What to do if you meet a bear in the forest, and what not to do - instructions for all cases. How to protect yourself from wild animals in the forest? How to scare away a bear from your pets

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Steps

Identify the type of bear. Knowing what species a bear belongs to, you can think through behavioral tactics. Remember that color and size are not the most important characteristics of species, and even those who know bears well can confuse them. Below we provide a description of a number of types:

Try to quickly determine whether the bear is trying to defend itself or whether it is hunting you due to hunger. It is important to understand whether you can convince the bear that you are not to be afraid of and scare it away (for example, by growing in size, making noise, pretending to be dead). If the bear perceives you as prey rather than a predator, it won't stop if you play dead or scream, so you'll need to defend yourself in other ways. As a rule, bears try to defend themselves if they have cubs, if they have stored food, and also out of surprise, misunderstanding, fear and the feeling that their home has been captured and is not allowing them to retreat. Bears attack if they are hungry and if they see food in a person. Black bears are more likely to attack due to hunger than brown bears, but young brown bears and grizzlies may prey on humans if abandoned by their mothers, as they are forced to find food on their own and may be attracted to humans. Remember that whatever the reason, the bear is dangerous. Below we provide a description of the two types of attack:

Whatever the reason for the attack, the bear is dangerous. However, in order to survive in this situation, it is important to remain calm and sober minded. If you panic, you will become unaware of what you are doing, and fear may cause you to act like prey, reducing your chances of survival. When you see a bear, it is important to do the following:

Be as calm as possible. The bear may scare you to see if you can harm it. Try not to move and remain calm when a bear scares you, even if you are scared. Some bears stop perceiving a stationary object as a threat and move away. However, you need to be prepared for a bear attack - for example, have pepper spray or sticks ready. Do not spray or attack a bear unless you are sure the bear is attacking. Some bears will lunge several times before deciding whether an opponent is dangerous, so unnecessary aggression can only make matters worse.

Know when to play dead and when not to. If the bear is interested in attacking you, playing dead may only work if there is a brown bear or grizzly bear in front of you. If you are sure of the shape of the bear, simply fall to the ground belly down. Spread your legs (so that the bear cannot roll you over), cover the back of your head with your hands, clasping your fingers. Cover your face with your elbows. Don't move or make any noise. Steve French, a doctor who works with bear injuries, notes that this type of behavior usually does not cause serious injuries requiring hospitalization. If the bear flips you over, get back on your stomach and do this every time. Hopefully the bear will get tired of this and leave you. If the bear does not leave, lie down for a while until you are sure that the bear has left and is not waiting for you to revive.

Find the bear's weak points. There are several techniques that will help you protect yourself. First of all, try to climb a hill or any inclined plane. This will make it more difficult for the bear to stand on its hind legs, which will reduce the force of the blow (in a standing position, the bear uses the full force of its weight). It is also difficult for bears to see when attacking from the side (the neck and jaw of a bear are designed in such a way that it is difficult for the animal to rotate its head, which limits visibility), and this is your advantage. But remember that the bear can also attack horizontally, preventing you from defending yourself.

Fight back with what you have. If you have tried all methods of protection, but the bear does not leave, your life is in danger and you need to do everything possible to survive. Grab everything you can find. Stones and dirt can be thrown into the eyes or face (this is a sensitive part of the body). Be careful when picking up items from the ground because you will have to bend over, which will make you appear smaller and make it harder to follow the bear's movements. Always remember that in order for the defense to be effective, you must act quickly, you must try to separate yourself from the bear with something and avoid possible blows (in order of importance).

Use pepper spray. This information is included in a separate step because you may not have a spray can with you (this is a dangerous product that is expensive and quickly becomes unusable), and also because even if you have one, you need to know how to use it. Remember that pepper spray is a deterrent and may irritate the bear further, so don't rely entirely on it. In addition, the can should be in an easily accessible place. If it's hidden at the bottom of your backpack, you won't be able to get it out quickly. Only use it if you can reach it quickly and easily, as speed is of the essence here.

1. Consider the situation. The behavior when a bear attacks a group is worth mentioning separately. You should not go where there are bears alone - it is unsafe, so in some national parks in the USA and Canada, for example, it is prohibited to travel in groups of less than 6 people. If a bear attacks you and there are other people nearby, they will be able to scare the animal away. The more people, the more noise and the stronger the feeling that there are many attackers. But if there are only two or three of you, the bear may not be afraid of you and still attack. A big plus of the group is the ability to protect each other. For example, if you all pretend to be dead and the bear starts touching one of you with its paw, the other will be able to grab the spray can and scare the animal away. If a bear attacks you and there are other people nearby who can help, try the following:

   • Continue to communicate with your companions when attacked by a bear. Tell each other what you are going to do to reassure each other and coordinate actions. Stay calm and try not to shout unless that's your strategy.
   • Don't leave anyone alone with a bear. Stick together to give the impression of being an indivisible group. Do not leave people alone so that the bear does not choose them as a victim.
   • One person can collect sticks, dirt and rocks while the other person yells at the bear and distracts it.
   • Protect children and vulnerable people. Hide children and panicking team members from the bear. Keep them together so the bear doesn't mistake them for easy prey, and do your best to calm people down and suppress panic reactions.

2. Leave the area as soon as possible. As stated above, you cannot run. If you hurt a bear and this temporarily delays it, go as quickly as possible away from the bear to where it will be safe. Have something in your hands that will help you defend yourself if the bear catches you: rocks, sticks, pepper spray. Try to move silently and not attract attention to yourself. You will probably be in a state of shock, but do everything you can to get to safety as quickly as possible.

   • Walk away from the bear with your back so you can see what it is doing. Speak in a low, monotone voice to calm the bear (and yourself).
   • If you are in the Arctic, try to get to a car or shelter as soon as possible. In vast snowy areas, you remain easy prey because you are clearly visible. In addition, polar bears have a keen sense of smell - they can smell a hidden seal pup 2 kilometers away!

3. Be realistic. The suggested recommendations in this article are simply general advice. There are no uniform rules of conduct in case of a bear attack, since all recommendations are based on the experience of people who have encountered bears. None of the recommendations guarantee survival, since the bear’s reaction depends on the situation, on your behavior and the behavior of other people, on the bear’s intentions, which will only become clear upon contact. In addition, bears are very strong. However, the experience of survivors suggests that an encounter with a bear can be survived. Be prepared and remain calm. If you know there are bears in the country, you must take responsibility for what may happen and be prepared to encounter a predator.

   • You don't have to be afraid of bears all the time. It may seem that bears attack people at the first opportunity, but this is not the case. Bears avoid humans and coexist peacefully with people in most regions. Uncontrolled bears that cause harm to people are dealt with by local authorities. To avoid attracting the attention of bears, do not leave food for them, do not encourage them to approach your home, do not provoke them, and tell others how to behave. Try to prevent unwanted encounters by all means possible and move away from the bear before it attacks. Remember that most bears want to avoid conflict if possible.

“...residents of the region, if bears appear dangerously close, can immediately contact the state inspectorate so that inspectors can be sent to the scene. Their responsibilities include determining the degree of danger of the predator, and if necessary, their duty is to “resolve” the situation with a well-aimed shot.”

(from an official's speech)

The brown bear is the largest predator living in the Ural taiga. Its weight can exceed 600 kg. Powerful forelimbs equipped with long claws have great destructive power - with a blow from a paw, a bear can break a ridge, tear out ribs or break the skull bones of an elk. A bear can bite through the barrels of a smoothbore gun with its teeth. Despite its apparent massiveness, the bear is a very “agile” animal. In a jerk, he reaches a speed of 60 km/h, and from a standstill.

There is a lot of it in the subpolar Urals, especially along river banks. This is his country, his hunting territory and the owner here is he, not a man.

How to avoid meeting a bear

Make some noise

If you are traveling alone through the domain of a bear, and even more so along the river bank, where there is quite a lot of willow grass, let us know about you. Especially where terrain or vegetation makes visibility difficult. Make noise, sing, talk loudly, or tie a bell to your backpack. If possible, travel with a group. Groups make more noise and are easier for bears to recognize. Avoid dense bushes. If you can’t, then try to walk so that the wind blows from your back, and the bear can smell you. Contrary to popular belief, bears see much like humans, but they trust their noses more than their eyes or ears. Always let the bear know you are there.

Don't crowd the bears

Like people, bears use paths and roads. Don't pitch your tent near a trail they might be on. Go around those places where you smell dead fish, animals, or see animals feeding on carrion. There may be food for a bear there, and if it is nearby, it can aggressively defend the hiding place. As a rule, in such places the bear has a rookery - lying down.

Give the bear as much free space as possible. Some bears are more tolerant than others, but each has its own “personal space”—the distance within which it feels threatened. If you are in this area, the bear may react aggressively. When photographing animals, use telephoto lenses; getting close for close-up shots can put you in this danger zone.

Cleanliness is the key to health

Bears only have 7 months to accumulate fat before their long winter hibernation. Don't let them know that human food or garbage is easy pickings. It is foolish and dangerous to feed bears, or to leave food or garbage that attracts them.

Prepare food away from your tent. Store all products and food away from the camp. Hang food so that the bear cannot reach it. If there are no trees, store food in airtight or special containers. Remember that dogs and their food can also attract bears.

Keep the camp clean. Wash the dishes. Avoid strong smelling foods such as bacon or smoked fish. Don't let your clothes smell like food. Burn garbage on a fire, burn cans. Food and trash are equally attractive to bears, so handle them properly. Burying waste is a waste of time. Bears have a keen sense of smell and are good at digging.

If a bear approaches you while fishing, stop fishing. If there is a fish on the line, do not let it splash. If this is not possible, cut the line. If the bear realizes that he can get fish only by approaching the fisherman, he will return again. The bear may also mistake you for another bear - a stranger who is hunting (fishing) in its territory and react very aggressively.

What to do when meeting a bear?

If you see a bear, try to get away from it. Give the bear every opportunity to avoid meeting you. If you encounter a bear, remain calm. Attacks are rare. There is a chance that you are not in danger. Most mother bears are interested in protecting their food, their cubs, or their personal space. When the threat is over, they will pass by.

Make yourself known

Let the bear know that you are human. Talk to the bear in a normal voice. Wave your arms. Help the bear recognize you. If the bear cannot recognize who you are, it may come closer or stand on its hind legs to get a better look or sniff. A standing bear usually shows curiosity and is not dangerous. You can try to slowly back away diagonally, but if the bear starts to follow you, stop and stay where you are.

Don't run!

DO NOT RUN under any circumstances. You can't outrun a bear. They have been found to run at speeds of around 60 km/h and, like dogs, they will chase a fleeing animal or person. This animal mistakes an animal running from it for a victim and easily kills in 90% of cases out of 100. Bears often intimidate, intimidate, sometimes 3 meters from their enemy, without trying to attack. Keep waving your arms and talking to the bear. If the bear gets too close, raise your voice and become more aggressive. Knock on pots and pans. Never imitate a bear's growl or scream in a high-pitched voice.

If a bear attacks

If the bear starts to attack, give up! Fall to the ground and play dead. Lie on your stomach or curl up in a ball with your hands behind your head. It is common for a bear to stop attacking if it feels the threat has been eliminated. Stay still for as long as possible. If you move and the bear sees or hears you, he may return and resume the attack. In rare cases, an attacking bear may mistake a person for food.

Bear protection

Use weapons with caution as an alternative to a reasonable approach to resolving a potential conflict. You can shoot at a bear ONLY for the purpose of self-defense during an attack, if you did not provoke it and if there is no other way out. In all other cases, it is necessary to fire a warning shot in the air to scare the bear. If you are not a hunter, but a fisherman and you do not have a gun, take with you a traumatic pistol with flash-noise cartridges or a flare gun (“hunter’s signal”). They should always be at hand (on the belt in a belt holster, behind the bosom, in a body holster). If this is not the case, ordinary firecrackers will do just fine. Under no circumstances should you leave the camp without a means of guaranteeing a shot or noise when necessary.

In ordinary life, collisions between people and bears are milder. Usually, whoever is smarter is the first to give way. Bears almost always do this. If the bear still tries to approach, in 90 percent of cases a sharp whistle or an unexpected clap in the palm is enough for the animal to run away. If he keeps coming closer, the next remedy is to throw a pebble at him. As a rule, it works. Some hunters claim that it helps against bears. mat.

Bears are afraid of everything unexpected. For example, unexpectedly opening umbrellas, especially if they have two big eyes on them. The tail of a raincoat suddenly thrown open or a backpack suddenly thrown into the air. Any unexpected behavior. The greatest troubles come from young bears actively exploring the world around them, as well as from mature dominant males who have no enemies in the wild and have forgotten how to give way.

When in bear areas, remember to look around occasionally! There is nothing worse than suddenly encountering an animal - it may perceive it as an act of aggression. Some hunting stores sell a protective aerosol spray containing red pepper extract, which has been successfully used for protection against bears . These sprays are effective at a distance of about 5-6 meters. If you carry a spray, keep it handy and know how to use it.

Mother bears can be fierce protectors of their cubs. Standing between a mother bear and her cubs is a big mistake. A mother bear may react violently to anything she perceives as a threat to her cub.

The bear's rutting period begins in June and ends in late July - early August. During this period, the animals are excited, and groups of adult animals are often found. Demonstrative competitions and fights arise between the males; as a result, the female remains with one male, while the others stay nearby. Males are highly active and aggressive, and remain near the female throughout the entire estrus period.

The cubs appear in January-February. In the Urals, it is not uncommon to see a female with three cubs.

The most likely places to encounter a bear

The daily activity of a bear is determined by the season of the year, the availability of food and the general life cycle of the animal. In spring and the first half of summer, bears can feed around the clock, especially in cloudy weather. The bear's high daily activity continues until the start of salmon and grayling migration. For the day, bears lie down without going far from the feeding site, usually in thickets of bushes, in closed clearings, in small forest clumps, and on hot days they can be located in floodplain tall grass or river grass.

During the period of mass migration of salmon, daytime activity decreases and shifts to evening, morning and night hours. When there is a lack of food (especially when fish are weak), the activity of bears increases, and they feed in berry fields, in dwarf cedar or in mountain meadows at almost any time of the day. For rest, the bear usually settles under the canopy of coniferous trees, and the resting places can be used many times. In twilight and in the thicket of a forest, a bear feels much more confident than a person.

The bear is omnivorous. In the Urals in the spring, after leaving their dens, animals go out to the warm slopes of the mountains, which warm up and are quickly freed from snow cover, where they dig for rhizomes and bulbs. Later in May, they begin to go to rivers or berry fields, pick up carrion, and eat the remains of berries. Animals often visit the coasts of rivers and lakes in search of animal and plant waste.

When fish begin their migration to spawn, most bears are located near spawning rivers. On the mountain Ural rivers, fish is the main source of protein food for the animal. After gorging on fish, bears go to berry fields or grasses, only to return to the river after some time. This will diversify the menu and make the diet richer. In the autumn before their bedding (October-November), bears leave the rivers and gradually move, feeding on the berries and nuts of dwarf pine trees, and go to their wintering places.

In their environment, bears are cannibals. A larger bear can catch and eat a cub (which most often happens during the mating season, when the cubs are close to the mother bear). There have been recorded cases of bears attacking and eating smaller (usually young) individuals.

Winter shelters for bears are usually located in the ground or caves. Two or three animals can sleep in one den. With an abundance of food, individuals of good fatness may not lie down in dens at all, arranging surface beds - nests.

Humans are not the bear's food source. Most bears under normal conditions try to avoid meeting a person, and, having discovered him first, try to leave unnoticed. If the meeting does occur, then the vast majority of bears take flight. However, you should always remember and clearly know that the behavior of a particular bear that you encounter in a particular situation is UNPREDICTABLE!

Let's sum it up

In order to avoid dangerous situations when meeting a bear, following these rules will help you:

1. While moving along the route, hunting in the forest, picking mushrooms or berries, relaxing in picturesque taiga places, always remember that an encounter with a bear can happen at any time, in any place, and You must be mentally prepared for this. Plan possible actions in advance. Listen to the birds around you. Nutcrackers are especially talkative. Based on the behavior of birds, one can predict in advance the place and time of the appearance of the animal.

2 . To avoid the critical approach distance and not unexpectedly collide with a bear, it is necessary to move noisily in the forest, talking freely and loudly, and preferably in a group of at least 3 people. Avoid close encounters with bears. Look for signs of a bear that indicate one is nearby and make as much noise as possible. Let's make ourselves known.

3 . To avoid habituated beggar bears, it is important to ensure that so that conditions for their complementary feeding are not created. Food waste and carcasses of killed wild animals must be destroyed to prevent predators from using them.

4 . Do not leave in the forest at your resting places and intermediate stops food leftovers, garbage. It is prohibited to establish such objects as garbage dumps, landfills, food waste warehouses near bases, camps, trails, at rest stops and routes. Avoid attracting bears by improperly storing food and trash.

5 . When moving through the taiga and river banks, the maximum try to avoid areas of tall grass, long grass, thickets of dwarf cedar, closed cozy meadows, thickets of “burdock” in the floodplains of rivers and streams, places where bears can rest during their days. Move to open areas where you can see the bear far enough away.

6 . Seeing a bear in the distance, don't go near him, carefully leave this place, go around it. Keep calm.

7 . Post outdoor camp, with sufficient visibility of the places. Carefully monitor the cleanliness of their territories and burn all food waste. Don't store food in accessible places, isolate them so that odors cannot attract animals.

8 . In no case don't spend the night, do not pitch tents or camp on bear and other forest paths.

9 . Avoid driving along river banks and streams during the salmon spawning period in the evening and morning twilight and at night. At all avoid walking in the taiga in the dusk and at night. Remember, night is the time of the Bear! If fate has forced you to walk at night, you need to at least move with an electric flashlight on.

10 . Under no circumstances don't come closer in places where bears are likely to be found the remains of dead animals, masses of abandoned fish, and other possible baits. When disturbed while hunting, a bear in most cases goes on the attack.

11 . Don't crowd the bear, respect his “personal space”. In case of an unexpected meeting "short", even if you are unarmed, you absolutely cannot run away from the beast(this is useless and can only further provoke the bear to pursue). It is necessary, trying to maintain calm as much as possible, to remain in place (no matter how scary it may be), loudly calling for help, or, slowly backing away, retreating. In this case, you can try to scare away the bear by ringing metal objects, loud screams, voices, shots in the air, rockets, or a special flare.

13 . Never, Do not, under any circumstances, approach bear cubs, no matter how cute and cute they may seem to you. Don't try to feed or entice them. If you accidentally meet them, or they come to your resting place, stop immediately, quickly look around and look for an escape route as quickly as possible. Bear cubs are curious and if they are heading towards you, drive them away with loud screams. Remember - there is a bear somewhere nearby, and GOD FORBID You will find yourself between a mother bear and a bear cub. The attack of the bear, if she considers that you are a threat to her baby, will be the last thing you see in your life.

14 . Protect You, your camp only strong, brave and vicious dogs can. Even among huskies, not everyone is capable of attacking a bear. Under no circumstances should dogs be used to protect against bears without the skills, dexterity and strength to at least briefly detain the bear in place.

15 . Scaring away the bear with shots, don't try to shoot the beast itself. A wounded bear is extremely dangerous! Even if he leaves you, he can become a serious danger to other people. You can kill a bear only with a large-caliber weapon, and not always even a shot “on the spot” can immediately stop it. A reliable shot right in the brain or spine.

16 . As a last resort, you can escape from a bear in a tree, if you manage to climb it. Due to its weight, an adult large bear will no longer be able to climb on it. Such cases of rescue, or rather sitting out, in trees are known. If there are several trees, try to choose the largest one.

17 . While in the taiga, always be extremely careful, do not go into the thickets of elfin wood and tall grass. Do not climb in floodplain bushes. When settling down to rest, carefully look around to see if there are any signs of the presence of a bear. On clay outcrops, swamps, and the banks of streams you can see traces of a bear, and in floodplain areas there are feeding areas (digging areas) where he dug for marsh plants. If you suspect a bear has been in the area, leave the area immediately and look for another one.

18 . Even if the bear does move towards you, there is still hope that it will turn away. Never DO NOT turn your back on a charging bear.! A person who runs is almost certainly doomed. When attacked by a bear, you should not show outward signs of fear. If there is no reliable shelter or shelter nearby, you must face the danger head-on. There are more people who survived the bear's attack in this way than those who were able to escape. Don't run.

19 . Having seen bears accidentally entering the path, never, do not feed them under any circumstances, no matter how harmless and cute they may seem. The bear does not need your feeding, but by starting to feed the bear, you are raising a beggar in him, who will very quickly begin to demand food, and if he does not receive it, he becomes aggressive and is capable of attacking a person, of whom he loses fear. Remember that by your actions you are endangering the lives of other people.

20 . If you find a bear showing aggression, a wounded bear, a bear caught in a plane (noose), a bear attacking dogs and people, you need to immediately warn other people located in the same place or in close proximity to it.

21 . And the last thing - ANYTIME AND ANYWHERE: Having met a bear, regardless of its size, behavior and appearance treat him as a formidable and powerful predator with unpredictable behavior.

Research conducted in our country and abroad has shown that there is no single universal means of protection against bears, and the above recommendations cannot be considered as an absolute guarantee against an accident, but they will help reduce the likelihood of a conflict situation.

Svitov Evgeniy

When going into the forest, you should always be prepared to meet the “local residents” of the forests - wild animals. Every tourist, traveler, and mushroom picker should know what to do when meeting an animal in the forest, and how to behave.

As a rule, wild animals avoid humans and never attack first, but there are exceptions.

We will consider attack options for several species of animals that we may encounter in the forest:

• Bear (rarely, but still)
• Wolf
• Elk
• Boar

When and under what circumstances can a wild animal attack a person?

1. An animal can attack a person if it is cornered and has nowhere to escape, then it instinctively moves from defense to attack
2. Some animals are very dangerous during the rut (mating time. All animals have a different breeding season)
3. Animals protect their offspring (a typical example is the attack of a bear)
4. The animal has already tasted human flesh once, then it becomes a cannibal. It perceives humans as easily caught prey, which is not as difficult to track down as game.
5. The animal is wounded (wounded animals almost always attack a person: a wounded boar is very ferocious, a wounded tiger or a wounded bear)

Are animals afraid of fire?

There is an opinion that dangerous wild animals are afraid of fire. It is not always so. In remote uninhabited places, animals seeing the fire of a fire out of curiosity will definitely come to it. On the first or second night. Of course, they won’t come close to the fire, but they boldly approach thirty meters. We can include among the very curious animals that are attracted to the fire of a fire: bears, wolves, moose, and wild boars. Many dangerous animals are practically not afraid of fire at all (they do not perceive it as something outlandish); forest fires often occur in the forest, to which wild animals get used.

If you place a fire near a pond, then muskrats or beavers may swim towards the fire (they do not pose a danger).

Owls often fly over the fire.

Many animals, as mentioned above, come to the fire out of curiosity. If you notice an animal, you should not be afraid of it; if the animal allows itself to be noticed, then, as a rule, it is not going to eat you))).

The noisiest animals, as a rule, are no less afraid of you than you are of them). If the animal is hunting, then you will not hear it approaching you and attacking (applies to tigers and bears). But still, the fire of a fire is a protective barrier that a wild animal will not climb!

Bear

What to do when meeting a bear in the forest?

Try to make as many sounds as possible in the forest to warn the animal about your presence in advance. The bear itself does not attack first and if it hears a person, As a rule, he quickly tries to hide. But still, if you suddenly come face to face with a bear, do not even think about running away from it (from the moment you start running away, in the eyes of the bear you turn into prey and the animal will inevitably begin to pursue).

The bear, despite its apparent clumsiness, runs very quickly and you will not be able to escape from it.

Don't climb trees, bears are great climbers (except big old bears)

Stay calm, slowly back away, step back (do not turn your back), shout loudly, never look the animal in the eyes, he will perceive this as aggression on your part. Take a jacket or sweater in your hand and lift it above your head, this will increase your size in the eyes of a predator. If all of the above does not help, then pretend to be dead (this requires very, very good endurance.)

When a bear approaches you, sniffing you, a smell and hot breath are heard from its mouth. The bear can hit you with its paw, can jump on you with its front paws, etc. As a rule, bears lose interest in such an “enemy” and leave (provided that you lie still)

Always carry a flare or bear spray with you (where there are a lot of bears, it is advisable to put a can of repellent spray in your backpack).

If you see bear cubs in the forest, never approach them, a bear is grazing nearby and she will attack you, 100% protecting her offspring. Don't stand between the cubs and the mother bear.

Wolf

If you are attacked by a wolf (which is very unlikely). There have been cases of wolf attacks in winter. In summer, wolves have enough food in the forest. It is believed that the wolf avoids humans, but there are cases of attacks that have been recorded.

The wolf is much larger than the dog. Wolves calmly eat dogs, without any fear of them, but dogs are pathologically afraid of wolves.

If you meet a wolf in the forest, try to climb a tree (the best option). Do not look the animal in the eyes (he perceives this as a challenge and danger on your part). If a wolf nevertheless attacks you, put your hand forward; it is advisable to wrap your hand in a cloth, sweater or jacket so that the animal cannot bite through it. Protect your neck. If you have a knife at hand, strike at the carotid artery (the fur of a wolf is not so easy to pierce), at the body, trying to hit the heart. If there is no knife, strike the nose, eyes, and ridge.

Elk

Despite the fact that this animal is a herbivore, it is in many ways more dangerous than a bear. Moose are dangerous during the rut or when injured. A wounded elk is very aggressive. At the beginning of summer, moose give birth to their young. Never approach moose offspring (moose calves). The Moose's attack will be immediate. Moose have very poor eyesight, but their hearing is very good. The elk does not see a stationary person up to 10 meters. Elk are dangerous during the rutting season; the rutting season of elk is in the fall. A male moose may mistake you for a rival and attack. Signs that a moose is about to attack:

• Follows you (in your direction) and doesn’t turn away
• stomps his feet and wiggles his ears
• shakes his head and roars

How to avoid a moose attack?

Climb a tree (although the elk may be waiting for you and grazing nearby)

If a moose is coming at you:

Get off his path, speak softly and calmly, as if you were talking to a small child, don’t shout, go behind a large tree, the elk may simply lose sight of you. If the elk does attack, then pretend to be dead by curling up in a ball))

Boar

The boar is a rather cautious animal that is afraid of humans. Wild boar attacks on humans are rare, but do occur. A wounded cleaver is very dangerous; it kills everything in its path. Boars are usually very timid and when they hear extraneous sounds they rush to run away. Some wild boars do not run away but hurry to lie down in the bushes. Females with cubs, as a rule, do not pose a danger; if a female is frightened, she will abandon the young without a twinge of conscience. But it is better not to take risks. Don't chase little piglets)).

If you are attacked by a wild boar:

• This is a very fast animal that is difficult to escape from, the best option is to hide in a tree
• The boar is afraid of sharp sounds, whistling, and as a rule, he quickly runs away from such sounds.

General rules if you are attacked by a wild animal:

• Keep calm and sober mind (although this is not so easy to do)
• If an animal knocks you to the ground, try to group yourself, protecting your internal organs, cover your stomach with a backpack

CARRY A HUNTER'S SIGNAL WITH YOU, THIS IS A GOOD MEANS FOR REPEARDING ANIMALS.

Protect the environment.

What to do when meeting a wild animal in the forest?

THE BASICS OF SURVIVAL IN THE FOREST. (continued)
A fire at night or animal behavior.

There is a myth that dangerous animals are afraid of fire. This is not true, dangerous animals such as lions, tigers, bears, and wild boars are not afraid of fire, since forest fires (ground fires) are not so rare in all regions and animals are accustomed to open fire. Of course, they won’t climb into the flames of a fire; usually they won’t come closer than twenty or thirty meters, but if they really like something lying near the fire, they’ll take it without hesitation. And yet, if you see eyes glowing in the dark on a dark night near a fire, don’t worry, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Someone is showing curiosity and is not going to attack. If you hear sounds that are too loud, don’t be scared. Very loud sounds are usually made by those who are afraid. Large predators also sometimes make loud noises, but when hunting or wanting to attack, they behave very quietly. It’s another matter if you hear a quiet snorting, grunting, growling, or the sound of footsteps not far from you, then you need to prepare for possible troubles. Someone doesn't like you and someone is not happy with your presence. But even in such moments, do not rush to climb the nearest trees or shoot from all the trunks in all directions, first figure out what’s what. The threat will be repeated, perhaps more than once, and you will still have time to get to know the troublemaker, assess the degree of danger and take countermeasures. It may well be that the troublemaker belongs to the category of the so-called “pot-bellied little thing” and it is somehow not decent to demonstrate one’s “bravery” in front of her while sitting on the top of a tree in wet pants.
Wild boars and moose in human-inhabited areas are accustomed to fires and people and can walk two steps away from the fire and from people, demonstratively pretending that they do not see people or the fire.
In remote and wild places, a fire is a curiosity for local animals and many representatives of the local fauna living in this area will definitely come to the fire on the first or second night out of curiosity, and some will come every night. Among the animals of the forest zone of Russia in the warm season, bears, moose, wild boars, roe deer, wolves, foxes, badgers, wolverines, and hares come to the fires. Many birds come and fly. On the banks of reservoirs, beavers, otters, muskrats and waterfowl approach or swim to the fire. Many “guests” (roe deer, foxes, badgers, wolverines, hares, beavers, muskrats, geese, partridges, some owls) behave quite noisily around the fire, but do not pose a threat. Dangerous animals usually try to behave quietly and civilly. They came, looked quietly from a distance and left. In winter, there are few nocturnal animals, and among the local guests, usually only owls fly to the fires. But when a person leaves, predators of all sizes, rodents, and birds like to check the place near the extinguished fire, both in winter and in summer.
Hunters sometimes deliberately light a small fire to create the appearance of a campsite. They scatter empty cans, food wrappers, litter with leftover food and set traps. Foxes, arctic foxes, sable wolves, and martens are not afraid of such fires and pay for their curiosity with their skins.
Hunting directly next to a fire was once popular (but now prohibited). The hunter makes a fire closer to night and hides in the nearest bushes. If the fire burns smoothly without shooting and as soon as it gets completely dark, local (gray and white) partridges, pheasants, and on the banks of reservoirs ducks and geese approach the fire for a sure shot. If you don’t show up after the shots, that is, don’t crawl out of the bushes and don’t run after wounded animals, then you can shoot a fair amount in other places. Where fires are common at night, it’s understandable that you shouldn’t hope for a successful hunt. And where fires are a curiosity for local wildlife, a hunter, hiding in the bushes, can himself become game for local predators, which is apparently why such hunts were banned for human hunters.
Until the end of the 19th century, polar bears were hunted around the fire in the polar regions. They burned seal fat, bones and skins in a fire, and the bears, sensing the smell tens of kilometers away, came to the hunters’ fire. Bears usually walk slowly, with dignity, and hunters had to light a fire and wait for a long time, sometimes several days, and frequent snowstorms, fogs and other local conditions that impair visibility made this hunt unpredictable and very dangerous.
Nowadays, workers at polar stations sometimes complain about the dominance of polar bears. They themselves heat the stoves around the clock, prepare food and attract bears from all over the Arctic with their unusual, seductive smells. At best, a polar bear eats a full lunch 3-4 times a month and is ready to go even to the ends of the earth if it smells the enchanting smell of human food. Polar explorers blame suitable bears for all sins, although they themselves are to blame.
Many animals are fascinated, hypnotized and attracted by the light of a fire, torches, lanterns and unusual sounds. Many night hunts were once based on this, where the hunters themselves with torches, lanterns (sometimes with rattles) looked for animals and birds. Such hunts were once popular in all corners of the globe.
If you drive a car along the same half-forgotten forest road several times at night, you will notice that hares constantly cross the road in the same places. From this we can conclude that the same hares are crossing the road, living next to the road and attracted and hypnotized by the light of the headlights; these hares themselves jump out from the depths of the forest under the wheels of a car. Some ungulates and birds also arrive.
On illuminated routes in forested areas around large cities, at night on lamp posts you can often see nocturnal, and sometimes daytime, birds of prey hunting rodents. Predatory mammals have also learned to use artificial road lighting for their own purposes. Foxes, for example, constantly walk along illuminated highways in search of rodents, birds maimed by electrical wires, and food waste.
With the advent of small, portable radios, hunting began involving luring animals to unfamiliar sounds. In England, with the help of soft sounds (melodies, conversations) coming from radios, rabbits are lured to hunters or traps. The melodies and conversations emanating from the receivers bear little resemblance to the calling sounds of sexual partners specially recorded on a tape recorder and still attract animals. And hunting seals and seals using radios is already considered poaching in a number of countries.
During nights around the campfire, never forget that firelight, food smells and unfamiliar sounds, including normal conversations, attract wild animals. The flickering of shadows and muffled sounds in the tent of tourists or hunters can provoke an attack (on the tent) by some dangerous predators.
The person on duty sleeping by the fire, clearly visible to outside observers, will prevent an attack by his very appearance. It is still better to use dogs to guard the camp; the most cowardly dog ​​in such a situation will warn in time about possible danger.
When in close contact with large and dangerous animals, the main thing is to always remain calm and soberly assess what is happening. If animals see you and do not run away, this does not mean at all that they are almost tame. On the contrary, these animals show that they are not afraid of you at all and if you approach them at an unacceptably close distance (usually closer than 50 meters), then you will definitely get into trouble. First there will be a demonstration attack, and then a real one to defeat. On the other hand, if a large predator or other dangerous animals show themselves as threats, but do not attack, it means that this animal (dangerous animals) has no desire to attack you and you are simply invited to leave without delay. In such situations, there is no need to run away headlong or climb trees (just in case). You may have to sit on a tree for a long time; moose, for example, without feeling any real danger from the “brave” on the tree, can graze in the immediate vicinity for several days without any malicious intent.
In desperate situations, so to speak, driven into a corner, any animals, even the most harmless and helpless ones at first glance, can be dangerous (that is, capable of causing serious injury to a person).
In the Far East, in the Primorsky Territory, there are tigers and leopards; in the European part of Russia, in some places there are bison, but encountering them is unlikely. Wolverines, wolves and lynxes, when you get to know them closely, are not as bloodthirsty as they are shown in feature films or described in fiction. The bear is usually considered the most dangerous in the forest zone of Russia. This is not true, the most dangerous animal in Russia is the moose. Even a bear gives way to a large moose. Siberians have a saying: “You go for a bear’s bed, but for an elk you go for a mother’s coffin.” This means that the bear will only maim, and the elk will kill.
Then on the scale of the most dangerous comes the wild boar, then mouse-like rodents, insects and ticks that carry dangerous diseases, then poisonous snakes. But we’ve somehow gotten used to moose, wild boars, mosquitoes, ticks and snakes, everyone has seen them, everyone knows them and, showing reasonable caution, they are not particularly afraid.
The bear is special in this regard. On the one hand, you can admire the funny and good-natured antics of bears in circuses and zoos. The bear is a kind character in many folk tales, a symbol of Russia. On the other hand, it is known that the bear is a very large and dangerous predator. There are so many terrible stories about bear crimes, but for some reason there are few people actually injured by bears, and mostly such incidents happen not somewhere in the taiga wilderness, but in zoos and circuses, that is, in cities and large towns. Meetings between people and bears in natural conditions are very rare, accidental and short-lived. You can live in bear country all your life and never see a bear.
In order to dispel some doubts, and since meeting a bear in many parts of Russia is quite possible, it is necessary to know its lifestyle, habits and habits better.

The brown bear is a large predator, unusually strong and, of course, dangerous to humans. There is a high probability of conflict situations arising when a person and a bear meet. You must always remember that in places where bears are found, such an encounter can happen at any time and in any place, and you need to be mentally prepared for this. The instructions on the rules of behavior when meeting a bear are intended to help avoid such situations, and if they arise, to minimize the negative consequences.

REMEMBER: The best way to prevent conflict when meeting a bear is to avoid meeting it!

It is not without reason that even in the instructions for survival in extreme conditions, used in the training of sabotage groups consisting of commando thugs, it is always especially emphasized: NEVER MESS WITH BEARS!

If you are in an area where bears live

When moving, stay mostly in open areas and woodlands, where the approach of the animal can be noticed in advance and the necessary measures can be taken to scare it away or otherwise protect yourself from a possible attack.

Avoid long journeys through dense thickets of dwarf cedar, alder and willow in areas where bears may be concentrated.

When moving through the taiga and tundra, it is advisable do not use bear trails. You should also avoid driving along the banks of salmon rivers and along spawning grounds at dusk and dawn, as well as at night. Remember: night is the time of the bear!

If in the spring, when there is still snow, you come across brown bear trail, turn back or try to get around the place where the animal is supposed to be located in open areas. The bear does not make long treks through deep snow, so a footprint encountered, even a fairly old one, is a good indicator of its presence in the immediate vicinity.

To reduce the likelihood of a bear attack, do not go out into the fields alone. The likelihood of an animal being aggressive towards a group of people is much lower.

When encountering a brown bear, try not to panic and move away unnoticed. Do not run under any circumstances! Remember that the bear has an unusually sensitive sense of smell, so when leaving you need to take into account the direction of the wind.

If the animal notices you and does not flee, but on the contrary, shows curiosity, you should try to drive it away by shouting, firing a rocket, or shooting into the air.

When you come close to a bear, do not look him in the eye. closely. For any wild animal, a stare is a sign of an impending attack. He may attack in order to, as he believes, prevent an attack from you.

If you saw a bear from your car window

Enjoy the view! Take a few pictures for memory, but under no circumstances don't get out of the car. Don't try to treat the bear.

Remember: by teaching him to beg, you are signing his death warrant! Don't stay long, move on.

What to do with garbage and waste?

Brown bears are desperate gluttons and gourmands. In order for bears and people to coexist safely, animals should not form associations between the opportunity to eat tasty food and the human smell. It is almost impossible to wean a scavenger bear from consuming food scraps from a person's table: losing fear, he, as a rule, becomes a marauder and a murderer.

To avoid the tragic consequences of changing the eating behavior of bears, you must always adhere to the principle: for the bear - forest and forest food, for man - a home and his own table.

Do not create garbage dumps, landfills, food waste warehouses around settlements, fishing grounds, bases and camps, field parties, detachments, tourist groups, at rest stops and routes, which contribute to the concentration of animals. Bears have a well-developed sense of smell and easily detect and dig up even organic remains buried at a considerable depth. It is recommended to remove food waste (if it is impossible to dispose of it) at a considerable distance from housing. The dump site should be clearly marked with signs and local residents should be warned about it. If garbage removal is not possible, food waste must be destroyed - burned or drowned.

Do not store food and supplies in places that are easily accessible to looting: in unguarded canvas tents, bags and boxes in the open air. The packaging should prevent easy access to the contents: iron fuel barrels with cut-out bottoms, which are then screwed on with wire, as well as boxes made of strong boards edged with iron tape are best suited. In this case, it is advisable to lift the barrels and boxes onto specially constructed platforms (storage sheds) or onto tree branches and secure them there. It is recommended to clear the poles of a storage shed or a tree trunk from branches to a height of 4 m and, if possible, wrap them with barbed wire.

Do not leave food or food waste near your home or camp that is accessible to wild animals. This is deadly. Cleanliness and the absence of garbage dumps will protect you from unwanted visits!

If you unexpectedly meet a bear

Attention! If a brown bear is interested in you, you need to be prepared to repel its possible attack.

Contrary to popular belief, bear standing on its hind legs, not aggressive. He simply gets up to take a good look at the surrounding area and see with his own eyes what his good sense of smell and keen hearing have already told him. Most often, bears are found in places where they, like people, are busy getting food, i.e. fishing, hunting and berry picking. In berry fields, bears tend to behave calmer and do not defend territories, especially if there are a lot of berries. In most cases, you will not even be aware of his presence, because the bear's sense of smell and hearing will alert you to your approach, and he will leave the area.

A bear is much more reluctant to leave a place convenient for fishing- especially if he has already caught fish. Unfortunately, in the excitement and noise of the water, the animal may not notice your approach. Therefore, in order to avoid an unwanted meeting, make your movement loud enough. Talk at the top of your voice, whistle your favorite tune, tap trees and bushes with a stick. However, if you do see a bear, then if possible, leave unnoticed by it. And if he notices you, then calmly retreat. Remember that an unexpected and close (less than 5-7 m) meeting with a bear often provokes the animal to attack. Therefore, it is better to avoid such encounters, knowingly notifying the bear of your approach.

The role of dogs when meeting bears ambiguous. On the one hand, an untrained dog, having discovered a she-bear with cubs, may rush in fear in your direction in search of protection, thereby provoking the she-bear to attack you. On the other hand, the dog accompanying you will always warn you about the presence of a wild animal nearby, and if necessary, by barking and biting, it will distract the bear’s aggression, allowing you to leave.

If you saw a bear sleeping or eating prey

No wonder they say: don’t be reckless! Don't try to wake up the clubfoot - let him sleep. You should not linger for observations and photographs, no matter how comical the sleeping bear may seem to you. Quietly leave this place.

If you unexpectedly came across a bear near its prey, then, above all, stay calm! Show the bear that you are not here to steal his food. Stand up tall and make your presence known by speaking loudly. Leave slowly and carefully the same way you came. In this case, it is better not to turn your back on the animal. Keep him in sight and be prepared for the fact that he may become aggressive at any moment. But under no circumstances run while you remain in the animal’s field of vision!

In such cases, the development of the situation strongly depends on the distance. If the distance is small, then the bear, disturbed by its prey, in most cases goes on the attack!

If you meet a group of bears

No matter how undesirable it may be for you to meet a single bear on the trail, meeting a group of these animals is even more undesirable. The fact is that bears usually form groups in three cases:

• during the rut;
• during the period when the female walks with her own cubs;
• when young animals, driven away by the female to live independently, continue to walk in pairs for some time.

Unlike most large animals, Bears' rut occurs in the spring - practically from the moment they leave the den until the beginning of July. During the rut, bears are angry, irritable and capable of completely unprovoked aggressive actions. Moreover, this applies to animals of both sexes. But large males sometimes behave defiantly aggressively during this period. They are ready to attack any large moving object, and often do not limit themselves to demonstrations. However, the male primarily reacts to the behavior of the female, and if she leaves, he retreats after her.

It is least dangerous to deal with young, inexperienced animals. This does not mean that they will definitely not attack you if they get very close. Moreover, it is precisely such animals, young and inexperienced, who have not learned to fear humans, that often turn out to be the destroyers of camps. And this is facilitated precisely by the feeling that they are not alone - the actions of one bear only provoke the other - like juvenile hooligans in a gang.

If you find a curious bear cub

The best thing to do is to leave as soon as possible. Do not take pictures of it, do not try to touch it under any circumstances. This is a wild animal, not a plush toy! Do not forget that the mother is most likely nearby and is not in the mood for jokes towards her child.

When protecting a bear cub, the bear will not scare you - she will try to kill you.

If you meet a bear while hunting (not bear hunting)

A hunter moving quietly through the grounds exposes himself to a serious risk of an unexpected encounter with a bear. If the bear did not notice you, then it is better to leave as quietly as possible. If for some reason this is not possible, clap your hands or make some noise to the animal. A shot in the air helps a lot in this situation.. But just in the air - just because you have a weapon in your hands does not mean that you can and should shoot at a bear.

Shooting an animal in such a situation is the stupidest thing you can do. Almost all accidents occur when an animal is injured.

• If a bear approaches you

If the bear begins to approach you, this does not mean aggression on its part. Bears are blind and often approach an animal simply to examine an incomprehensible silhouette. Sometimes they come into the wind to smell you. As a rule, these approaches end with the bear quickly moving away as soon as it realizes that there is a person in front of it.

You can drive away a bear approaching or stubbornly following you at a distance loud and harsh sounds- for example, by hitting a mug against a pot, or better yet, against a metal basin. Flares and rocket launcher- a very effective means of repelling bears. You can shoot in the air. A good remedy is caustic pepper spray. Unfortunately, they are effective at a very short distance and only in the absence of strong wind.

Attention! Only special concentrated pepper-based aerosols are effective against bears. Any other compositions (CS, CN, etc.), as well as low concentration pepper compositions designed for defense against humans, have almost no effect on large predators.

You need to know that the bear is usually also not sure of the need to attack - he is afraid of you. Even throws in your direction are most often an imitation of an attack, designed to force you to leave. Do not show signs of aggression towards the bear, do not throw stones or sticks at him. Leave the area slowly and never run!

Remember: a wounded bear is deadly. Refrain from shooting at the bear until the last possible moment!

• If this doesn't help and the bear attacks

If you are unarmed or have a low-powered weapon, then the best thing to do is to try to distract the bear's attention. Place something in front of you: a basket of berries, a backpack, a net, other fishing gear. If you have a can of pepper spray, then spray it in front of the bear’s face, preferably directing the stream into the eyes and mouth of the animal. If you were unable to distract the bear and you do not have a balloon, then lie down on the ground in the fetal position or on your stomach. Close your hands around your neck and protect your head. Play dead. There are many known cases where attacking bears lost all interest in a motionless person. Don't move, even if you think the bear isn't looking at you or is moving away. He continues to watch you intently. It's better to wait until he actually leaves. This will happen the sooner the more still you are. This way you seem less dangerous to him, which means you provoke a response from him to a lesser extent.

If, despite all these measures, If the bear starts to scratch or gnaw at you, then fight back. Don't be afraid of pain, at this moment you won't feel it. The main thing is to save your life, and to do this you need to stop the bear’s attack. Try to hit him as painfully as possible. Don't count on a fatal blow, go for the eyes. If you have a knife, hit with the knife, aim for the eye. The main thing to remember is that in the most seemingly desperate situation there is a chance, albeit small, and your life depends on how you use this chance.

If you have a firearm, do not rush to use it. You need to know for sure that To defend against a bear, you can only use weapons that can stop the attacking animal. To do this, it must have sufficient power. Among those common in Russia, the minimum acceptable calibers for this purpose are carbines 7.62X51 (.308Win.), 7.62X54R, 7.62X63 (30_06 Sprng), 8X57. Any carbines with a caliber of 9 mm or larger are much preferable in this situation. It is advisable that the cartridges be equipped with heavy expansion bullets. In such cases, smooth-bore guns with a caliber of at least 16 and 12, loaded with heavy caliber bullets, have proven themselves to be excellent in such cases. Don't believe fairy tales that you can kill a bear with a small gun. Using the wrong weapon can only aggravate a conflict situation rather than save you.

Remember: shooting is the last resort when encountering a brown bear. In this case, you can only use weapons of suitable power.

It is best to shoot at an attacking bear at the shortest distance - no more than five meters, when the chances of missing him are minimized. Never shoot an attacking animal in the head. Try to keep your cool.

Remember: composure will save your life!

These instructions are based on materials from a brochure prepared by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) “Brown bear and man: how to survive together.”

Previously on the topic Bear and safety: