Concerning pepper spray, I am a little ambivalent about it. I guess I will have to see some field tests with real bears before I will trust it fully.
I have a video of Wayne Carlton, “Call’n Bears,” where he called one and used pepper spray on him. The bear retreated, but I think was more surprised of seeing a human being and not a rabbit (as the call was imitating).
When you see a dog get sprayed by a skunk you see that it really bothers him and he tries to take it off with his paws and is frantic about it and in pain (burning sensation).
That bear that Wayne sprayed didn’t show any of this, and in my opinion, was not affected by the spray.
Every time that I hear about carrying pepper spray for defense against bears I am reminded of a story that my son wrote for another Forum, that went like this.
Pepper Spray and Bears
The hikers shuddered in the cold winds blowing that day over the treetops of Yellowstone National Park. They clutched their parkas closer to their chests in the hopes to warm themselves against the fury of the bitter maritime polar winds that blew against them. After all, the guide had warned them to be equipped for unexpected and unfriendly weather.
The guide, a middle-sized male of forty-nine years, exhaled and gave a loud noise of mild exasperation beneath his silver bushy moustache as he climbed up onto a protruding section from the side of the hill. It was a Wednesday, and as the previous days of the week, Ray Bucklesmith was leading a group of tourists across a small portion of the northern border of Yellowstone Park. At the moment, he was guiding the hikers over a small hill, which for the most part had a gentle elevation and allowed for a comfortable pace, granting leave to observe the scenery of the autumn colors as a background against the distant mountains.
“Everyone here?” questioned the guide, gripping a nearby cedar branch for support. “Great.” His eyes moved across the leaf-covered ground and the surrounding scenery for a hint on what interesting fact to point out to them. Not that they were very interested, in that sense.
He happened to spot a small pile of waste on the ground about three meters from his spot. Instantly, he was able to recognize it.
“Alright, as you may have noticed, we are on a heavily used bear trail. Now, the bears can’t ascend this hill, but they go across horizontally. You can see here,” and he pointed to an oak tree, “that there are several markings in the shape of claws across the surface of this tree. This was most likely was done by, oh, most likely some young black bear cubs under orders from their mother to climb the tree.”
“No kidding?” said one of the men, donning a gray parka. “Bears can climb trees? I never knew that.”
“Yes, well, not all bears. Black bears of this region are quite the experts at climbing trees because they are often under threat from the more aggressive Grizzly bear.”
“What? There are Grizzly bears in this place?” There was a slight hint of fear detectable in the woman’s voice.
“Yes, and you were warned of that in the distribution of the safety pamphlet that we handed out earlier.” He gazed, irritated, across the sea of guilty countenances that clearly showed few of them had paid much attention to the pamphlet in the first place.
“Okay, as the pamphlet mentioned, it is best when traveling into bear country to carry pepper spray to repel a bear away from you at close range. And it is also recommended to take little bells and strap them to some part of you in order for the noise to scare away nearby predators.”
He sighed. “In any case, a way you can tell a difference between a black bear and grizzly bear without seeing them is by their droppings.” He stooped low. “Gather around,” and motioned with his hand.
“In this sample, we can see the basic diet of a black bear.” He prodded the feces with a twig as his audience glanced on in disgust. “You see here, we have berry skins and some undigested grass blades. This gives you a typical black bear diet; berries and grass. Black bears also enjoy grubs, ants, bees, and the occasional meat they can get their paws on.”
One of the people asked, “What’s that smell? That ain’t no berry smell. It’s weird.”
“That,” replied the ranger as he walked over to a nearby bush, “comes from this pile of droppings. Grizzly bear droppings. It’s a rare thing to see the two bears together in the same area, which led me to infer that the grizzly bear was intruding on a mother black bear’s territory. A show of strength probably followed, while the cubs were sent up that tree for their protection.”
“Yeah, but why that smell?”
“Well, as I said, you can infer a bear’s diet from its droppings. While black bear droppings usually contain herbs and insects, a grizzly bear can be usually identified for the stench of pepper and-” He prodded the sample over- “little gold bells.”
The attention of the crowd suddenly intensified significantly.
black bear 84
Lions and Tigers and BEARS!!! Oh My!!! 
