Those who go on to read more by Herrero about bear attacks (legal documents, etc.) will find that he ultimately admits that this is far from an exact science too. In his testimony as expert witness in the Mt. Lemon (Arizona) attack, Herrero contradicts some of the most fundamental premises found in this book.

Read this book, by all means, but before entering bear country, keep in mind that sometimes bears will do the unexpected. After all, what's the difference between black bear poop and grizzly bear poop? Griz poop has bells in it and smells like pepper.


Very Informative   May 15, 2001
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is a great book with lots of info not only about bear attacks, but about their behavior in general. There are different circumstances in a bear attack depending of the type of bear, whether the bear is startled or looking for a meal. This book explains eveything for you, even how to recognize the tracks of the different bears. The author is careful not to make assumptions and speculations, but just to present known facts and conclusions. He won't say that a certain response to a bear attack will or will not always work, but just how it has worked in the past. I would be interested to know about Polar Bear attacks, which is not covered in the book.


Bear Prepared manual   January 26, 2001
 9 out of 12 found this review helpful

Fascinating read made vital when I lived in grizzly country in British Columbia. Excellent description of bear behavior and how to respond quickly given clues that cooperating bears hopefully will provide.

Does an excellent writing craft of showing how truly majestic this creation of God's is and its needs for habitat and their erosion by the onslaught of man.

Even if one is not living in bear danger, this book makes for very fine reading.


informative scientific review   November 20, 2000
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

This is a great book. I love to hike in bear country and feel much more prepared now that I have read it. Herrero presents his data in both a scientific and honest way careful not to overstate what we do or don't know about bears. He is clearly the world's authority on bear behavior as he has been on site after nearly every bear attack in north america in the past 30 years. He describes in detail (often gorry but necessarily so) what happened in each account and provides a critique of what the injured did or did not do correctly in the given situation. Clearly anyone who reads this book will be better prepared to enter bear country with both respect for bears and how to avoid confrontation. I highly recommend this book.