Rating: 
Summary: Would make a good pamphlet
Review: This books has good information, but not a lot of it. It would have made a good pamphlet--maybe even a booklet. To fill the rest of the book we get opinions. Opinions on just about every other bear book ever written, opinions on magazines and magazine articles, newspaper articles, the Parks Service, various research experiments, hikers, cyclists, snowmobilers, how to resolve land use issues, etc. etc. The author seems to value his own opinions greatly. The result was like listening to a series of endless arrogant rants from that co-worker you wish would just go back to his desk.
Rating: 
Summary: Enlightening, pragmatic, fun to read
Review: This daring book challenges conventional wisdom about bears, it's well-documented, it provides safety tips you won't find anywhere else, and it's written with style. Reading Bear Basics is like sitting around the campfire and chatting about bears with a witty outdoorsman who has years of first hand experience with bears, and an encyclopedic knowledge of bear literature. You casually mention that bears eat anything and everything; John Muir wrote that to bears, everything is food except granite. "John Muir was wrong," says author Dave Smith. "When it comes to natural foods, bears are rather finicky. Out of 1,000 types of plants in a given area, they might only consume 100-250, and each of those will be eaten during a particular season." To reduce the risk of encounting a bear, Smith suggests contacting land management agencies before you take a hike: "Resource management experts can often predict when and where to expect bear because the bruins are so keyed in on seasonal food sources." X-C skiers generally don't give much thought to bears during the winter, but Smith says, "When I worked as a winterkeeper in Yellowstone, I often saw my first grizzly tracks in March. During the unusually mild winter of 1995-96, winterkeeper Steve Fuller saw grizzly tracks in February. No matter where you're going, you should be aware of bear hibernation patterns. You ask if bears have good vison or poor vision, and Smith replies, "A 1937 report from Europe noted that brown bears in a zoo could see people at 120 yards, and recognize their handler at 60 yards." He then relates an anecdote by a bear researcher in Colorado who was spotted by a black bear from a distance of 800 yards. He closes by noting that Yellowstone Grizzly Foundation research director Steve French has an "excellent rule of thumb regarding the vison of bears: if you can see a bear, you should assume the bear can see you." Backcountry Bear Basics is filled with useful information like this. Now if I see a grizzly 150 yards away, I'll assume the bear can see me and I won't move around unless the bear is preoccupied. Although many books discuss bear vision and other topics that are covered in Bear Basics, Smith consistently gives the most thoughtful, pratical information on each subject. In addition, he debunks a lot of myths about bears. This is the ultimate book on bears and bear safety.
Rating:
Summary: Bear Facts In A Nutshell
Review: This is a fantastic book! If you're looking for a book about bear behavior, what to watch for in the backcountry, what to do in an encounter, etc, this is the book! What I really liked about this book over several of the others is that it presents the facts about bear habitat, behavior, encounters with people, and other necessary info for every backcountry enthusiast without the distracting nonsense and environmental crap that seems to be dominant in most books of this nature. Well worth the small price tag! A definate must-read!
Rating:
Summary: Women, Menstruation, Bears
Review: Under the heading "Feminine Hygiene and Bears," Glacier National Park's current website claims, "although evidence is inconclusive, sexual actitivity or a woman's menstrual period may attract bears." Women who are concerned about warnings like this should read Backcountry Bear Basics. Instead of repeating or embellishing Glacier Park's menstrual warning (as far too many writers have done over the years), Smith reviewed the evidence and found it wanting. He devotes eleven meticulously documented pages of Backcountry Bear Basics to the menstrual myth. After a graduate student did a study on polar bears and menstrual odors in 1980, the superintendent of Glacier wrote a memo that said the results of the study "were inconclusive and the applicability of the thesis to Glacier's grizzly and black bears is questionable." So why does Glacier continue to post menstrual warnings? Smith says park officials are "in a quandry. Because of 'liability implications,' NPS officials felt they had to warn park visitors that it might be dangerous for menstruating women to travel in bear country. At the same time, the NPS had to tell employees that it was safe for menstruating women to work in bear country. It was clear there would be lawsuits for sexual discrimination if the NPS refused to hire women for jobs in bear country." Whether the topic is menstruation, food storage, or pepper spray, Dave Smith really did his homework. You get practical advice in this book that you won't find anywhere else.
Rating:
Summary: recommended by experts
Review: Use Amazon.com's "look inside this book" feature to view the back cover of Backcountry Bear Basics, and you'll see that Steve French, Director of Research for the Yellowstone Grizzly Foundation, says Backcountry Bear Basics is "the number one book I'd recommend to anyone going into bear country." Alaska Department of Fish & Game biologist Larry Aumiller, manager of the McNeil River State Sanctuary for Brown Bears, writes that Backcountry Bear Basics is "entertaining and accurate."
I'm not aware of any other bear safety book, including Ph.D. biologist Stephen Herrero's Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance, that features endorsements from genuine bear experts.
"Living in Harmony With Bears," a publication by the Alaska Office of the National Audubon Society, includes a Suggested Reading list that mentions both Backcountry Bear Basics and Herrero's Bear Attacks. (http://www.audubon/org/chapter/ak/ak/m2item3.html) Biologist Derek Stonorov wrote Living in Harmony With Bears. John Schoen, Senior Scientist for Alaska Audubon, is listed as a contributor. Living In Harmony With Bears says Herrero's Bear Attacks is "a classic by the world's foremost expert on bear-human interactions," but Backcountry Bear Basics is "the number one recommendation for anyone going into the field with bears."
I found Backcountry Bear Basics to be accurate, practical, and fun to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Most accurate, practical, up-to-date bear safety book
Review: With dozens of books about bears on the market, including five books about safety in bear country, why choose Backcountry Bear Basics? Why did Yellowstone Grizzly Foundation research director Steve French write a dust-jacket endorsement for Bear Basics stating that it's "the number one book I'd recommend to anyone going into bear country." 1) Bear Basics is accurate. Lots of bear literature states that bears eat anything and everything, a claim bolstered by John Muir's remark that to bears, "everything is food except granite." In Bear Basics, I said, "John Muir was wrong. When it comes to natural foods, bears are rather finicky. Out of 1,000 thypes of plants in a given area, they might only consume 100 to 250, and each of those will be eaten during a particular season." 2) Bear Basics is funny. Some bear literature claims that human sexual activity may attract or interest bears. Bear Basics notes that there have never been any studies on this topic, although it would be a "great research project for an intrepid grad student." 3) Bear Basics includes a long chapter that explains how officials in Glacier National Park, Montana are responsible for the myth that menstruating women should stay out of bear country. 4) Bear Basics is up to date. For many years bear literature has told people to "play dead" is by curling up in a cannonball position. In Bear Basics, I point out that the best way to play dead is to lie "face down with your hands crossed behind your neck, elbows tucked tight along your face, and legs slightly apart." 5) Bear Basics gives you practical advice. Climb a tree to escape a charging grizzly? Good luck. Bear Basics explains that "if you don't notice a grizzly until it's charging, it's too late for tree-climbing." 6) There's no blood and gore in Bear Basics, no sensationalistic bear attack tales with clinical descriptions of the wounds bears inflict on people. 7) Bear Basics will give you a better understanding of bear behavior than any other book. As an example, you'll often read that grizzly bears will defend their territory. Grizzlies are not territorial. If you don't know the difference between territory, home range, and personal space (the distance that, if entered, will force an animal to fight or flee) read Bear Basics. If you don't truly understand the concept of personal space, you might get killed following expert advice that says the safest way to approach grizzlies for a picture is to let the bear sense you when you're far away before making a slow, obvious approach. You're being told to encroach on a grizzly bear's personal space and see if it decides to fight or flee. Read Bear Basics to avoid mistakes like this. With the information Bear Basics gives you about bear behavior, you can see bear-human encounters from the bear's point-of-view.
|
