Nick Auger: Okay, so I think I should start the story with noting that I have a very, what I would consider healthy fear of bears.
Katrina Schwartz: This is Nick Auger, my husband. This story starts on a backpacking trip we went on in Lassen National Park several years ago.
Nick Auger: We are on our last night and we’re camping on a peninsula next to a lake where unfortunately there are not a lot of tall trees for us to string our backpacks up into.
Katrina Schwartz: At the time, Lassen didn’t require bear canisters, but recommended bear bagging. We tried, I swear…
Nick Auger: At about 4:30 in the morning, I hear the unmistakable sound of a large animal gnawing on something relatively nearby. And I unzip our tent and look outside, and where our bags were, there are no bags. And instead, I see on the ground a large bear rummaging through and clearly eating our food.
Katrina Schwartz: I wake up to Nick shaking me and saying, there’s a bear out there eating our food. That’s when I remembered that I’d forgotten to take a Clif Bar out of my jacket pocket. What if the bear smelled it and came searching for us? Nick was…shall we say…not pleased with me.
Nick Auger: So, I get out of the tent and I start just making as much noise as I can. And the bear is probably 100 feet away. And the bear does not respond to my noises. So I get the sleeping pad out from the tent and start shaking it above my head and continue to make loud noises at the bear, which they continue to ignore.
Katrina Schwartz: Nick keeps getting closer to the bear — yelling and waving the pad above his head like a maniac. But that bear did not care.
Nick Auger: I get within about 25 feet of the bear and it finally acknowledges me. And we kind of just stare at each other and I just take one more hard lunge forward and the bear starts to scamper off.
Katrina Schwartz: But then it kind of looks back at him, as if to say, “Is that all?”
Nick Auger: And I did not wanna deal with the bear anymore. So I continued to chase it down the peninsula until I was convinced that it had scurried away for good. And then returned to my bag and what was left of our food. Notably the only thing that the bear had left was the wasabi flavored trail mix from Berkeley Bowl that apparently was not to the bear’s liking.
Katrina Schwartz in tape: And notably, I did not get out of the tent.
Nick Auger: No you did not. You were cheering me on from inside the tent.
Katrina Schwartz: If you like to camp, or you’ve visited places like Yosemite or Tahoe, you too may have a harrowing bear story. They’re becoming more common, but they don’t have to end badly. Today on the show, we’re talking practical advice about what to do when you encounter wild animals like bears, mountain lions or even seals. Stay with us.
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Katrina Schwartz: Fall in the Bay Area is some of our best weather. The days are still long, the sun is out and in other parts of the state it’s not quite so hot, so it’s perfect for sneaking in some late season camping and hiking.
Here to help us think through how to stay safe out there while we’re enjoying the outdoors are two folks from KQED’s Audience News desk Carly Severn and Sarah Wright. Welcome!
Carly Severn: Hello, Katrina.
Sarah Wright: Hello.
Katrina Schwartz: So good to have you both. Ok, so I know you both like to spend time in the outdoors…which means you’ve likely got a bear story. Give it to me.
Carly Severn: OK, I’m going to start. The short version? Last year, me and a pal went camping on Emerald Bay in Tahoe, not knowing this is basically the campground that you are guaranteed to see a bear in. Lo and behold we are woken up in the middle of the night by pots and pans banging from other campsites where people are yelling “bear, bear” and the sounds are getting closer and closer as this bear moves through the site towards us. The bear loudly stomps past our tents, and in the morning we get up to see that it has swiped the empty tupperware we’d left out off the picnic table, cracking the lid, and there are these huge footprints right near our tent. So, it was super scary, also kind of exciting, and it is basically my origin story for my quest for bear knowledge.
Katrina Schwartz: Sarah, what about you?
Sarah Wright: Growing up in Lake Tahoe, bears were kind of a constant concern, we talked about them a lot and saw them a lot. But the biggest deal was when a bear once broke into my high school and caused a lockdown. And one other time, when I was super new to driving as a teenager, a bear broke into my car. It was looking for a single candy bar wrapper I’d left in my car.
Katrina Schwartz: Carly, your story is exactly the type of thing we want to help people avoid both because it’s scary… and it’s also not great for bears to be interacting with humans so much as well. Carly, I know bears are a particular obsession of yours. Why is it especially important to be on guard in the fall?
Carly Severn: In a nutshell, fall is the greedy season for bears! They know they’re going into winter hibernation soon, so they become eating machines. They want to store up as many food reserves within their bodies as they can. The scientific term is “hyperphagia” … and if you’re familiar with Fat Bear Week in Katmai National Park in Alaska, that’s why that happens in the fall. That’s why the timing. In a place like Tahoe, where bear territory and human activity now overlap so much with tourism like camping there’s tons of food around for bears: in campsites, in dumpsters, it’s in your car. So not only are Tahoe bears extra bold and persistent, cuz they know the food is there, the winter tourism up there is unfortunately actually preventing a lot of bears from even entering hibernation. They know food is gonna be available all year round, why would they sleep?
Katrina Schwartz: Does that mean that they are more dangerous?
Carly Severn: Except in rare cases, we are not talking about aggressive bears who’ll mow you down to get to your food. We’re talking California black bears. These are not grizzlies. They don’t want to hurt you, they actually don’t really care about you, they just want your snacks! It’s why some people refer to them as big possums.
Katrina Schwartz: Hard to imagine, really, but OK! So, let’s say I see a bear in my campsite. What should I do?
Carly Severn: Well, the idea is that by the time you see the bear, you’ve already done the responsible, smart camper thing of securing all your food away – actually anything that smells, even dish soap, toiletries, lip balm. This means you’re constantly storing that smelly stuff in the bear-proof box in your campsite: not in your car, because a bear will break into your vehicle and trash it just to find a single strawberry that you’ve left out. And don’t put it in “bear proof cooler” either, because as any park ranger will tell you, they don’t actually exist. And they’ve seen enough absolutely destroyed “bear proof coolers” in campgrounds to prove it! Don’t leave an empty cooler out in camp or in your car, either: bears can recognize them and they’ll still go after them. So they think there’s something in there, even though there’s not. And this surprised me, don’t leave beer cans out, or wine bottles, or one can of Lacroix: Nothing but plain water or ice. If you’re actively cooking, have everything neatly gathered so that if you see that bear kind of amble into your camp, you can calmly pick it all up and lock it in the bear box.
Katrina Schwartz: I feel like that would be hard for me. I’m one of those campers whose stuff seems to just get everywhere. But what if I do everything right with my food and the bear still comes into my camp looking for it?
Carly Severn: This might not be on you! Bears can have a super sharp memory of places where they’ve found food in the past, and will return to them just in case. So maybe the people who stayed in your campsite a month ago just sucked as campers, and left all their food out. They basically provided a buffet for this bear and he’s back for round two. Let’s say the bear comes, you’ve calmly put everything away: now you stand tall, or put your hands over your head to look tall if you’re short, like me. Don’t be aggressive but make a good amount of noise: Shout “Go bear, go!”, bang pots and pans together, set off your car’s alarm if it’s near to hand. And that bear will almost certainly wander away.
Katrina Schwartz: What if, like me, you’ve gone to bed and you wake up to the sounds of a bear in your campsite, only to remember that you have a protein bar in your tent? What do you do?
Carly Severn: We’ve all been there. Oh no, the Clif Bar! It’s in my jeans. My bette noir is lip balm, I always have it in my jeans. This is exactly the scenario where you definitely want to make loud noises immediately to scare the bear away – basically, make it too much hassle for the bear to pursue that Clif Bar! Get out of your tent, make that noise, walk straight to that bear box calmly but purposefully and chuck that Clif bar in there to lock it up. Don’t do what a lot of people might want to do, unzip the tent and throw the protein bar out! Then you’re just feeding the bear, and teaching him to come back the next night for seconds. And don’t freak if the bear is persistent and doesn’t leave immediately. Match his persistence and you will almost certainly win this one. They will almost certainly leave.
Katrina Schwartz: Bottom line here is that the bear doesn’t want to hurt you…so if you keep your head and remember to stand your ground, you’ll both end up better off. Now, I want to turn to an animal encounter that’s potentially more common here locally…mountain lions. I have definitely seen those warning signs posted at hikes, especially in the South Bay. Sarah, how common are mountain lions in the Bay Area?
Sarah Wright: So actually, 40% of California is considered suitable for mountain lion habitat, and the Bay Area is certainly included in that. I personally have never seen a mountain lion, but the wildlife cameras set up around the Bay Area by the Bay Area Puma Project tell a different story: They’re living all around us, they’re just really good at hiding. Experts say that there are a couple thousand moving around the state as a whole at any given time.
Katrina Schwartz: Wow, that’s actually really cool. I think people’s fear around mountain lions come from these occasional news stories about kids or pets that were attacked by mountain lions. I know it would be super terrifying to think of your child being taken down by a mountain lion. What are some things people can do to prevent an encounter with a mountain lion?
Sarah Wright: So there have only ever been 26 total verified mountain lion attacks on humans in California in the past four decades, so you’re right, it is extremely rare. But you may see them on hikes or in your own neighborhood. But you can avoid running into them on hikes and walks by avoiding the places and times they’re most active – like dawn and dusk and densely vegetated areas. You can also avoid hiking alone if you’d like. If you’re worried about them in your neighborhood, you can clear brush or install motion-detecting lights to alert you of their presence and help you avoid running into them. And don’t ever leave out food for animals, like if you’re feeding a stray cat, that will attract their predators and also mountain lions, which are predators.
Katrina Schwartz: You’ll be getting a much bigger cat than you bargained for. Exactly. Ok, so let’s say I’m out hiking and I see a mountain lion. What should I do?
Sarah Wright: Everyone I talked to for this story told me the same thing – mountain lions don’t want to interact with you. They’ll pretty much do whatever they can to avoid you. If you do run into one, get big, stand your ground and try to scare it away. You can even throw rocks at it. The big thing is don’t ever turn your back or run. And if you have a small child or dog, you might want to pick it up.
Katrina Schwartz: And is the advice the same for coyotes? I know lots of people have seen coyotes in Golden Gate Park and on Bernal Hill as well as many other places throughout the Bay Area. Any tips for how to interact with these urban wild animals?
Sarah Wright: I actually just saw a coyote last week when I was biking through the Presidio. It was calmly walking across the road. The thing to remember about coyotes is that they are native to our landscape here and they can actually live and thrive in very small areas and even keep populations of small predators in check, which, in turn, helps bird biodiversity. The biggest likelihood of an encounter with coyotes is when you’re with a dog. That’s because they’re both canines. So they might follow your dog or bare their teeth and growl, a behavior called escorting. Just like with mountain lions, leave the area calmly but don’t run – if the coyote advances, you can yell and get big. And leash your dog!
Katrina Schwartz: I’ve run into some coyotes on Bernal Hill and I can tell you do not seem scared of people. Like, I’ve gotten really close accidentally just walking along trails and they were just chillin’ there, not moving.I was like OK, I guess I’ll just go the other way.
OK, so we’ve covered some of the let’s say “scarier” animals people might encounter while out having a nice time in the Bay Area. But, I also wanted to ask you about what to do if you find a sick or stranded animal. One time I was staying at a house up in Sea Ranch and we found a sea lion pup on its own on the beach. Some of the people I was with were really worried about it and wanted to kind of guard it and protect it. But that’s not really the right thing to do is it?
Sarah Wright: So your story is super common. A lot of people encounter wildlife on local beaches and don’t really know what action to take. I talked to a bunch of local wild rescue groups around the Bay Area and they said, first of all, you need to determin if that animal needs help or is just on the beach resting. If you’re not sure, look for the 5 Cs – cold, crying, coming toward you, covered in bugs or blood, or caught by a cat or dog. And any of those things can indicate that an animal needs help. You can stick around to make sure no one else disturbs the animal, you can do that, but remember to give them space – the Marine Mammal Center recommends 150 feet, and don’t block its escape path toward water, for example. You can take a photo of it to show to dispatchers or write down its behavior.
Katrina Schwartz: What happens to the animal after you call a dispatcher?
Sarah Wright: In the short term, they may be brought to a local animal hospital for rehab, and hopefully, it will be released into the wild. Places like Wildcare and the Marine Mammal Center will even provide updates to you on the animal you rescued if you give them a call. And you may be allowed to attend its release. But remember: The sad reality is that not every animal will survive, but your effort to call in experts to help is important not only to the animal but it adds to the ongoing research those groups are doing on our local wildlife and ecology.
Katrina Schwartz: This has been super informative. Any last things about how we interact with wildlife here that either of you want to add about how we interact with wildlife?
Carly Severn: I think it can actually be really cool and transformative to see an animal, even if it can be scary in the moment. And we’re sharing this space and in a lot of instances, we’re guests on this space. So, act right and that will keep you safe and the animal safe as well.
Katrina Schwartz: What about you, Sarah?
Sarah Wright: I agree – we’re so lucky to live in a place with so much wildlife – most of which is not dangerous at all. To safely respect animals and their habitats, follow posted signs – if a trail is closed, it’s probably for a good reason – like there may be vulnerable baby seals or a defensive mother coyote nearby.
Katrina Schwartz: Carly Severn and Sarah Wright, thank you so much for sharing all of this great stuff you’ve learned with us. I feel a lot more confident about what I should do in these situations now. So, thank you.
Carly Severn: Thanks for having us.
Sarah Wright: Thank you.
Katrina Schwartz: Carly and Sarah have written some super helpful guides to all this stuff, which you can find by going to KQED dot org slash explainers. We will also put links to these resources in our show notes. And, I’ll just say, the audience desk where Carly and Sarah work is always looking to provide research and tips that are actually useful to people. So, if you have a topic that you’ve been needing some clear eyed advice on, be sure to let them know by filling out the form at the bottom of any of these stories about the outdoors.
Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED.
Our show is produced by Gabriela Glueck, Christopher Beale and me, Katrina Schwartz.
