A must-read about these magnificent but sometimes deadly creatures—thoroughly revised, expanded, and updated

Author and wildlife expert Mike Lapinski compiled this collection of true bear-encounter stories from throughout the western United States, British Columbia, and Alaska. Some have happy endings, some fatal; all are thrilling. But there's more to this book than a heart-pounding read. Think of these as campfire stories with a higher purpose. Mike strongly advocates the use of bear pepper spray for backpackers, rangers, anglers, hunters, photographers, anybody who hikes through bear country. Repelling and reconditioning bears saves lives, both human and bruin, he asserts. In TRUE STORIES OF BEAR ATTACKS. Mike also shares insights into bear behavior, why they attack, how to protect yourself in bear country, and thoughts on the future of the great bear in the Lower 48. Organizations such as the U.S.D.A. Forest Service and the Center for Wildlife Information, National Bear Conservation, in Missoula, Montana, have expressed support for Mike's work.

Do bear attacks touch people in the far-back recesses of their psyches? Reach latent ancestral memories of cave days when humans were potential prey? Indeed, there are those who say their nightmares involved bears before they ever saw one, either in the flesh or in the movies. Unfortunately, these nightmares all too often come true. People perform almost superhuman feats in their fight to survive bear attacks. Jim Marriott, for instance, was attacked and mauled by a grizzly while carving out a moose head. When playing dead didn’t work, he slammed his skinning knife into the attacker’s neck. The surprised bear backed off only to charge again, cut his tongue trying to bite at the knife, and got the knife sunk into the same place. By the third charge, Marriott was on his feet despite chewed buttocks and damaged legs. This time the bear left with the knife still sticking in his neck. “In bear attacks, the human survival instinct is extraordinary,” says a doctor who sees the terrible punishment victims of bear attacks live through. “And equally amazing are the heroics and seemingly superhuman efforts of those around the victims.” BEAR ATTACKS OF THE CENTURY gathers together these stories of courage, chronicling the most horrific encounters between bears and people. With expert advice on avoiding attacks and information that may help both species leave an encounter unscathed, this book is required reading for hikers, hunters, campers, or anyone visiting bear country, and those who want to learn more about these sometimes deadly but always fascinating animals.

For more than half a century, grizzly bears roamed free in the national parks without causing a human fatality. Then in 1967, on a single August night, two campers were fatally mauled by enraged bears -- thus signaling the beginning of the end for America's greatest remaining land carnivore. Night of the Grizzlies, Olsen's brilliant account of another sad chapter in America's vanishing frontier, traces the causes of that tragic night: the rangers' careless disregard of established safety precautions and persistent warnings by seasoned campers that some of the bears were acting "funny"; the comforting belief that the great bears were not really dangerous -- would attack only when provoked. The popular sport that summer was to lure the bears with spotlights and leftover scraps -- in hopes of providing the tourists with a show, a close look at the great "teddy bears." Everyone came, some of the younger campers even making bold enough to sleep right in the path of the grizzlies' known route of arrival. This modern "bearbaiting" could have but one tragic result…

What causes bear attacks? When should you play dead and when should you fight an attacking bear? What do we know about black and grizzly bears and how can this knowledge be used to avoid bear attacks? And, more generally, what is the bear’s future? Bear Attacks is a thorough and unflinching landmark study of the attacks made on men and women by the great grizzly and the occasionally deadly black bear. This is a book for everyone who hikes, camps, or visits bear country–and for anyone who wants to know more about these sometimes fearsome but always fascinating wild creatures.

Whitehots.

Never before have so many exciting, hair-raising tales of bear encounters been collected into one book. Read about a man who swam into a lake to try to escape a furious bear only to find to his horror that bears can swim too! Or of the old gold prospector who got mauled and sewed up his own stomach-and lived to tell about it! When a bear attacks, it does so with devastating ferocity. Although the average attack lasts but thirty seconds, grievous injury can result from powerful paws and jaws. Strangely enough, most attacks are nonfatal. This book is filled with true-life episodes of close-calls, maulings, and deaths by all three North American bears: black, grizzly, and polar. These stories are not fiction. All are, eerily enough, based on complete fact. Even the FOX TV show When Animals Attack uses Kaniut's material for their shows. The author of two previous best-selling books on dangerous bears brings you a cliffhanger-you won't want to miss his latest and best yet!