Great Plains hunters may find they are no longer at the top of the food chain as the approach of winter sends nature’s predators into a frenzy.
Hundreds of furry omnivores face a life-or-death struggle to put on weight before spending months in hibernation, and they’re not about to let anyone stand in their way.
Key food sources are scarce this year, naturalists warned, bringing bears ever closer to human populations and increasing the risk of aggression to any hiker or hunter who strays into their path.
“They can eat pretty much anything,” said retired federal environmentalist Chuck Neal.
“It’s not about what, but how much they like it.”
A grizzly bear can weigh up to 1,300 pounds by the time its feeding frenzy is over.
Photographer Shayne Patrick Burke, 35, from Massachusetts, nearly bled to death after being attacked by a mother bear in Grand Teton National Park earlier this year.
The national brown and grizzly bear population is currently enduring a state of “hyperphagia,” an insatiable appetite that kicks in before their winter hibernation.
They have to consume around 20,000 calories a day and they don’t worry about where to get them.
“In fact, they can consume more than that, depending on the food source,” Neal told the Cowboy State Diary.
‘They can gain between £200 and £300 from July to November. It’s your biology. It’s what they evolved to do in preparation for winter sleep.
But 10 people are known to have died in bear attacks across the United States in the past five years, half of them during the winter feeding season.
“The whitebark pine has been decimated, primarily by mountain pine beetle outbreaks,” Neal said. “But they are very adaptable, so they have had to switch to other foods.”
Georgia hunter Landon Clement said he felt like he had been “hit by a train” when he was approached by a hungry grizzly bear in Wyoming’s upper Green River basin on Thursday.
The 31-year-old Blue Ridge man was bowhunting with a friend when he saw a mother and two cubs feeding in the woods.
“When those bears cut that road and headed toward me, I knew I was probably going to have a problem,” he said.
“I was still leaning against a rock, and when I realized they were coming towards me, I just backed up even further against that rock, I was practically glued to it.”
The bears stopped in their tracks when they saw the hunter before the mother decided to attack.
‘She just jumped. “He just charged right at me with his mouth wide open,” Clement said.
“I’ve never seen anything move so fast; it covered 10 to 12 yards in less than a second.”
There are believed to be more than 1,000 grizzly bears and up to 650 black bears in Wyoming, all of which currently feed for up to 22 hours a day.
“They can eat pretty much anything,” said retired federal environmentalist Chuck Neal.
The hunter tried to shoot him with his semi-automatic pistol but discovered that the mechanism had jammed.
“He bit my left thigh and wouldn’t let go,” she explained. ‘He just bit my thigh and started shaking his head.
‘As the bear was still attached to my leg, I was finally able to look down and see that my gun was jammed.
‘Once I cleared the jam, I put the gun as close to his head as I could and fired a couple more times. He broke free and rolled away from me. I knew I had killed that bear.
A disabled Army veterinarian nearly bled to death after being attacked by another mother bear in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park earlier this year.
Shayne Patrick Burke, 35, of Massachusetts, had traveled to the reservation to take photographs when he was attacked on Signal Mountain.
He was only saved when he shoved a can of bear spray into the animal’s jaws and it bit him, causing the container to explode.
There are believed to be more than 1,000 grizzly bears and up to 650 black bears in Wyoming, all of which currently feed for up to 22 hours a day.
And their numbers have been increased by animals that stray from Yellowstone National Park.
“That’s when we often see bears at lower elevations,” Neal said.
‘They may appear in a cornfield outside of Powell or on the Shoshone River bed eating silver buffalo berries.
“They’re looking for all the calories they can accumulate, and sometimes that takes them to the periphery of their currently occupied range.”
And since their feeding season coincides with hunting season, many hope to earn a share of the loot and “gut piles” that hunters leave behind when they gut their prey.
“Hunters have a special obligation to be vigilant because they’re putting food on the ground,” Neal said.
‘Bears look for piles of guts. This is a very nutritious food, but it also places the bears near groups of hunters and armed men.
“The mortality rate of bears has increased due to clashes between man and animal over piles of guts.”
Georgia hunter Landon Clement said he felt like he had been “hit by a train” when he was approached by a hungry Grizzly in Wyoming’s upper Green River basin on Thursday.
‘They can gain between £200 and £300 from July to November. It’s their biology,” Neal said. “It’s what they evolved to do in preparation for winter sleep.”
The clock starts ticking for the bears as soon as the days begin to shorten in July, and they will cover all the ground they need before retreating for the winter in November.
“The thing to remember is that Wyoming was always an area occupied by bears,” Neal said.
“Bears have been forced back into Yellowstone territory over the last century due to expanding human populations, and they are simply trying to recolonize what they always occupied.
“There is potential for more clashes between man and beast as they seek out more calories during hyperphagia.”