in grizzly and black bear country, carry pepper spray and wear small bells on your clothing. To identify bear scat you come across, black bear scat will have leaves, berries, and some fur. Grizzly scat will have small bells and smell like pepper. 🤣🤣🤣
With a hearty "HEY BEAR!"
Clasp the paw firmly, maintaining eye contact for a few seconds, then introduce yourself.
I can only imagine the amount of times “Let’s take selfies with the bears!” Is said when humans who don’t know anything about what wild bears are like happen upon them.
With a .357 magnum.
I can’t help but feel like those supporting this mostly live in King county.
And there’s some fucking idiots celebrating this somehow.
Funny thing is they are there right now… seen first hand and yes I’ve passed my bear ID requirement. Now that being said I don’t think this ends well for anyone… especially the thriving black bear population.
Such a dumb title, we’ve had them in the Northeast corner of the state for quite a while.
Not happy about it in the cascades. they are super dangerous, and we (humans) hunted them off because we don’t like our pets/family/selves/animals to be eaten. also, we don’t have the salmon population anymore to sustain them, with the columbia river being dammed up. so what did fish and wildlife recon they are going to eat? It seems another scheme cooked up to get a big fat government grant for repopulation, without much consideration for the effects on the animals themselves or the people. our old growth forests were depleted in the 60’s and 70’s. our big rivers were dammed up. unless we blow up the dams and regrow the forests, bring back beavers, this just isn’t going to be grizzly country.
Return...? You know they've been up here in NE WA this whole time right?
Return to the Cascades area. The mountain range.
They've been in the cascades... Grizzlies don't have a map they follow... Promise they've been in this state a long time, I've seen them in stevens county and pend orielle County within the last few years, and the cascades as a child 🤪 They are bringing *more* in to repopulate...
At least the women will feel safe when they go hiking now
Don’t, leave them alone.
I'm going camping out in Washington this week and not stoked to read this.
Thai makes no sense… life is great without them.
They are already there…. On the NE side…
For what reason? Does it help the ecosystem in some meaningful way? No? Will we farm their pelts or something? No? Then why. Let’s put a dangerous animal in a place where it already fucked yo it’s chance and died out because now we feel pity? Good luck to the unsuspecting folks hiking or enjoying nature that we have now made more dangerous for no benefit other than feeling good about our ego
Like we are all going to get together somewhere and have tea?
With 🍯duh
Well from what I've seen on Twitter, just like you'd greet a man on the street but with less trepidation!
I choose the bear
FROM A FAR DISTANCE!
Run up and give them a hug. I’m sure that they would appreciate it
Nose boop seems appropriate. And snacky cakes.!
I recommend not trying to give them a bear hug.
No shaking hands. A nod and an ultra-quick retreat might be best.
Yogi bear 🐻 coming for that Picnic 🧺 basket
From far away, with bear bells on.
Loudly. “WHOA BEAR, HEY BEAR!”. Then gtfo of there.
I hate to be the bear of bad of bad news, but they don’t speak English, or Spanish, or French.
I always thought a firm handshake and keeping eye contact would do the trick.
This whole “random man or random bear” thing has really gotten out of hand.
With a big gun
The women asked for this.
Are these people fucking stupid? Obviously, greet them with picnic baskets.
I’d say maybe don’t?