Doc Bayne has had his fair share of black bear encounters. Black bears (Ursus americanus) that roam around in Orange County are the mostly vegetarian and least aggressive cousins of other members of the family—say, grizzly bears. Many people who live in small towns or villages have seen one and they are not hard to find, even though they usually avoid contact with humans.
Epoch Times caught up with Bayne just before he was due to give a talk on “Living with Black Bears” in Tuxedo Park.
He is a retired park ranger and acting environmental educator for Sterling Forest who has been hiking for 50 years. He has often gone on field trips with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to assist with the capture of bear cubs to take blood samples and do surveys.
Naturally, his job has lead to a few close encounters with bears, which might sound a tad harrowing to big-city dwellers. “When I was working I would see a bear every three weeks,” he said.
All in a Day’s Work
Bayne’s closest encounter with a bear was when a second-season cub, of about 130 lbs. came up to within an inch of him to take a whiff. The bear kept walking toward him and, after realizing that he’s only human, turned around and left.
He also told of a more dangerous encounter when he jumped off a log within two feet of a bear. They both got a shock, which explains why Bayne’s knee-jerk reaction was to run—something that he knows and educates people not to do since a bear will chase anything that runs. The bear chased Bayne for about 50 feet at which point Bayne remembered what he should have done. He turned around and yelled at the bear. Luckily that was enough to put to end to the chase and leave Bayne unscathed.
When he retired in 2011 they did not rehire an educator for Sterling Forest. Bayne took the bull by the horns and formed the Friends of Sterling Forest group. They work with New York state and organize lectures and hikes every weekend.
