Beber has Anti-Ursid Properties

Marko, it is my learned opinion that any form of rap music will repel most forms of life. Unfortunately, that includes any wood nymphs that might otherwise be attracted to you.

I wonder if some sounds would repel bears – loud or whatever. That would be lighter than bear spray. And would last longer time.

Someone experiment with this please

A pack of barking dogs

For those who harbor death wishes… a recording of bear cubs in distress. :)

Funny stuff. :) Years ago, I recall we were having trouble with moose coming on our property and upsetting my mom's horse. She took to playing rock and roll on a boombox outside and the moose went away.

belongs in chaff

Dousing yourself in gasoline and setting yourself ablaze would also scare off a bear, and would be less painful than a Justin Bieber song.

"Marko, it is my learned opinion that any form of rap music will repel most forms of life."

Gary, Bieber is not rap. And you're making yourself sound ancient.

"belongs in chaff"

Oh get over yourself. Though it was humorous I (and even a few other here) was semi serious about sounds that could be used to effectively repel bear interest. FWIW I've been on here since 2003, and this doesn't come down to the level of chaff just yet.

"Gary, Bieber is not rap."

Ken for what it's worth I didn't think Gary was saying that – but you are dead on about him sounding a little like an old fogey. :-)

There is an story Colin Fletcher wrote – it was in the collection of his short stuff, about a trip to Alaska where the guy who flew him out loaned him a revolver in case of bears. He ended up scaring one away with the gun, but only by banging it against a pot. The bear took off at that sound at a dead run away. I guess the question for research/experiences are if these reaction are spontaneous or if there are patterns. Will one bear run at a certain sound where another will think it is a diner bell. Or will the same bear react completely differently depending on its mood. I'm very sure they will start ignoring a particular sound if they hear the same one a lot. Perhaps another bear would have, for instance, chosen the strategy of obliterating the offensive noise coming from the iphone. I can see a far side comic with the bear holding the iphone and the mauled backpacked lying to the side, and the bear says, as it tap the screen "Billy Holiday! Now that's music!"

Anyway, just wondering in a loose sort of way about a more advance focused way than the usual "make lots of noise and possibly wear bells and so on" method.

"this doesn't come down to the level of chaff just yet."

I think because of global warming there will be more bear attacks.

Or maybe fewer…

Ken, of course he's not rap, never said he was. My thing is that Bieber sucks, and so does rap. If you want to know my ancientness, it's that I tend to sing Jimmy Buffett songs when I walk solo in griz territory. They match my hiking stride, most of them anyway, and they seem to work to stave off the bad monsters.

However, when I meet some possibly threatening animal face-to-face, I have a pretty effective BS line I toss to them to ease their apprension and de-escalate the situation. Just know that I've had some extensive linguistics training during my undergrad anthropology/pre-med days. There are several English words that are apparently universally pleasant-sounding to non-English speaking people (or animals?).

#1 on the list is the word(s) "cellar door." #2 is "rest area." I've expanded upon this, and based on soft sounds, morphemes, and allomorphs, I've come up with the following set of words to calm the wild beasts. It works damn well on all sorts of critters–moose, bears, bison, goats, and even chipmunks, ducks, and the rabbits in my yard. The key is to not accentuate the B, D, K, P, or T sounds, but rather to soften them so that they don't sound harsh and threatening. And don't look the animal directly in the eye–that's a sign of aggression.

Rest area cellar door (pronounced "Resth area cellar thoor)
Ama Dablam (ama thablam), Despues (Spanish for 'later' or 'afterwards')–pronounce
it 'thes poise'
Ich liebe dich (German for "I love you"); but instead of pronouncing it in the harsh southern German way–'eek leeba deek', do it in the northern Teutonic way of 'eesh leeva deesh', which sounds much softer.
Follow it all with one my pal shared with me once while cowboy camping on the crest of the Continental Divide back in '78, when I was putting my leggings on. He said, "Dunk, I speak french, poo yo long zhons on." (put your long johns on).

So, this is my time-tested line, modified to soften the harsh sounds:

Rest area, cellar door
Ama Dablam, despues
Ich liebe dich
Put your long johns on

It has worked for me scores of times over the years to calm various beasts, and to let them know I wasn't a threat. Of course, maybe my crappy singing voice, and those Buffett songs, scared away a bunch of bears too, before I ever saw them, who knows?

Is this chaff, or what? Probably it's just too much information…sorry. I'll go to bed now.

Do I look like a Justin Beber fan?

" Will one bear run at a certain sound where another will think it is a diner bell."

---

Actually, yes. On the Island of Kodiak (Alaska), there have been multiple anecdotes about bears coming towards the sound of gun shots. Because on Kodiak island, a gun shot means a hunter bagged a deer. A gun shot is a dinner bell there.

Well, yes. Most bears like other bears. Beiber can't even grow a beard yet.