Interesting Bear Attack - Post animal confrontations here

[White Warlock]

Both wild and domesticated animals pose a threat to man on occasion. Granted, man poses a larger threat to wild animals, but as we encroach on their habitats, instances of attacks increase. Combine this with the onslaught of television shows posing humans playing cat and mouse games with rhinos, and you realize that our society really just doesn't have a clue about what makes animals attack.

 

Martial arts practitioners generally focus on human-to-human confrontation, but i believe it is just as essential to study animal behavior and practice self-defense techniques against animals. Personally, i've been attacked by dogs on a few occasions, with one almost tearing my face off when i was a child, so i've come to respect the need to learn just how unpredictable and deadly those cute furry creatures can be.

 

And here's a recent bear attack that should serve as a wake-up call to some of you that have dismissed such things - http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/09/06/news/8ddd9eb362d3a35087256f06007bb837.txt

 

So, let's hear your encounter stories, animal self-defense training or similar.

 

edit: corrected link

Edited September 6, 2004 by White Warlock

[SoonerJohn]

I had a confrontation with a rottweiler.

 

It had a pup with it that was friendly and came running up to me. So I was petting it when momma came around the corner. The dog just immediately came running in to attack.

 

I kind of froze and kicked out at it. Being on grass I almost fell. Luckily I didn't and it backed off and snarled and snapped forward at me. It was a weird standoff. It would snarl and come in snapping. I would kick it and it would back off again. The pup was oblivious to this and was hanging out around me like nothing was happening, meanwhile momma and me where in mortal combat. I yelled and acted mean, but the dog would just keep coming in and attacking but never succeeding. I was continually backing up this whole time going to the door. Once I made it to the door I simply went inside.

 

I called the sherrif and was told they had no animal control officer and couldn't do anything. I was advised to shoot the dog but make sure it was dead or I could get animal cruelty charges against me. Ignoring that advice, I was able to lead the puppy into my back yard and the momma followed. I locked them in.

 

The owner came around later. (A pregnant woman) I kind of let her have it but in a nice way. Schools were out that day and the dogs could have come across a child first.

 

End of story.

[Kicks]

Like this?

 

http://www.wimsworld.com/~wbonner/Sig-n-Roy.gif

 

[Shorinryu Sensei]

That link took us to a wing chun link that, as far as I could tell anyway, had nothing to say about a bear attack. But then again, I'm on my 2nd glass of wine and a bag of microwave popcorn, so I could be wrong.

 

Anway, living in the middle of the Rockies, and loving to camp, I have had several bear encounbters, but nothing serious. Well, no more serious enough than to get my heart to pounding about 200 beats/minute I guess!

 

Twice with black/brown bears, and once with a grizzly, I've been bluff charged. that's where a bear will act like it's charging, advance quickly a few feet/yards, then stop. The black bears were around 200lbs I suppose, and the grizz was maybe 5-600 lbs..and if you've never experienced one of those, they are very intense situations. Black bears wil lseldom actually attack, but grizz...you just never know about those critters.

 

I've also had some run-ins with several dogs. One was when I was walking down to the local park to teach a karate class years ago and had many of my weapons (sai, tonfa, nunchauku, kama) in a backpack on my back. I wasn't carrying a bo or anything else in my hand. As I walked by houses, this one door opened and a big black mutt dog came runing out with the owner hot on it's heels yelling for it to come back. I turned, saw it and reached over my shoulder to my backpack where the hilt of my sai were protruding out the top of the pack. I grabbed one and just threw it at the dog as hard as I could. It landed about a foot in front of the dog and stuck up to the tines, and the dog came to a grinding halt, turned around and went back to its owner. Scared the hell out of me for a sec. The owner had the balls to bitch me out about trying to stab his dog with my big "knife"! lol You're damn lucky I missed buddy! I wasn't trying to!

 

Preobably the most dangerous encounter I've had with an animal was coming back from a short road trip on my cycle. I was cruising about 75mph just past the continental divide and came around a corner and here was a full growm female moose (no antlers) standing in the middle of the road! ARGH! I came to a screeching halt...flashed my lights and honked my horn at it, and it just stood there and looked at me like ..."Well..???" I was prepared to spin the bike and do a 180 and head back the way I came, as moose are very unpredictable and can be down right ornery sometimes. I revved my motor a bunch, and it wandered at it's own pace off the road. For those of you that haven't' seen a moose in the wild...they are about as big as a clydsdale horse, but skinnier legs, and bigger torso. And brother, they can have an attitude if they want to!

 

4 years ago, I hit a deer at night causing $3600 worth of damage to the front of my 4x4. When I stopped to check the damaged and grabbed my flashlight to check on the deer, it was lying in the middle of the lane I had been in, so I went to drag it off the road so nobody would hit the carcass and cause another accident, and the dang thing started kicking. Trust me people, a deer, if it connects with those hooves, can cause some pretty serious damage to you. I dragged if off the raod (took about 3 trys total), then got my .357 our of the truck and put it out of its misery. It's rear end was obviously broken up.

 

Do you want to hear about the birds that chased me? OK, I'll skip that one. Ah...the life of living in the mountains. Lots of wildlife around here.

[wing chun kuen man]

Kicks,

 

You have a dark sense of humor and I don´t.

 

 

Wing Chun Kuen Man

[White Warlock]

Corrected the link. Thanks SS.

[Shorinryu Sensei]

Corrected the link. Thanks SS.

 

Ahhhhh..much better.

 

The article didn't say, but there are various strength's of pepper spray on the market. Most commonly are 5% and 10% cayan (how do you spell that?) pepper. I worked for a summer in Glacier National Park, and the park rangers there carry 10%. If you can find it with a higher concentration...buy it! I'd be willing to bet the man in the article was using 5% or less. That "might" work on a man, but the bear would just use it for seasoning for his dinner.

 

How do you tell the differance between black bear scat (that's poo-poo for those of you back East ) and grizzly scat? Well, black bear scat is black and in tiny pellets and smells like berry's. Grizz scat is lighter in color, and smells like pepper.

[SoonerJohn]

"This time he just took me out -- drug me to the ground," he said. "I knew I was in trouble. I rotated and got on my chest."

 

I'm wondering if rotating to your chest is the best choice. Any comments?

 

I'm undecided on this. You may be in a better position to stand up and run, but I don't know if running is what you would want to do.

 

No chance of getting in guard with a bear, but at least you have your arms to offer up instead of the back of your head.

 

Personally, I'd have went for an armbar until the bear tapped out.

[White Warlock]

It's a tough call with a grizzly. Normally, the best choice would be to drop prone and not move. I.e., play dead. But, grizzlies tend to mess with the prone person for awhile before they move on. I would say the best choice would be to have rolled the bike at the bear and then fallen prone or run the opposite direction and up a tree. Hopefully the bike would have distracted him long enough for you to get up high enough on a tree*, or to have caused him to expend his energies on the bike before sniffing your prone body out.

 

Running from a bear isn't a good idea, since those suckers can move almost twice as fast as a man on a sprint. Being on your back is actually a bit worse than being on your stomach with a bear on top of you, as the bear will more likely go for your throat and face if you are facing him. However, if he's on top of you... you're in trouble for sure.

 

* And yes, i'm aware bears can climb trees, but they are not as effective in combat when you're kicking their nose as they attempt to climb. Also, they don't climb so well as they grow older and trees can't readily support them.

[Shorinryu Sensei]

Drawing from my experience of having lived, camped, hiked and worked in an area of the world where black bear and grizzly live in their natural habitat, the recommended procedure when you encounter a bear and are attacked is this.

 

1. Don't RUN! Running sparks a natural instinct in ANY animal (bear, dog, cat) to give chase. A black bear can run 30mph, and a grizz can run 35mph. Where you have to run around bushes, a bear can run through them. Also, unless you're a marathon runnner, a bear can run farther than you can, especialy on uneven ground. It is a common misbelief that you can outrun a bear if you run downhill. Not true!

 

2. Never look a bear directly in the eyes. Again, like a cat or dog, it is perceived as an open challenge to the animal and they may respond accordingly. Your BJJ isn't going to do you any good.

 

3. If a bear attacks you, your best option is to curl up into a tight fetal position with your arms protecting your head and your legs protecting your privates as best as possible. This is a submissive position to an animal, and they will see it as being non-aggressive and not a danger to them. Most often, the bear will sniff your privates, possible push you around some..and maybe even take a nip out of you to see what you will do, adn then walk away. Humans are not on the normal diet of a bear.

 

As the article mentioned, when out in the woods where a bear encounter is possible, your best defense is to make noise so a bear can hear you coming and get out of your way. Normally, bears are not aggressive towards humans and will avoid them if they can. The most dangerous situation is when you surprise a bear, especially if it is a sow with a cub. They are the most dangerous and unpredictable. Sing, play a radio, ring bells, talk loudly..whatever, but MAKE SOME NOISE while you hike.