California Dreaming, Nightmare Edition
August 5, 2021 7:59 AM Subscribe
Surrounded by fires, parched by drought, and shut down by the pandemic – residents of California’s scenic South Lake Tahoe thought they’d endured everything. That was until this week, when the US Forest Service announced it was closing several popular sites after discovering bubonic plague in the chipmunk population. The Guardian's Erin McCormick reports on something that sounds terrible but maybe isn't a nightmare? As frightening as it sounds, plague in rodents at higher elevations is apparently not that rare, and a spokeswoman for the US Forest Service said spread to humans was easily preventable with a few precautions.
Bubonic plague is pretty uncommon, but it effects Native Americans disproportionately.
posted by SPrintF at 8:11 AM on August 5, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 8:11 AM on August 5, 2021 [6 favorites]
"Easily preventable with a few precautions" is no longer a phrase that puts my mind at ease, we HATE preventing things and we absolutely LOATHE precaution.
posted by bleep at 8:15 AM on August 5, 2021 [68 favorites]
posted by bleep at 8:15 AM on August 5, 2021 [68 favorites]
I used to live in California. When I saw this headline I was like, for fuck's sake! Like, I know about the wildfires, the drought, the income inequities, how screwed up so many things are there. Plague, too? OMG, that too? So thanks for the additional context but also: Dear Universe, please give everyone a break, including folks in California. Thank you.
posted by Bella Donna at 8:36 AM on August 5, 2021
posted by Bella Donna at 8:36 AM on August 5, 2021
Looks like the precautions are "keep your dog on a leash", which is evidently a challenge for some folks.
I learned about rodents with plague getting a shrug reaction in the American West when living in Denver Colorado.
posted by travertina at 8:39 AM on August 5, 2021 [6 favorites]
I learned about rodents with plague getting a shrug reaction in the American West when living in Denver Colorado.
posted by travertina at 8:39 AM on August 5, 2021 [6 favorites]
I lived in CA for many years. Plague stories show up every year or two.
posted by MillMan at 8:49 AM on August 5, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by MillMan at 8:49 AM on August 5, 2021 [7 favorites]
Campgrounds in Yosemite closed in 2012 due to a similar plague outbreak, so yeah, it's not really uncommon. Lyme and other tick-borne diseases are probably a lot more worrysome. Or hantavirus which is similarly carried by rodents.
posted by GuyZero at 8:55 AM on August 5, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 8:55 AM on August 5, 2021 [8 favorites]
Yeah definitely not unusual! Didn't Caltech campus have some plague squirrels a few years ago? I seem to remember some comically grim signage about really, really not feeding the squirrels
posted by potrzebie at 8:57 AM on August 5, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by potrzebie at 8:57 AM on August 5, 2021 [2 favorites]
Or California Valley Fever, a fungus you catch from breathing soil dust that infects the lungs. Plus sometimes everything else, in the way of fungi.
posted by clew at 8:59 AM on August 5, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by clew at 8:59 AM on August 5, 2021 [6 favorites]
It's very serious but treatable. Good luck to everyone in the path of danger out west.
posted by theora55 at 9:09 AM on August 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 9:09 AM on August 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
Sometimes it seems like California has been trying to tell us something for a very long time
posted by Countess Elena at 9:09 AM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Countess Elena at 9:09 AM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
COVID, fires, drought, plague, fungus, what next? I heard the other day on the news, that this state is about to face a bacon shortage. Truly, we must have done something horrible to face that punishment.
posted by njohnson23 at 9:11 AM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by njohnson23 at 9:11 AM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
Well we did steal all the land from the people who knew how to take care of it and then promptly did not take care of it at all so I think it adds up.
posted by bleep at 9:14 AM on August 5, 2021 [51 favorites]
posted by bleep at 9:14 AM on August 5, 2021 [51 favorites]
that this state is about to face a bacon shortage. Truly, we must have done something horrible to face that punishment.
State voters voted to change the regulatory requirements for raising pigs whose meat is sold in California, so the only horrible thing here is the California electoral system and the dumb propositions.
posted by GuyZero at 9:28 AM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
State voters voted to change the regulatory requirements for raising pigs whose meat is sold in California, so the only horrible thing here is the California electoral system and the dumb propositions.
posted by GuyZero at 9:28 AM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
COVID, fires, drought, plague, fungus, what next?
Hope you like frogs.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:33 AM on August 5, 2021 [14 favorites]
Hope you like frogs.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:33 AM on August 5, 2021 [14 favorites]
California also has Naegleria fowleri, that freshwater amoeba that thrives in warm water and gets in your nose and eats your brain tissue.
I think California may be becoming the Australia of America. Everything there is trying to kill you.
posted by deadaluspark at 9:38 AM on August 5, 2021 [5 favorites]
I think California may be becoming the Australia of America. Everything there is trying to kill you.
posted by deadaluspark at 9:38 AM on August 5, 2021 [5 favorites]
“Avoid it like the plague” used to seem like common sense advice but the past year has proved that we can’t even do that.
posted by misterpatrick at 9:40 AM on August 5, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by misterpatrick at 9:40 AM on August 5, 2021 [11 favorites]
The Angeles National Forest has had Plague Squirrels for years. I once took a class at a campus where they had large signs up that said:
DO NOT FEED SQUIRRELS
SQUIRRELS CARRY BUBONIC PLAGUE and other diseases
[drawing of killer squirrel]
Directly underneath the poster, a young couple sat, pulling apart their sandwiches to feed to a squirrel. "Oh, so cute! Do you think he's hungry? Here you go!" The squirrel scuttled closer, madness in its eyes.
I thought about this a lot when I was hanging out in the hospital with my dad, watching the Diamond Princess float around. People are bad at following rules and don't know that Nature wants to kill them, I thought, and stuffed an extra mask in my pocket to wear on the flight back to New York.
posted by betweenthebars at 9:42 AM on August 5, 2021 [22 favorites]
DO NOT FEED SQUIRRELS
SQUIRRELS CARRY BUBONIC PLAGUE and other diseases
[drawing of killer squirrel]
Directly underneath the poster, a young couple sat, pulling apart their sandwiches to feed to a squirrel. "Oh, so cute! Do you think he's hungry? Here you go!" The squirrel scuttled closer, madness in its eyes.
I thought about this a lot when I was hanging out in the hospital with my dad, watching the Diamond Princess float around. People are bad at following rules and don't know that Nature wants to kill them, I thought, and stuffed an extra mask in my pocket to wear on the flight back to New York.
posted by betweenthebars at 9:42 AM on August 5, 2021 [22 favorites]
Can we get the newly-freed pigs to eat the dry ground plants that are feeding the forest fires?
posted by rogerroger at 9:51 AM on August 5, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by rogerroger at 9:51 AM on August 5, 2021 [2 favorites]
Know your local weird diseases! The ones I think about here in California are plague, tularemia, valley fever, and lyme.
posted by ryanrs at 9:56 AM on August 5, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 9:56 AM on August 5, 2021 [6 favorites]
COVID, fires, drought, plague, fungus, what next?... Hope you like frogs.
If the Bible is any guide, now would be a very good time to discuss slavery reparations.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 10:08 AM on August 5, 2021 [22 favorites]
If the Bible is any guide, now would be a very good time to discuss slavery reparations.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 10:08 AM on August 5, 2021 [22 favorites]
Growing up in CA , one of the first things I learned from my parents when I started noticing the squirrels around in the park was that they carried diseases and we should admire them from a distance.
Later, when I got to the age that kids around me were getting hunting licenses, it was generally known that people didn't hunt ground squirrels for food here because the animals carried the bubonic plague.
To this day it surprises me when I go to a city park and there are squirrels literally rubbing themselves on rocks (because fleas) and people are feeding them by hand; the squirrels are clearly covered in fleas, the vector for the plague, and yet there are scads of people feeding them. I know for a fact (because my friend was a ranger there) at one major Silicon Valley park through the 1990s, park management quietly killed the squirrels at night with airguns or rimfire firearms to reduce their numbers. I suspect this practice has ended in the Bay Area.
Here's the deal. In most parts of California the only reason you can hike outside without bear spray and/or a firearm is because in years past people exterminated the very dangerous animals (grizzlies, mountain lions, wolves) that would otherwise make venturing outside a risky endeavor, especially at dusk or the early morning. Generations have benefitted from the ill-advised settler-colonialist effort to extirpate beautiful and vital species from the ecosystem. Otherwise, California would be like Alaska or Montana, with wolves, grizzlies, elk, etc.
Fortunately, now we've decided we don't want to do that any more, which means that there are ever more human/wildlife encounters -- with black bears and mountain lions on the dramatic side, but also plague carrying rodents on the smaller side. That means people will have to get a whole lot smarter in how they interact with nature and stop viewing it as this cute, harmless, Disney park where nothing bad can ever happen and help is just a cell phone call away.
Personally, I've been shocked at the amount of negligent, clueless, downright rude behavior I've seen from people in even rural state parks that are overrun with people acting like assholes who think that a hike in the redwoods is the same as a stroll through Central Park. I am looking forward to wolves repopulating this state, and very much hope that the efforts to reintroduce the grizzly bear succeed. If it gives naive Eloi a sharp wakeup call, I'm all for it.
posted by wuwei at 10:17 AM on August 5, 2021 [14 favorites]
Later, when I got to the age that kids around me were getting hunting licenses, it was generally known that people didn't hunt ground squirrels for food here because the animals carried the bubonic plague.
To this day it surprises me when I go to a city park and there are squirrels literally rubbing themselves on rocks (because fleas) and people are feeding them by hand; the squirrels are clearly covered in fleas, the vector for the plague, and yet there are scads of people feeding them. I know for a fact (because my friend was a ranger there) at one major Silicon Valley park through the 1990s, park management quietly killed the squirrels at night with airguns or rimfire firearms to reduce their numbers. I suspect this practice has ended in the Bay Area.
Here's the deal. In most parts of California the only reason you can hike outside without bear spray and/or a firearm is because in years past people exterminated the very dangerous animals (grizzlies, mountain lions, wolves) that would otherwise make venturing outside a risky endeavor, especially at dusk or the early morning. Generations have benefitted from the ill-advised settler-colonialist effort to extirpate beautiful and vital species from the ecosystem. Otherwise, California would be like Alaska or Montana, with wolves, grizzlies, elk, etc.
Fortunately, now we've decided we don't want to do that any more, which means that there are ever more human/wildlife encounters -- with black bears and mountain lions on the dramatic side, but also plague carrying rodents on the smaller side. That means people will have to get a whole lot smarter in how they interact with nature and stop viewing it as this cute, harmless, Disney park where nothing bad can ever happen and help is just a cell phone call away.
Personally, I've been shocked at the amount of negligent, clueless, downright rude behavior I've seen from people in even rural state parks that are overrun with people acting like assholes who think that a hike in the redwoods is the same as a stroll through Central Park. I am looking forward to wolves repopulating this state, and very much hope that the efforts to reintroduce the grizzly bear succeed. If it gives naive Eloi a sharp wakeup call, I'm all for it.
posted by wuwei at 10:17 AM on August 5, 2021 [14 favorites]
Yeah, plague has been endemic for decades. I taught my 10-year-old just last week why we don’t feed the squirrels.
posted by mr_roboto at 10:31 AM on August 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by mr_roboto at 10:31 AM on August 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
I like to think this is Fate’s way of warning the Tech Sector to fix some things.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:31 AM on August 5, 2021
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:31 AM on August 5, 2021
CDC reports an average of 7 cases of bubonic over the last 20 years for the whole country: 12 deaths in total since 2000. More likely to die driving back home disappointed having been turned away from Lake Tahoe.
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:35 AM on August 5, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:35 AM on August 5, 2021 [8 favorites]
I like to think this is Fate’s way of warning the Tech Sector to fix some things.
a) south lake tahoe isn't exactly a hotbed of tech activity
b) tech is california's fourth largest industry. the greater tahoe area falls squarely into the #3 industry, travel & tourism.
c) you think the idiots that gave you self-driving teslas are going to be stopped by the plague????
posted by GuyZero at 10:47 AM on August 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
a) south lake tahoe isn't exactly a hotbed of tech activity
b) tech is california's fourth largest industry. the greater tahoe area falls squarely into the #3 industry, travel & tourism.
c) you think the idiots that gave you self-driving teslas are going to be stopped by the plague????
posted by GuyZero at 10:47 AM on August 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
Can we get the newly-freed pigs to eat the dry ground plants that are feeding the forest fires?
Other problems.
posted by clew at 10:57 AM on August 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
Other problems.
posted by clew at 10:57 AM on August 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
Personally, I've been shocked at the amount of negligent, clueless, downright rude behavior I've seen from people in even rural state parks that are overrun with people acting like assholes who think that a hike in the redwoods is the same as a stroll through Central Park.
A few years back I was on a trip to Yosemite National Park. At one point I stopped in at Bridalveil Falls; there's a short quarter-mile paved path leading from the parking lot to a viewing area, and all along that path there were copious warnings not to diverge from the path and not to climb on the rocks at the base of the falls. The trailhead even had posted copies of X-rays from guests who'd shunned this warning and suffered some gnarly fractures of legs, arms, and other extremities.
And still, when I got to the viewing area, there were people climbing all over the rocks at the base of the falls - trying to get a closer look, trying to get a photo op, trying to just do whatever. There were even people who had climbed up the cliff over which the falls fell, and at the time I arrived they were just starting to make their way back down again, from the three-story-building height they'd gotten to. I hung around the falls long enough that I was there when they got all the way down and were taking their leave - two men and a woman, all in t-shirts and shorts, the guys in flip-flops and the woman in cute little sandals. And they had worn that to climb a freakin' cliff.
At another point on the same trip I saw a group of five guys trying to work together to corner one of the ubiquitous mule deer in the valley. I hollered over to ask them just what they thought they were doing, and they said only that they "weren't going to hurt it", and they simply scoffed when I pointed out that "but it may hurt you". I'd distracted them long enough for the deer to get away, though, so I let it go after that - but not without a considerably lower opinion of the guys.
Some people just plain don't get nature and how it works.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:13 AM on August 5, 2021 [21 favorites]
A few years back I was on a trip to Yosemite National Park. At one point I stopped in at Bridalveil Falls; there's a short quarter-mile paved path leading from the parking lot to a viewing area, and all along that path there were copious warnings not to diverge from the path and not to climb on the rocks at the base of the falls. The trailhead even had posted copies of X-rays from guests who'd shunned this warning and suffered some gnarly fractures of legs, arms, and other extremities.
And still, when I got to the viewing area, there were people climbing all over the rocks at the base of the falls - trying to get a closer look, trying to get a photo op, trying to just do whatever. There were even people who had climbed up the cliff over which the falls fell, and at the time I arrived they were just starting to make their way back down again, from the three-story-building height they'd gotten to. I hung around the falls long enough that I was there when they got all the way down and were taking their leave - two men and a woman, all in t-shirts and shorts, the guys in flip-flops and the woman in cute little sandals. And they had worn that to climb a freakin' cliff.
At another point on the same trip I saw a group of five guys trying to work together to corner one of the ubiquitous mule deer in the valley. I hollered over to ask them just what they thought they were doing, and they said only that they "weren't going to hurt it", and they simply scoffed when I pointed out that "but it may hurt you". I'd distracted them long enough for the deer to get away, though, so I let it go after that - but not without a considerably lower opinion of the guys.
Some people just plain don't get nature and how it works.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:13 AM on August 5, 2021 [21 favorites]
c) you think the idiots that gave you self-driving teslas are going to be stopped by the plague????
The Fates are working their way up.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:14 AM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Fates are working their way up.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:14 AM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
EmpressCallipygos, when I was at Yosemite around 5 years ago some tourists literally followed a baby bear into the woods to take a better picture of it. I think they were standing 5 feet from signs saying "Don't interact with the wildlife."
posted by rogerroger at 11:22 AM on August 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by rogerroger at 11:22 AM on August 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
COVID, fires, drought, plague, fungus, what next?
I'll take "Earthquakes" for $100 Alex
posted by speug at 11:27 AM on August 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
I'll take "Earthquakes" for $100 Alex
posted by speug at 11:27 AM on August 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
Also possible, volcanic eruptions
posted by clew at 11:34 AM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 11:34 AM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
The ones I think about here in California are plague, tularemia, valley fever, and lyme.
Remember me to one who lives there,
She was once a true love of mine.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:40 AM on August 5, 2021 [50 favorites]
Remember me to one who lives there,
She was once a true love of mine.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:40 AM on August 5, 2021 [50 favorites]
For the past few years, I've wanted to hunt and eat a marmot. I wonder if my doctor will give me prophylactic doxycycline if I tell them I'm going marmot hunting?
posted by ryanrs at 11:42 AM on August 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 11:42 AM on August 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
When Trump announced his running mate for 2024 was a Bubonic Plague Squirrel, I was somehow not surprised.
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 11:57 AM on August 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 11:57 AM on August 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
I grew up in South Lake Tahoe -- was just there a couple of weeks ago visiting my folks (and ended up staying twice as long as planned, because our return flight kept getting cancelled. Thanks for the extra vacation time, American Airlines! Maybe you wanna hire back some of those pilots you furloughed tho, or at least stop booking people on flights you don't have the staff to handle)
This is not new, and barely qualifies as news. "Don't play with rodents, you'll get the plague" was part of the kindergarten curriculum back in the 1970s, even.
(The real plague in Tahoe is the invasive milfoil that everyone's pretending can be kept contained in the Keys and the marinas if we just have everyone back up their boats for a few seconds before heading into the lake. All it took was one asshole dumping their fishtank in a lagoon; I give it about a decade before all that crystal clear Tahoe water is gonna be swamp green)
posted by ook at 12:09 PM on August 5, 2021 [10 favorites]
This is not new, and barely qualifies as news. "Don't play with rodents, you'll get the plague" was part of the kindergarten curriculum back in the 1970s, even.
(The real plague in Tahoe is the invasive milfoil that everyone's pretending can be kept contained in the Keys and the marinas if we just have everyone back up their boats for a few seconds before heading into the lake. All it took was one asshole dumping their fishtank in a lagoon; I give it about a decade before all that crystal clear Tahoe water is gonna be swamp green)
posted by ook at 12:09 PM on August 5, 2021 [10 favorites]
The "bacon shortage" nonsense is just the usual business owners complaining that regulation is going to make them all go to Galt's Gulch or whatever. They have had years to adapt and have ignored it, and then hope maybe they can make enough noise to avoid the law.
the only horrible thing here is the California electoral system and the dumb propositions.
Yeah, stupid propositions like "maybe we shouldn't treat our food animals so horribly". What morons California has.
posted by thefoxgod at 12:18 PM on August 5, 2021 [30 favorites]
the only horrible thing here is the California electoral system and the dumb propositions.
Yeah, stupid propositions like "maybe we shouldn't treat our food animals so horribly". What morons California has.
posted by thefoxgod at 12:18 PM on August 5, 2021 [30 favorites]
The Voters Who Could Turn California Red
The state GOP’s comeback runs through Latino communities.
posted by robbyrobs at 12:30 PM on August 5, 2021
The state GOP’s comeback runs through Latino communities.
posted by robbyrobs at 12:30 PM on August 5, 2021
Well we did steal all the land from the people who knew how to take care of it
I thought European colonization brought the bubonic plague to the Americas? (Notwithstanding other diseases.)
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:38 PM on August 5, 2021 [2 favorites]
I thought European colonization brought the bubonic plague to the Americas? (Notwithstanding other diseases.)
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:38 PM on August 5, 2021 [2 favorites]
Stole the land and murdered the people who were taking care of it with our filthy rodent diseases, yes.
posted by bleep at 12:42 PM on August 5, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by bleep at 12:42 PM on August 5, 2021 [5 favorites]
“There is considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists.”
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/08/security_is_a_t.html
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 1:49 PM on August 5, 2021 [5 favorites]
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/08/security_is_a_t.html
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 1:49 PM on August 5, 2021 [5 favorites]
Y. pestis has been around in California since the early 1900s. The early public health authorities kept it out of the human population and prevented an epidemic, but couldn't keep it ouf of the rodents. I used to work in vector-borne disease screening and the CA Public Health service officers we worked with routinely screened rodents for Y. pestis. There are other vector-borne diseases that are far more concerning.
posted by zenzicube at 2:02 PM on August 5, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by zenzicube at 2:02 PM on August 5, 2021 [5 favorites]
In most parts of California the only reason you can hike outside without bear spray and/or a firearm is because in years past people exterminated the very dangerous animals (grizzlies, mountain lions, wolves) that would otherwise make venturing outside a risky endeavor, especially at dusk or the early morning. Generations have benefitted from the ill-advised settler-colonialist effort to extirpate beautiful and vital species from the ecosystem. Otherwise, California would be like Alaska or Montana, with wolves, grizzlies, elk, etc.
I do not in any way, shape, or form contest that people (especially tourists) can be incredibly dumb around nature. But it is hardly the case that one requires bear spray or a firearm in order to go hiking in Montana or Alaska. While attacks by mountain lions and wolves and bears do happen, they are not the norm. Some situational awareness can go a long way. Though, yes, a very large number of humans have demonstrated that they can be very lacking in that resect.
posted by eviemath at 2:16 PM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
I do not in any way, shape, or form contest that people (especially tourists) can be incredibly dumb around nature. But it is hardly the case that one requires bear spray or a firearm in order to go hiking in Montana or Alaska. While attacks by mountain lions and wolves and bears do happen, they are not the norm. Some situational awareness can go a long way. Though, yes, a very large number of humans have demonstrated that they can be very lacking in that resect.
posted by eviemath at 2:16 PM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
Coming in with my personal PSA that mountain lion attacks are not entirely rare in Southern California. Take a buddy if you’re hiking, running or biking at dusk.
posted by q*ben at 2:57 PM on August 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by q*ben at 2:57 PM on August 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
I heard the other day on the news, that this state is about to face a bacon shortage.
Oh FFS, bacon is not banned, it's that we voted to require slightly more humane conditions for pigs. And if that means it costs more/is harder to get, maybe that's a good thing.
posted by Lexica at 3:15 PM on August 5, 2021 [19 favorites]
Oh FFS, bacon is not banned, it's that we voted to require slightly more humane conditions for pigs. And if that means it costs more/is harder to get, maybe that's a good thing.
posted by Lexica at 3:15 PM on August 5, 2021 [19 favorites]
Y. pestis has been around in California since the early 1900s.
Relevant Ask a Mortician episode
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:15 PM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
Relevant Ask a Mortician episode
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:15 PM on August 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
eviemath
Situational awareness is a given. Sometimes that isn't enough though.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks service recommends that people carry spray while in bear country:
Bear/human attacks in Montana have increased recently as bear numbers are higher now than in the past here's a story from 2019. Yes, I understand that predator attacks were less likely in the past but the underlying data generating event isn't stable, as we have simultaneous habitat destruction from global warming, combined with successful programs to protect charismatic megafauna like grizzlies. Habitat destruction means predators move to where the food is -- which is increasingly inhabited by humans.
posted by wuwei at 3:40 PM on August 5, 2021 [2 favorites]
Situational awareness is a given. Sometimes that isn't enough though.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks service recommends that people carry spray while in bear country:
National Parks in Alaska do as well, here's a link to one example discussion.
Recreating in Bear Country
Best practices for safely exploring the outdoors
Stay alert and look for bear activity, especially where visibility or hearing is limited (woods, bushy areas, streams).
Travel in a group and keep members together (especially kids).
Make noise whenever possible to avoid surprising a bear, especially where visibility or hearing is limited.
Carry bear spray close at hand and know how to use it. (bold added)
Avoid traveling at night, dawn or dusk.
Avoid carcass sites and scavenger concentrations.
Link
Bear/human attacks in Montana have increased recently as bear numbers are higher now than in the past here's a story from 2019. Yes, I understand that predator attacks were less likely in the past but the underlying data generating event isn't stable, as we have simultaneous habitat destruction from global warming, combined with successful programs to protect charismatic megafauna like grizzlies. Habitat destruction means predators move to where the food is -- which is increasingly inhabited by humans.
posted by wuwei at 3:40 PM on August 5, 2021 [2 favorites]
"California invented the concept of lifestyle. This alone warrants their doom."
Don DeLillo
posted by loquacious at 4:45 PM on August 5, 2021 [6 favorites]
Don DeLillo
posted by loquacious at 4:45 PM on August 5, 2021 [6 favorites]
Stay alert and look for bear activity
Look for the
Bear activity
The simple bear activity
Forget about your worries and your strife
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:31 PM on August 5, 2021 [14 favorites]
Look for the
Bear activity
The simple bear activity
Forget about your worries and your strife
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:31 PM on August 5, 2021 [14 favorites]
There are signs all over Grand Canyon National Park telling people don’t feed the squirrels, stay away from them, do not get bit, they carry plague. And yet hundreds of people manage to get bitten by squirrels every single year. I was at Pipe Creek Overlook one day and a woman was feeding a squirrel some orange slices. “Look at him. He’s so tame.” I wonder if she became one of the bite statistics. Every time I’m there, I keep my pack closed up tightly while hiking and when taking breaks and always do my best to stow it where the squirrels will have trouble getting to it. Lots of hikers don’t, they set their packs down for a break and 20 seconds later there’s a squirrel or mouse in it. (Fun thing, once you’re unpacked for camp, leave everything wide open and unzipped on your pack when you hang it so the squirrels can go in and have a look around and leave disappointed, instead of chewing your pack to get in.)
But yeah, people do expect parks to be super safe, if you need anything a Ranger will be there to help. That is usually not the case. I’ve seen so many people say that if you’re hiking the corridor trails at GC, there’s rangers patrolling and emergency phones and lots of other hikers so if you get in trouble, there’s always help. Nope. Not how it works. You are on your own. Maybe you get lucky and can get help, but you don’t count on it. Cell phones don’t work in a lot of areas in parks. It’s not unusual for an SOS call to come in and the rangers can’t get there for a day or two. Meanwhile, five miles down the trail in GC, some unprepared hiker decides that this particular squirrel is so cute and just looks so hungry, and feeds it, and then the squirrel repays the kindness with a deep bite down into the hand. Good luck getting help, and hope you didn’t hit the plague jackpot down there, bucko.
posted by azpenguin at 9:06 PM on August 5, 2021 [2 favorites]
But yeah, people do expect parks to be super safe, if you need anything a Ranger will be there to help. That is usually not the case. I’ve seen so many people say that if you’re hiking the corridor trails at GC, there’s rangers patrolling and emergency phones and lots of other hikers so if you get in trouble, there’s always help. Nope. Not how it works. You are on your own. Maybe you get lucky and can get help, but you don’t count on it. Cell phones don’t work in a lot of areas in parks. It’s not unusual for an SOS call to come in and the rangers can’t get there for a day or two. Meanwhile, five miles down the trail in GC, some unprepared hiker decides that this particular squirrel is so cute and just looks so hungry, and feeds it, and then the squirrel repays the kindness with a deep bite down into the hand. Good luck getting help, and hope you didn’t hit the plague jackpot down there, bucko.
posted by azpenguin at 9:06 PM on August 5, 2021 [2 favorites]
Bubonic plague is pretty uncommon, but it effects Native Americans disproportionately.
From that link (Plague in American Indians, 1956-1987), there is this:
From that link (Plague in American Indians, 1956-1987), there is this:
American Indians, principally Navajos, have a disproportionate share of the plague cases reported in the United States (Figure 2). For example, in 1981, 1982, and 1983, 46.2%, 47.4%, and 52.5%, respectively, of U.S. plague cases occurred among Indians (5). Similar attack rates, however, have occurred among Caucasian-Hispanics and Caucasians in adjoining north-central New Mexico, thus indicating that the high incidence of plague is a regional problem rather than a racial one. A more accurate statement might be that plague is more likely to occur among persons who live in rural and semirural locations in the plague-focus area of the Southwest than among persons in other parts of the country.posted by aniola at 9:08 PM on August 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
I’ll compromise on “it is prudent to bring bear spray since, although most of the time you will not require it, the chance that it will be required is high enough to warrant paying attention to.” Perhaps this is just a semantic argument, where I’m interpreting ‘required’ as ‘will actually need to make use of’ or as ‘mandated by some official policy or statute’ (neither of which hold) as opposed to ‘it’s strongly recommended and a good idea’ or ‘is on everyone’s packing list for this type of excursion’.
posted by eviemath at 7:21 AM on August 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by eviemath at 7:21 AM on August 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
When I went to Yellowstone a few years back, the person renting the car looked at us ignorant city folk and added bear spray rental.
Lo and behold, the first afternoon we were in the park, only about 100 feet away from a parking lot, a large animal ran in the treeline about 50 yards away. Of course, the bear spray was still in the car - this wasn't a "real" hike. Never went anywhere without bear spray for the rest of the trip.
posted by meowzilla at 12:19 PM on August 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
Lo and behold, the first afternoon we were in the park, only about 100 feet away from a parking lot, a large animal ran in the treeline about 50 yards away. Of course, the bear spray was still in the car - this wasn't a "real" hike. Never went anywhere without bear spray for the rest of the trip.
posted by meowzilla at 12:19 PM on August 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
Just take the friggin bear spray okay?! Its formulated to not injure the bears, as self defense spray is way too powerful, and reenforces "scary scary humans" which benifits bear and human alike.
Here's a video just down the way from where I grew up.
This ad was paid for by bearspray blue.
posted by The Power Nap at 10:30 PM on August 6, 2021 [3 favorites]
Here's a video just down the way from where I grew up.
This ad was paid for by bearspray blue.
posted by The Power Nap at 10:30 PM on August 6, 2021 [3 favorites]
And now South Lake Tahoe is seriously at risk from the Caldor Fire - good luck to everyone there - I sat glued to Twitter last night as the fire crossed the 50 and headed towards Meyers and down into Christmas Valley. It seems like the battle to save South Lake will be waged in the next 24-48 hours as the winds are expected to come up to red flag warning levels…
posted by inflatablekiwi at 6:31 PM on August 31, 2021
posted by inflatablekiwi at 6:31 PM on August 31, 2021
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posted by Nelson at 8:05 AM on August 5, 2021 [13 favorites]