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BEAR CAUTIONS AND ADVICE FOR GLACIER NATIONAL PARK - There are both black bears and grizzlies in this Park.

Hiking in Bear Country! - Don’t Surprise Bears! Bears will usually move out of the way if they hear people approaching, so make noise. Most bells are not enough. Calling out and clapping hands loudly at regular intervals are better ways to make your presence known. Hiking quietly endangers you, the bear, and other hikers. A bear constantly surprised by quiet hikers may become habituated to close human contact and less likely to avoid people. This sets up a dangerous situation for both visitors and bears.

Don’t Make Assumptions! You can’t predict when and where bears might be encountered along a trail. People often assume they don’t have to make noise while hiking on a well-used trail. Some of the most frequently used trails in the park are surrounded by excellent bear habitat. People have been charged and injured by bears fleeing from silent hikers who unwittingly surprised them along the trail. Even if other hikers haven’t seen bears along a trail section recently, don’t assume that bears aren’t there. Don’t assume a bear’s hearing is any better than your own. Some trail conditions make it hard for bears to see, hear, or smell approaching hikers. Be particularly careful by streams, against the wind, or in dense vegetation. A blind corner or a rise in the trail also requires special attention.

Don’t Approach Bears! Bears spend a lot of time eating, so avoid hiking in obvious feeding areas like berry patches, cow parsnip thickets, or fields of glacier lilies. Keep children close by. Hike in groups and avoid hiking early in the morning, late in the day, or after dark. Never intentionally get close to a bear. Individual bears have their own personal space requirements which vary depending on their mood. Each will react differently and its behavior can’t be predicted. All bears are dangerous and should be respected equally. Bears may appear tolerant of people and then attack without warning. A bear’s body language can help determine its mood. In general, bears show agitation by swaying their heads, huffing, and clacking their teeth. Lowered head and laid-back ears also indicate aggression. Bears may stand on their hind legs or approach to get a better view, but these actions are not necessarily signs of aggression. The bear may not have identified you as a person and is unable to smell or hear you from a distance.

BEAR ATTACKS - The vast majority of bear attacks have occurred because people have surprised a bear. In this type of situation the bear may attack as a defensive maneuver. In rare cases bears may attack at night or after stalking people. This kind of attack is rare. It can be very serious because it often means the bear is looking for food and preying on you. If you are attacked at night or if you feel you have been stalked and attacked as prey, try to escape. If you cannot escape, or if the bear follows, use pepper spray, or shout and try to intimidate the bear with a branch or rock. Do whatever it takes to let the bear know you are not easy prey. If you surprise a bear, here are a few guidelines to follow that may help:

Talk quietly or not at all if you suddenly come upon a bear; the time to make loud noise is before you encounter a bear. Try to detour around the bear if possible.
Never run or climb a tree to escape a bear! Back away slowly, but stop if it seems to agitate the bear.
Assume a nonthreatening posture. If it is a brown bear, turn sideways, or bend at the knees to appear smaller. If it is a black bear, group together to appear larger.
Use peripheral vision. Bears may interpret direct eye contact as threatening.
Drop something (not food) to distract the bear. Keep your pack on for protection in case of an attack.
If a bear attacks and you have pepper spray, use it!
If a grizzly bear makes contact, protect your chest and abdomen by falling to the ground on your stomach, or assuming a fetal position to reduce the severity of an attack. Cover the back of your neck and head with your hands. Do not move until you are certain the bear has left. If a black bear makes contact, you must fight that bear with whatever you have, make lots of noise, throw rocks, look as large as you can - do not ball up unless there is nothing else you feel you can do. You must fight off black bears, remaining passive could get you killed. Pepper spray is allowed in this national park - know how to use it properly.

June 19, 2010 - Drowning Victim Recovered from Virginia Creek in Glacier National Park Glacier National Park rangers and the Flathead County dive team located and retrieved the body of a woman who fell from a bridge below Virginia Falls on the park’s east side Friday, June 18. The woman is identified as 62-year-old Elizabeth Gray McNamara of Kansas City, Missouri. A witness says they saw the woman and her husband, who was in front, crossing the Virginia Falls Trail Bridge on the St. Mary Lake Trail shortly after 1 p.m. when McNamara slipped and fell about four feet into cold high swift moving water. Park officials estimate the water was between 40 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit. The wooden bridge is about 30 feet long and more than two feet wide with a hand-rail on one side. The witness and her husband ran along the bank but lost sight of the victim downstream in Virginia Creek. The dive team located the woman’s body Saturday about 220 yards downstream from the bridge entrapped under water. Virginia Falls is located about a half-mile west of the head of St. Mary Lake. About 20 National Park Service (NPS) staff searched from both banks of Virginia Creek Friday afternoon and evening. A helicopter crew from Minuteman Aviation conducted an aerial search Friday evening but whitewater prevented them from seeing into the water. The search resumed Saturday morning with the Flathead County search dogs, dive team, and NPS rangers. Saturday around 1 p.m. the dive team located the woman’s body. Because of the swift water conditions, it took a couple of hours to remove the body from the water. Park superintendent Chas Cartwright expressed deep sympathy for the McNamara family, adding that this tragic loss serves as a reminder to anyone hiking near water to be extremely careful as bridges and rocks are often wet and slippery both from water as well as from algae and moss. Water-related accidents are the number one cause of death in Glacier National Park. The last drowning fatality was July 14, 2009.