The Geography of…Bear Attacks || Sept 16, 2026

Frankly, I am a lot more worried about pet owners letting their dogs off leash and getting attacked by a vicious dog while hiking. I have been bitten twice and treed a couple more.

Your chances of being attacked by a Bear are just about zero, unless you are attacked by a bear then it's 100%. Never trust your life to nature's benevolence, as the Earth wants to kill you. "Lead Spray" as always beats Bear Spray.

I once hiked a Nakasendo trail and was warned to carry a small bell to fend off any bears. I was deep in a forrest when I heard branches cracking ahead of me. I took out my phone and started blasting Rammstein because the little bell felt a bit too weak. Turns out it was 2 construction workers fixing transmission tower...and I walked on them blasting Rammstein and ringing a small bell like an idiot.

Just had a bear break into the cabin (which backs up to the RMNP in Colorado). Incidents in the area way up this year. Perhaps not that big a deal until it happens to you at 4:00 in the morning. Also had a mountain lion take down an elk 200 feet away. It’s getting to feel like the wild west.

When I went to Alaska this summer, I saw most everyone carried bear spray. This is something I never see in California.

Pedant alert.. Polar bears are not omnivores and bear spray is just seasoning for them!

OMG... I was just up there (in Alberta and BC). Really didn't want to have to cross back right now. But the wife made me. Fun fact 1: I knew a number of Australians (worked down there for a couple years) and they were terrified of running into a bear while visiting the US and being out in the woods. All the things in Australia that want to kill you and they're afraid of running into a bear. Fun fact 2: Walking along the waterfront path in Victoria just the other week we came upon a small deer having a spot of lunch... like, in the middle of town. Gotta love Canada... 😀

Always bear spray in the woods!

We have plenty of bold desensitized black bears in Northwest and Central Connecticut. Scary House break-ins. Folks that are walking dogs are having bad run ins. Kids playing outside getting into trouble. A bear even shook down an unsuspecting bake shop worker while she was loading up racks of fresh cupcakes. 😄 folks have to seriously keep their garbage, and picnics and pets under surveillance And locked up around here. Way too many break ins.

Went fishing with some Air Force buddies up at the Russian River in Alaska back in the 80's. Had a state trooper pull up behind us and insisted we all carry guns to the river as the brown bears were thick there....never before and never again did I have cops WANT us carrying loaded weapons in the woods!!

What about Sasquatch?

Seattle Times story September 16, 2026 (timely): BREAKING NEWS Another black bear encounter injures 2 near Lake Whatcom A man and a child were injured Sunday evening in an encounter with a black bear in Whatcom County — the second incident in a month in the Bellingham area.

Wait a minute... where I live a "trash panda" is a raccoon. (And yes, we have a few bears here.)

Trash Pandas are Racoons here in Canada. PS next time in YYC you can borrow my bear spray.

This attack was a black bear that apparently was tracking the victim. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sask-bear-attack-mma-fighter-hrishikesh-koloth-india-9.7209862

...and that was the last anyone ever heard from Peter Zeihan.....

Peter, about 15 years ago, I had twin infants, who would generate a lot of dirty diapers, which filled up a garbage bin on a daily basis. When we would put the garbage out weekly for the garbage truck, we'd always hear a lot of clanging and rustling around our trash bins all night long. We thought opposums, racoons, bears? Eventually, two black bears came knocking on our door, asking if they could haul away all of our dirty diapers. They said they'd do it for free and we agreed. Eventually, we became good friends and use to hang out together. However, one day I asked them, why do black bears like to sniff dirty diapers? They said I was beng racist so I never brought up the subject again. True story.

Huh. I hadn't heard about the Japanese bear issues. It makes sense, though. The only problem bears are the habituated bears - the ones that have enough contact with humans and human food to start associating humans with food. Otherwise they're just raccoons, or mild part-time predators that don't have humans in their food chain. I've never been at all concerned about bears in the U.S. or Canada, except at dense car-camping sites with a lot of food and trash. Moose on the other hand - those things are ornery. There are more moose attacks on humans than bear attacks each year.

Northern Japan? We have bears in Tokyo now, not downtown - yet. Some will be shot, beginning next year.

Just in time for Fat Bear Week 😂

11-6 last season. If their defense can keep up with Caleb Williams offense they could go all the way to the SuperbOwl.

Interesting discussion…thanks. Here in CA, students from UC Santa Barbara, staff from the Center for Biological Diversity, representatives of the Yurok and Tejon Tribes, and the California Grizzly Alliance (members of the other orgs just listed – sort of double counting) sponsored State Senate Bill 1305 as a first step in a goal of re-introducing grizzly bears. Before anyone really paid attention, the state senate passed the bill. But fortunately, it was placed in a suspense file and held in committee missing the 2026 legislative session. This is a perfect example of the good idea fairy sprinkling pixy dust over the ultra-liberal enclaves in CA. People who are safe in their homes hundreds of miles from where the actual grizzly bears would be located. Or take safe walks along the beach or to the outdoor mall to buy a sierra club calendar. What could go wrong with reintroducing another apex predator in a state with a population of 30 million? But hey, when people get elected to office, they have to “do something” otherwise, why would the “people” have elected them? I have no doubt the bill will be back in 2027.

Apparently, bears like Asian food too.

the key takeaways from the EIA data released on Wednesday: 1. Distillate fuel stockpiles saw a much-needed build, rising by 1.6 million barrels. Exports also ticked up last week by 1.6 million barrels a day. The increase isn’t enough to bring supplies back from their lowest seasonally level ever, but it is enough to offer some reassurance that the US diesel supply has a little bit of breathing room headed into peak demand season, which starts in October. 2. US refiners last week imported the most Venezuelan oil this year, bringing shipments to their highest levels since 2017. Just under 800,00 barrels of Venezuelan oil arrived in the US last week, and we’re inching closer to the 1-million-barrel-a-day mark last seen in the late 2010s. This comes as the Trump administration and the Latin American country eye a suite of oil deals to bring in capital and boost production. 3. Exports of US crude saw the biggest weekly uptick since late May, up to nearly 5 million barrels a day. It’s the second rise in exports in three weeks, and an expected one, given that the war in Iran continues to create demand for American supplies. But the price of chartering a vessel to deliver US crude is rising, and it could have an impact on exports in the coming weeks. Will Kubzansky Refined Products Reporter

does your life insurance pay if you get eaten by a bear?

I REALLY want to use an AI to show a bear stalking Peter and rolling its eyes whenever he says things like: american black bears are trash pandas

True story with one lie: I own a hair loss salon. We make custom wigs for hair loss (cancer, alopecia, etc). One of our clients was attacked by s black bear in his childhood. It bit off a huge part of his skull. He had skin grafted over top and the intention was to put a skull plate in when he was an adult (can't do it when the skull is still growing. As an adult, he never did go back for the skull plate so it was just skin over his brain. We made the 1/2 wig just to cover the bald section. Whenever we poked the spot he would say "yellow"

Far more likely to have your neck artery ripped open by some neighborhood scumbag's pit bull (if you're under 10 or over 80) statistically speaking

Here in Alaska if you carry a handgun for bear protection, you are advised to file the front site off so it won’t hurt so bad when the bear sticks it up your ass.

I was recently in Whistler BC and we have many bears here. If you walk along any of the pathways, it's likely you'll see bear scat, if not a real bear. My visitors always ask what's the difference in bear scat of black bears & grizzlies. Black bear scat is full of berries. Grizzly bear scat is full of bear bells and smells like bear spray.

It is sad that I must report 20 minutes after this video was uploaded Peter was dragged off by bears… they just wanting him to go clubbing with them… if you know you know

Oh yeah, in the Northeast, hang your food at night. Properly. I THOUGHT I did it correctly near my sole-occupied leanto by throwing a rope over a branch, hauling up my food in my sleeping bag cover, and tying it off. I didn't know that bears knew about gravity, and one swiped my tie-down spot, and in the middle of the night I heard a big thump. All my food and three days out from the trailhead, I charged off into the woods to get my food back. In just my underwear, boots, and spoon with my metal cup as a bear rattler, I went in the dark forest without a light. After a few mighty strides, I suddenly realized what the HELL I was doing. It was a long, hungry hike out with my sleeping bag draped over my pack.

“Maybe I’d better turn around now” —hopefully not Peter’s last words? We would sorely miss the always insightful and often quirky and entertaining analysis from a road less travelled!

I wonder of a bear will reply here and give his side of the story.

Back in the 1970s, I was waiting for my fellow hiker at a trail junction. Lying on a convenient log smoking my pipe, I watched a black bear coming up one trail and my friend on the other. Both looked up, saw each other, and each bolted back down the trail from where they had just come. I enjoyed the show.

I thought this was going to be about Russian attacks on NATO.

LOL never thought bear attacks could have a common denominator with population demographics. You're killing me Peter 😂

Post another video soon so we know you're OK!

🤣🤣🤣 What about Russian bears?

😂

lol

That was awesome and hilarious, always enjoy my morning dose of Encyclopedia Zeihanica.

I just figured cocaine usage was way up in Japan and the bears were breaking into the stashes. Thank you for the more logical explanation.

I liked the part of black bears being just big raccoons and liking diapers but the ending was the best. A PSA from Peter

Black bears can run as fast as 35 mph. That’s approximately 50 feet in one second. You have no chance whether it’s bear spray or a machine gun. Lots of luck.

Oh, so it's bear spray that Donald slathers all over his face?

Big azz handguns. Also forgot to mention no pew pews for the Japanese.

I live in Colorado, 3 hours to your south. There is almost nobody here. I see bear sign almost every time I go hiking. I only take bear spray. I have been doing this for 3 decades.

Love your explanation of the bear situation in Japan & US. Very interesting!

Bears by us near mnt mitchell nc, are smart. They stay 25’ away from any one with a can in their hand. Funny… Bear spray has 25’ range.

The weight of a one shot grizzly bear stopping gun would be excessive as a hiking carry. Pepper spray. Better choice.

You hear that, Ed?! Bears! You’re putting the station in danger.

Had a few run ins with black bears over the years in the woods. Never been particularly worried. Grizzlies are a different story, but still way more scared of moose.

Don't shoot them - that'll just piss them off. Squirt some capsicum spray on their really sensitive eyes and noses. Hmm, that wouldn't also piss them off?

Lmao!! You are amazing; loved this today. Keep a look out for them bears! 😂

Good ending 🙂

So the bear was not Russia?

Last summer while hiking very near Vancouver we ran into 2 large male black bears who were on the same trail and they were unusually aggressive, false charging and accelerating toward our group of 3. Our group plus everyone else on the trail had to backtrack 8 km. It was an unusual amount of aggression for black bears but avoidance was our number 1 choice over using bear spray as a last resort.

hahaha....oops

Just this past week, in your state, a black bear came in a teenaged girl's bedroom window in Durango. After scratching her, she yelled and screamed enough it ran out of the house.

Good tip about the bear spray; lots of guys I know argue about what type of gun and caliber of bullets will stop a grizzly. Bear spray may lack the frontier man ethos, but bear spray will save your hide and preserve the bear to hunt something more appropriate later. Bear spray may also be effective against home intruders and people who refuse to leave you alone.

Of course you should always have bear spray, but the risk is low in Banff compared to other places. As a local I would say that the grizzly bears in Banff generally know how to avoid people and are otherwise accustomed to people hiking in the area. As you discussed with bears in Japan, where Grizzly bears are very dangerous is remote areas where they aren't accustomed to people. That his when they lash out with violence and is where most of the fatal attacks happen. Remote areas are also where the problem bears get relocated. Hunters in remote places get killed all the time by bears. As you said, a rifle usually isn't the best thing to have unless you're very good with it. Ex military people would be fine with a rifle under duress, most other people not so much. Also, yes, with a smaller caliber rifle, shooting it will just make it even angrier. That is especially true if you're a duck hunter using a shotgun. A shotgun is just going to cause a flesh wound and won't immobilize it most likely. For the average person bear spray is the best option as it is an extremely potent irritant for a bear. A high caliber revolver would also be okay but again, most people are horrible marksman and shouldn't trust they'll be able to accurately shoot when a 700 pound monster is charging them as fast as a sprinting horse.

Stay safe on your hikes, Peter!

So here we have a guy who provides information to companies to plan for the future, yet when he himself enters a risky neighborhood he has failed to plan for the future of a bear attack. This illustrates the human ability to disconnect facts from planning. Go get you some bear spray dude and carry it everywhere! As Teddy once said, "Talk softy and carry a big stick."

From what I understand, black bears being the small bears of the species evolved with a prey response. Unlike a predator like the grizzly. This is why they are skiddish and will run away when frightened instead of attack.

This wasn't the video I expected today.... However as someone who lives in Maine and is exposed to bears it was a fun title to read .. however the bears here are definitely like ghosts. They are more skiddish then deer