True Stories of Bear Attacks: Who Survived and Why

by Mike Lapinski

Overview

Author and wildlife expert Mike Lapinski compiled this collection of true bear-encounter stories from throughout the western United States, British Columbia, and Alaska. Some have happy endings, some fatal; all are thrilling. But there's more to this book than a heart-pounding read. Think of these as campfire stories with a higher purpose. Mike strongly advocates the use of bear pepper spray for backpackers, rangers, anglers, hunters, photographers, anybody who hikes through bear country. Repelling and reconditioning bears saves lives, both human and bruin, he asserts.

In TRUE STORIES OF BEAR ATTACKS, Mike also shares insights into bear behavior, why they attack, how to protect yourself in bear country, and thoughts on the future of the great bear in the Lower 48. Organizations such as the U.S.D.A. Forest Service and the Center for Wildlife Information, National Bear Conservation, in Missoula, Montana, have expressed support for Mike's work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781513141923
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	05/01/2004
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Mike Lapinski is the author of eleven outdoor and nature books and hundreds of magazine articles. His photographs have appeared as inside and cover art in a variety of magazines and books. Mike is considered an expert on the use of bear pepper spray and often speaks on this subject, bears, and self-defense for nature lovers. He lives with his wife Aggie most of the year in Superior, Montana, close to grizzlies and grizzly country. While the bears are hibernating, Mike and Aggie live in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where Mike writes about jaguars, ocelots, and other wilderness animals of the Southwest.

Table of Contents

	Maps	4
	Preface	7
	Acknowledgments	12
Chapter 1	Bear Troubles	15
Chapter 2	Why Bears Attack	24
Chapter 3	How I Learned to Love Bear Pepper Spray	40
Chapter 4	The Remarkable Story of Bear-Deterrent Spray	52
Chapter 5	When Bear Pepper Spray Fails	74
Chapter 6	Tougher Than a Speeding Bullet	94
Chapter 7	Hunting Guides and Bears	111
Chapter 8	Bowhunters and Bears	123
Chapter 9	Photographers and Bears	138
Chapter 10	Recreationists and Bears	157
Chapter 11	Anglers and Bears	175
Chapter 12	Park Rangers and Bears	187
Chapter 13	Stopping Other Large Predators	203
Chapter 14	The Return of the Great Bear	212
	For More Information	222

Editorial Reviews

"It's like that in grizzly country. You can do a lot of things that, in retrospect, are mistakes. Like hiking along a brushy trail. No bear, no problem. Big bear, big problem. As a recognized self-defense expert who spends the majority of his time roaming large-predator habitat, l've come to realize that sooner or later it happens to everyone. Through no conscious fault of your own, you find yourself in a potentially dangerous situation. And when that happens all the cute statistics—like the one about how you are 380 times more likely to die from a bee sting than a bear bite—vaporize in the twenty yards that separate you from an animal twice as powerful pound-for-pound than any man and capable of tearing out huge chunks of your flesh with its powerful jaws."

From the Publisher