Mama Bear Charged My Daughter & My Dogs While Hiking Today

Lara

Lara

Friend of the Arts
Location
Mid-Atlantic Coast
While I was away exploring a mountain village and it's Pottery Studio by myself, my daughter decided to take my dogs Bella and Blu on a hike where I had once hiked with them and had taken a photo of my foot next to a huge bear print in the mud on the trail. However the print, though quite believable, looked to have too many toes so we both thought some prankster had done it since it was a public trail through the woods (photo below).

But no question, today was the real deal. Bella was off the leash. Blu was on. Both dogs were sniffing the trail and becoming excited but that's not unusual since Blu is a hound (beagle) and gets a scent from squirrels, other dogs, rabbits, etc.

Just then the full grown Black Bear came out of the bushes and saw my daughter and dogs. She saw Mama Bear coming out of the bushes and thinks she heard the babies in the bushes while she was quietly putting the leash on Bella and telling both dogs to be quiet. But when my daughter lifted her head up and looked directly at the Mama Bear...she charged my daughter and dogs.

She panicked and ran with the dogs away from the bear. The bear typically would have continued to charge since you're not suppose to run (and my daughter knew but just had panicked). But miraculously Mama Bear turned and went back to her cubs.

When she told me the story of what happened I cried grateful tears and then started in with advice like "don't ever go hiking again" lol. And telling her to always let me know where she's going because how would I have ever known their whereabouts if they were killed?? I didn't know they were even going on a hike. Then told her I thought we should alert the park ranger that there is a mama bear with cubs near the trail (hoping they could lure her to another location safely).

My daughter replied that people report bears all the time and they come into the town and get into the trash there. I was concerned with her complacency. I said at least get some bear spray. Does anyone else have any words of advice that I missed?

As I mentioned above, this photo was taken earlier by me and we thought a prankster
did it since it appears to have too many toes. But I suppose a bear could have
picked up his foot and placed it down again. I don't know.
IMG_7142.jpg
 

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I do not know enough about such a situation to give useful advice but will say wow ! I am glad your daughter and dogs made it out safe. I am sure mama bear is telling her kids not to wonder off where humans are !
 
Thank you. I'm still in disbelief but so very grateful. I told my daughter she's been given a second chance at life. I couldn't believe she was able to get Bella and attach the leash in time for all to be able to escape. But knowing Bella, she would have made friends with the Mama and all her cubs. I wonder if Mama Bear is used to people on that trail and therefore didn't feel all that threatened. But did enough to charge.
 
Lara said:
While I was away exploring a mountain village and it's Pottery Studio by myself, my daughter decided to take my dogs Bella and Blu on a hike where I had once hiked with them and had taken a photo of my foot next to a huge bear print in the mud on the trail. However the print, though quite believable, looked to have too many toes so we both thought some prankster had done it since it was a public trail through the woods (photo below).

But no question, today was the real deal. Bella was off the leash. Blu was on. Both dogs were sniffing the trail and becoming excited but that's not unusual since Blu is a hound (beagle) and gets a scent from squirrels, other dogs, rabbits, etc.

Just then the full grown Black Bear came out of the bushes and saw my daughter and dogs. She saw Mama Bear coming out of the bushes and thinks she heard the babies in the bushes while she was quietly putting the leash on Bella and telling both dogs to be quiet. But when my daughter lifted her head up and looked directly at the Mama Bear...she charged my daughter and dogs.

She panicked and ran with the dogs away from the bear. The bear typically would have continued to charge since you're not suppose to run (and my daughter knew but just had panicked). But miraculously Mama Bear turned and went back to her cubs.

When she told me the story of what happened I cried grateful tears and then started in with advice like "don't ever go hiking again" lol. And telling her to always let me know where she's going because how would I have ever known their whereabouts if they were killed?? I didn't know they were even going on a hike. Then told her I thought we should alert the park ranger that there is a mama bear with cubs near the trail (hoping they could lure her to another location safely).

My daughter replied that people report bears all the time and they come into the town and get into the trash there. I was concerned with her complacency. I said at least get some bear spray. Does anyone else have any words of advice that I missed?

As I mentioned above, this photo was taken earlier by me and we thought a prankster
did it since it appears to have too many toes. But I suppose a bear could have
picked up his foot and placed it down again. I don't know.
View attachment 237326
Click to expand...
Close call there! Thank goodness your daughter and the dogs were able to get away without being chased by the mother bear. All of us who venture outdoors have to be aware of the wildlife, and it's always a good practice to keep our dogs on lead, although many times we let them roam and hope for the best. Hugs to your daughter and the pups, glad they're okay. 🧡
 
It appears to me that bear just walked over an old track. Perhaps it's a trail they all frequent. Black bears have only 5 toes on each foot.

I'm glad your daughter and the dogs are safe. They were very fortunate mama bear didn't contnue after them since they are very protective of their cubs.
 
Lara said:
Does anyone else have any words of advice that I missed?
Click to expand...
The tracks look pretty legit
Haven't seen tracks in mud for awhile
Plenty in pumice, but not so defined

As for hounds on a leash
I'd have let 'em go
Hounds have a way with bear
They go after the tail
A very sensitive part of the animal

But.....mamma bear with cubs? All bets are off

Glad it turned out OK
 
That was close. TG Mama bear changed her tactics.

Your Fish & Wildlife people should be notified just so they’ll put up signs to warn others. Contrary to rumour, folks that work for these agencies love animals and want to keep them and you safe.

If you’re going to be in this area again, bear spray & keep the dogs on leash are good ideas.
 
I'm happy your daughter and pups are safe. Around here if anyone reports a bear, the cops or the animal control kill them. A few years ago a couple of blocks from here 5 bears were killed because people had been feeding them then stopped. Everyone was very unhappy about that. We mostly leave the bears alone when they wander around, this area was theirs before people moved in.
 
Good advice Jules and many others. Thank you. I'm still shaken a bit. My daughter is asleep in bed while I'm out here wondering if I should make myself a girly drink lol. My son-in-law made me a Vanilla Crown Royal with Irish Cream in it at Christmastime. It was like desert. Sounds like that should do it 😉
 
"Just a good single malt
no ice"

"cheers"
iu
 
I'm struggling with whether to report this. When my daughter looked up and starred at the bear it was a trigger but the bear didn't hurt my daughter and was just being a good Mama by scaring her and the dogs off, especially the beagle.

But if I say the bear "charged" my daughter then I'm afraid they may have a protocol to follow where "charging" would be considered "aggression" and have to put Mama Bear down.

We definitely don't want that. But at the same time, I want everyone safe to walk that trail. What should I do? I'm thinking of reporting that the bear is there but leaving out the issue that the bear "charged".
 
When I lived in North Florida we had lots of bears, in our yard at least once a week. They were black bears and not aggressive, dogs could pretty easily chase them off. However with the cubs its probably a different story. Where were you, I assume these were black bears, if they were grizzlies they would have been more dangerous.

One good piece of advice is to make a lot of noise when you are in bear country, nothing more dangerous than surprising one.

This video was taken just a few hundred feet from our house. We were not home when it happened, but knew the bear well.
 
Lara said:
I'm struggling with whether to report this. When my daughter looked up and starred at the bear it was a trigger but the bear didn't hurt my daughter and was just being a good Mama by scaring her and the dogs off, especially the beagle.

But if I say the bear "charged" my daughter then I'm afraid they may have a protocol to follow where "charging" would be considered "aggression" and have to put Mama Bear down.

We definitely don't want that. But at the same time, I want everyone safe to walk that trail. What should I do? I'm thinking of reporting that the bear is there but leaving out the issue that the bear "charged".
Click to expand...
I'd report it, let the officials sort out what should be done.
 
mrstime said:
Around here if anyone reports a bear, the cops or the animal control kill them. A few years ago a couple of blocks from here 5 bears were killed because people had been feeding them then stopped
Click to expand...
Nonsense. The Conservation Officers don’t even know about the bears unless they’ve been reported as a problem. Just seeing a bear isn’t a problem, even in a town. The people that fed the bears and quit, killed them. A fed bear is a dead bear.

Lara, I’d definitely report the sighting, especially since it was a mother and her cubs.
 
Lara said:
But if I say the bear "charged" my daughter then I'm afraid they may have a protocol to follow where "charging" would be considered "aggression" and have to put Mama Bear down.
Click to expand...
I can understand your concern, however in many places black bears are now over populated. I am assuming these are black bears, if it's in the "Mid-Atlantic" they have to be.

Black bears no longer have natural predators and hunting was banned 50 years ago or so in many eastern states out of concern over low populations. In some places this has resulted in substantial population growth. I know it was the case where I used to live in North Florida.

Result is a growing need to control populations. This is done in some places by reinstituting hunting, Florida did that about 5 years ago. Selecting the more aggressive ones for destruction can make some sense. Relocation rarely works. The relocation part of the story in the video I posted above is not true.

Black bear attacks on humans are quite rare, but do occasionally happen. To quote Wikipedia:

Although an adult bear is quite capable of killing a human, American black bears typically avoid confronting humans. Unlike grizzly bears, which became a subject of fearsome legend among the European settlers of North America, black bears were rarely considered overly dangerous, even though they lived in areas where the pioneers had settled.

American black bears rarely attack when confronted by humans and usually only make mock charges, emit blowing noises and swat the ground with their forepaws. The number of attacks on humans is higher than those by brown bears in North America, but this is largely because black bears considerably outnumber brown bears. Compared to brown bear attacks, aggressive encounters with American black bears rarely lead to serious injury. Most American black bear attacks tend to be motivated by hunger rather than territoriality and thus victims have a higher probability of surviving by fighting back rather than submitting. Unlike female brown bears, female American black bears are not as protective of their cubs and rarely attack humans in the vicinity of the cubs. However, occasionally such attacks do occur.
...
Attempts to relocate American black bears are typically unsuccessful, as the bears seem able to return to their home range, even without familiar landscape cues.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_black_bear#Relationships_with_humans
 
This is all good information from everyone...thank you. My daughter weighed in this morning as to whether or not to report it at all. I asked her how she was doing after the trauma of yesterday. She said she's fine and doesn't want to talk about it which she said might bring her down. I said okay but we have to address what to do about reporting it.

Her speech quickened a little and upped an octave and made it quite clear that "there are bears all over the place here and everyone respects them and their territory...you do what you want but I'm not going to be a part of it".

We were silent for a bit while I was thinking. Then I stepped into her realm of peace and love and said, "Well if I report this then the authorities are likely going to want you to show them exactly where the trail is since it's not named nor marked so they can put up some signage...and so you will end up involved".

She politely said, "Look, I'm going to enjoy my coffee and I don't want to talk about it".

I think I might first call or visit the authorities in an anonymous kind of way (if that's possible in this day and age of no privacy) and just ask them what the protocol is for scenarios like this.
 


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