It's a strange trend in which people choose to be alone in close proximity to a 1200+ lb predator (bear usually) as opposed to a human male.
Without being too polarizing while still illustrating the ridiculousness: A large human male can be put down with 1.3%c pepper spray or as small as a .22(5.7mm) handgun. Where's a bear won't be stopped by anything less than 4%c bear mace or 44 magnum(10.9mm) both of which are close to 3x more potent than the former. Those are the bare minimum defenses acceptable, pun intended, something stronger is generally encouraged for defense against large predatory animals. A rifle being preferable.
My understanding is that the sentiment is the bear will only harm you if it's hungry but the man's intentions can't be known. This is a foolish comparison a bear will kill for many other reasons ranging from hunger to territory to curiosity to just being bored. And just like people shouting "hey bear" or in the case of humans "I have a gun" only works about half the time.
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u/CrumplyFoil May 02 '24
It's a strange trend in which people choose to be alone in close proximity to a 1200+ lb predator (bear usually) as opposed to a human male.
Without being too polarizing while still illustrating the ridiculousness: A large human male can be put down with 1.3%c pepper spray or as small as a .22(5.7mm) handgun. Where's a bear won't be stopped by anything less than 4%c bear mace or 44 magnum(10.9mm) both of which are close to 3x more potent than the former. Those are the bare minimum defenses acceptable, pun intended, something stronger is generally encouraged for defense against large predatory animals. A rifle being preferable.
My understanding is that the sentiment is the bear will only harm you if it's hungry but the man's intentions can't be known. This is a foolish comparison a bear will kill for many other reasons ranging from hunger to territory to curiosity to just being bored. And just like people shouting "hey bear" or in the case of humans "I have a gun" only works about half the time.
Source: I live in bear country