I’ve always said, if I were to be attacked by a bear, I’d rather it be a grizzly than a black bear. Depending on the situation, many grizzlies attack because they perceive you as a threat. Which is why playing dead can work with a grizzly. If the threat is gone, they’ll most likely walk away. If a black bear attacks you, you’re dinner.
A few days ago, I witnessed some typical grizzly bear behavior. We had let four cubs of the year into a several acre pen. It was their first time out. Their first time on soil. Their first time on grass. And their first time to come in contact with a high-voltage electric wire.
Most bears that come in contact with the electric wire get zapped once and never get close to the wire again. So when one bear sniffed the wire, got zapped and ran away, we all thought, great. It’s learning.
And then it proved us wrong.
Although he was only 150 pounds and not even a year old, he wasn’t going to be defeated by a wire. He approached and sniffed it again. Had the wire played dead and not zapped baby bear, baby bear probably would have left the wire alone, but the wire zapped him. And baby bear got pissed. It attacked the wire with its open mouth. Zap! Attack. Zap! Attack. Zap! Attack. Zap! When all was said and done, the wire finally defeated baby bear.
But the moral of the story is this: Unless you know you can defeat the grizzly, best not to antagonize it.
