Althouse: "Right now they’re eating a lot of sedges, which are a plant with high moisture content in it, because they’re trying to get their stomachs working again."

May 14, 2026

"Right now they’re eating a lot of sedges, which are a plant with high moisture content in it, because they’re trying to get their stomachs working again."

"It’s not like they’re ferociously hungry and are looking to eat the first person that comes by."

Said Andy McMullen, founder of Bearwise, "an organization specializing in bear safety training," quoted in "Black Bear Fatally Mauls Uranium Contractor in Northern Canada/The attack, at a remote uranium mining site in northern Saskatchewan, was only the fourth fatal black bear encounter in the province’s recorded history, officials said" (NYT).

Another McMullen quote: "Here in Canada, unless you’re in downtown Toronto, you’re in bear country."

42 comments:

Jamie said...: Well. Next stop but one on my husband's and my gypsy wanderings, beginning June 1, is just outside downtown Toronto - I hope that's close enough to avoid "bear country"!

Also, our youngest sent us a picture yesterday from the road trip he's on with a friend and his family, at present on the Olympic peninsula: a black bear, trundling along beside their car, maybe fifteen feet from where my son was sitting. Luckily with window rolled up and car in motion.; 5/14/26, 9:13 AM
Iman said...: "It’s not like they’re ferociously hungry and are looking to eat the first person that comes by."

Look for the bear necessities, the simple bear necessities;
Forget about your worries and your strife.
I mean the bear necessities, or Mother Nature’s recipes
You’re on the menu, or maybe, it’s your wife; 5/14/26, 9:17 AM
Ice Nine said...: Yeah, being a little bit aware of what's out there is pretty important up that way. Being prepared will help. I've been deep in (grizzly) bear country a few times - but never without a .44 magnum.; 5/14/26, 9:19 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Beware Fredos.; 5/14/26, 9:19 AM
tcrosse said...: I'm bearish on Alberta separatism since a federal judge has put the kibosh on the referendum. First Nations have objected that they were not consulted, so they just can't bear it. The movement is in danger of losing its bearings.; 5/14/26, 9:25 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/14/26, 9:30 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: The United States of Bearmerica has decided Canada must not have a nuclear weapon.; 5/14/26, 9:31 AM
Big Mike said...: "Here in Canada, unless you’re in downtown Toronto, you’re in bear country."

Despite which the Liberals under Trudeau and now Carney are trying to restrict gun ownership.; 5/14/26, 9:46 AM
Fred Drinkwater said...: My father used to be in Fort Churchill, on Hudson's Bay, pretty regularly. Then, it was common for Polar bears to walk through town. They weren't really bothering anyone, they were merely commuting to the water/ice. Silly humans had built the town smack in the middle of a bear highway.; 5/14/26, 9:47 AM
Fred Drinkwater said...: First Nations weren't consulted? Isn't that what the referendum is for?; 5/14/26, 9:48 AM
Money Manger said...: Tech investors are mauling the bears right back.; 5/14/26, 10:09 AM
Leland said...: "Russian bear trained to prevent west from extracting uranium." - Boris; 5/14/26, 10:11 AM
R C Belaire said...: From Instapundit, on why bear spray isn't allowed in Yosemite: "The reason it is banned comes down to the bears themselves. California’s national parks are home exclusively to black bears, which are far less aggressive than grizzlies. The National Park Service says bear spray is unnecessary for black bear encounters and that no one has been killed or seriously injured by a black bear in Yosemite’s recorded history.”; 5/14/26, 10:19 AM
Achilles said...: Bears are scary animals.

Government people try to paint them as fluffy and cute. They are not that.; 5/14/26, 10:24 AM
bagoh20 said...: The Grizzly Man spent 13 years trying to get a bear to kill him before succeeding, and along come these beginners and score without even trying. He must be spinning in his bear.; 5/14/26, 10:39 AM
MikeD said...: Odd are either the camp had an open garbage dump, catnip for bears. or it was a mama bear with cubs. Maybe both.; 5/14/26, 10:49 AM
Lazarus said...: "Bear safety training" is a good idea. You have no idea how many bears die each year from slip and falls and smoking in bed.; 5/14/26, 11:00 AM
Lazarus said...: Surely there are some neighborhoods of Toronto that are "bear country."; 5/14/26, 11:01 AM
CJinPA said...: I think fatal black bear encounters are pretty rare. We have sightings in our suburban community.; 5/14/26, 11:11 AM
rehajm said...: I’m careful but never scared of black bears, only griz. Maybe I should be…; 5/14/26, 11:17 AM
Fred Drinkwater said...: I've encountered numerous Black bears in the Sierra, including in Yosemite. Never any kind of problem, and I never felt at risk. Grizz are a whole different thing, though.; 5/14/26, 11:30 AM
john mosby said...: What if a bear eats the uranium, and mutates into Bearzilla? CC, JSM; 5/14/26, 11:34 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Thanks NYT's great reporting. From reading the article I learned:

1) a man who worked for an uranium company was killed
2) by a black bear
3) That's unusual.

It'd be nice to have uh...details. But I guess we have to get ahead of the story to head off a bearlash.; 5/14/26, 11:40 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Mauled. Is this a sophisicated word for "Killed"? And does "mauled" also mean "Eaten"?; 5/14/26, 11:41 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: "What if a bear eats the uranium"

Not much unless it eats too much, then they get critical gas.; 5/14/26, 11:45 AM
Rustygrommet said...: More people are killed by Black Bears than Grizzley Bears.
There are more Black Bears than Grizzley Bears
Black Bears tolerate close proximity to humans.
Don't annoy the wildlife.
Unless somebody is filming.
Then go ahead.
I need the entertainment.; 5/14/26, 11:51 AM
Fr. Denis Lemieux said...: Black bears are an entirely different deal than grizzlies and polar and even brown. They are not especially dangerous, are more afraid of us than we of them, and are basically more of a nuisance animal for beekeepers and such. I've lived in close proximity to them my whole life.; 5/14/26, 11:55 AM
Leland said...: "What if a bear eats the uranium"

What makes you think the bear didn't eat the uranium? Perhaps that is why the black bear mauled the human, when normally it is only brown bears that do so. It ate the uranium, got great powers, doesn't give a shit about responsibility, and ate the human's face.; 5/14/26, 11:55 AM
wild chicken said...: Declare open season on bears and on Coyotes too. We need to take the woods back!; 5/14/26, 12:06 PM
tcrosse said...: If the bear eats the uranium, what does the bear shit in the woods?; 5/14/26, 12:14 PM
Clyde said...: We have black bears in Southwest Florida as well. I have a picture that a friend took on the night shift a couple of years ago of a bear outside of the chainlink fence of our parking lot by the smokers’ hut.; 5/14/26, 12:38 PM
Clyde said...: @ wild chicken
One of the big local stories now is about a 7-week old coyote pup that was hit by a car and is recovering at the CROW wildlife center on Sanibel Island. One guy on Facebook noted that they are an invasive species and kill pets and wildlife, and that it would be cheaper to euthanize the coyote. Most of the responses were Angry faces.; 5/14/26, 12:42 PM
bagoh20 said...: "If the bear eats the uranium, what does the bear shit in the woods?"

Pooptonium; 5/14/26, 12:48 PM
john mosby said...: Clyde: “ a bear outside of the chainlink fence of our parking lot by the smokers’ hut.”

Okay that is taking the tobacco-free workplace too far! CC, JSM; 5/14/26, 1:00 PM
bagoh20 said...: I worry about coyotes, because in Vegas they are everywhere I go and I have kids and dogs in tow. I know people who have lost their small dogs to them in their own back yards, even in the middle of Los Angeles. They would stand outside my back yard when I lived adjacent to LAX.
On the other side, I recently read that extensive culling of coyotes in Texas led to the proliferation of wild pigs that are causing a lot of damage. Now after years of unsuccessfully trying to kill off the pigs, they noticed a sudden unusual drop in the population. They put up trail cams and discovered it was coyotes that had figured out how to cleverly distract sows and raid the nests as a team with a complex but flexible strategy that was far more effective than all the government efforts. Nature finds a balance.; 5/14/26, 1:02 PM
Richard said...: This is the rhyme we were told on our trip to Alaska.
If it's brown, lie down. If it's black, fight back. If it's white, good night.; 5/14/26, 1:11 PM
Clyde said...: Just to add, the smokers’ hut is inside the fence, but the bear was not far away at all!; 5/14/26, 1:23 PM
Iman said...: bagoh20 said...
"If the bear eats the uranium, what does the bear shit in the woods?"

A hot mess?; 5/14/26, 1:48 PM
Iman said...: “I have a picture that a friend took on the night shift a couple of years ago of a bear outside of the chainlink fence of our parking lot by the smokers’ hut.”

Was he puffin’ on a Camel, Clyde?; 5/14/26, 1:53 PM
Anthony said...: Huh. We have coyotes all over the place down in AZ. Smaller pets, especially cats -- there are very few "stray" cats around -- seem to be their preferred prey, but they have gone after javelina, too.

I only saw one black bear up in WA state, as it crossed a road. Why, I don't know.

ba-dum-dum; 5/14/26, 2:05 PM
john mosby said...: Richard: "If it's brown, lie down. If it's black, fight back. If it's white, good night."

Also Don Lemon's rule of, um, thumb. CC, JSM; 5/14/26, 2:37 PM
tcrosse said...: My next door neighbor, an old widow lady here on the fringes of Las Vegas would take her shih tsu on long walks. She always packed heat in case coyotes took a fancy to her dog, although it's illegal to discharge a firearm withing city limits. She had been an officer in the US Army, so she probably knew how to shoot.; 5/14/26, 5:48 PM