After bear charges hikers, N.H. expert has advice on how to share the outdoors

Several hiking parties reported encounters with a bear in the Lincoln Woods area this week, including a group that was charged at by the bear.

Andrew Timmins, Games Programs Supervisor at New Hampshire Fish and Game, said the group that witnessed the bear charging had a dog with them.

“I give them a lot of credit for having the dog leashed and under control. That’s what responsible hikers do,” Timmins said. “But the bluff charge was clearly due to the dog barking, and kind of intensifying the situation.”

Bears aren’t usually interested in interacting with humans, said Timmins. But hikers may encounter them along the edges of the forest canopy, where there may be more food for bears.

“Not a lot of sunlight comes through the forest canopy. As a result, on the understory of the forest there usually is not a lot of vegetation growing, so not a lot to eat,” said Timmins. “But when you get these breaks in the canopy like a hiking trail, those edges are getting increased sunlight, which creates more diversity in plant species.”

If hikers encounter a bear in the wild a safe distance away, the best thing to do is to wait for it to clear the area, said Timmins.

“You can just stand there kind of quietly and let the bear just move off in time, or you can make it aware of your presence with some normal noise,” said Timmins. “You know, it might be a ‘hey bear’ in a kind of low or moderate voice, or it might just be clanking hiking sticks together — just something to make it aware.”

In most cases, bears will run off on their own, Timmins said. But if a bear does approach a hiker on the trail, the key is to remain dominant but not aggressive. To do this, hikers should make eye contact with the bear, speak at a regular volume, and back away slowly.

“If a bear comes up close to you, or exhibits any bluff charges, not a lot changes,” said Timmins. “You still want to be putting distance between you and the animal. But at that point, you might raise your voice a little bit to try to scare the bear off.”

Timmins said carrying an air horn can be helpful for such occasions. He also recommended clanging hiking sticks, as bears tend not to like the sound of metal on metal.

Timmins also advises against throwing food at bears, as this teaches them to approach humans more often.

“What that does is it just teaches the bear that ‘Hey, there’s something to this, you know, when I make my presence known, a percentage of hikers toss granola bars off in the bushes for me,’” Timmins said. “That can start to build that behavior. It’s really kind of begging or panhandling behavior.”

Officials are taking steps to reach the bear in question to prevent further encounters with humans.

Timmins emphasized that bears are generally peaceful.

“There are bears and people sharing space on a daily basis . . . and the number of conflicts that come out of that are very low.” Timmins said. “The bears aren’t terrible animals. They belong in our forest, and we have just got to learn how to share the same areas for different purposes and coexist.”

This story is a production of the New England News Collaborative. It was originally published by New Hampshire Public Radio.