We’ve talked a lot lately about pepper spray and how to use it properly when you find yourself in a potentially dangerous situation thanks to a would be attacker. What do you do though when what you are afraid of isn’t a human confronting you in a parking garage where people can hear you scream for help, but rather an animal in the middle of the wilderness? Famed animal expert Jack Hanna knows from experience that the first thing you don’t want to do is run. Just last month Hanna and a few friends were hiking one of their favorite trails at Glacier National Park in Montana, when just as they rounded a turn they were confronted by a momma grizzly and her two yearlings.
After a few tense moments passed the mother grizzly and one of her cubs past the group, but the third bear became a little too curious for its own good. As Hanna recounts, “Yearlings are about 100 to 150 pounds. You cannot run from these animals. They run a football field in six seconds. I unloaded the first blast and the wind blew the damn pepper spray right away. He’s still coming, so I blast him again about 15 feet and he’s still [coming], ‘roar’, and he goes like that about 10 feet right in front of me. I had the pepper spray right in his face. I mean, I could just [have said] this is it for me. I just go ‘pssssh’ and unload the whole thing in his face. I waited so long for that first blast of pepper spray, because I didn’t want that yearling squealing for his mom, and the mom comes back and [says], ‘I’m going to kick somebody’s butt here. I didn’t want it to be my butt.” Like most things in life for every incident or accident there are lessons to be learned and the same is true in this case.
Before even leaving for the day’s hike you need to come prepared for any type of situation and that includes packing a can of bear spray. If you’ve ever seen firsthand how pepper spray affects someone, imagine how a bear will react given that the fact that their sense of smell is many times greater than ours. Pepper spray is different than bear spray in that is contains more of an ingredient called capsaicin which is found in most hot pepper plants. Bear sprays are required by law to have a higher concentration of capsaicin for obvious reasons.
If you have to use bear spray be ready to point, aim, and fire with accuracy. Whether we are talking bear spray or pepper spray you need to be able to hit what is charging towards you. Practice with the canister in advance and get a feel for not only how it sprays, but how far it sprays.
Last, but not least; Jack was continuously aware that the bear was advancing and how far it was away from him. He knew that in order to hit his target he had to be sure it was close enough so that the bear spray would be as effective as possible when he pulled the trigger. Along with knowing the distance of his attacker Jack also knew he had to give some consideration to which way the wind was blowing and if he could get a clean shot into the face of the bear.
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