Man dies after being attacked by bear in Nagano Prefecture

Lived for a decade in Nagano and spent much of my time in the mountains. Never felt the need for a gun.

There are many creatures there that can kill you.

Have you ever tried shooting a hornet?

Lived for a decade in Nagano and spent much of my time in the mountains. Never felt the need for a gun.

Were you ever attacked by a bear?

Checking traps at night, especially a boat trap which I've never heard of,wild cats,yes, mongoose,yes,inoshishi, nope.

Recipe for disaster.

A female bear, about 130 cms tall, was caught in the boar trap and there was a trail of blood leading from the trap to where the man was found a few meters away.

Sounds like possibly the bear was attracted to the trap by the bait, but ran into and then killed the man, before going back to the bait and closing the trap.

Bad timing for both as it turned out.

Checking traps at night, especially a boat trap which I've never heard of,wild cats,yes, mongoose,yes,inoshishi, nope.

There are boar traps set up where I ride my mountain bike. Cages with trap doors.

Good old survivorship bias.

Yes, that is right. Kept my wits about me. Listened carefully for sounds and smells. Avoided the mountain areas where bears were known to be. Watched many from a distance. But there are many other dangerous creatures that can harm you like Mamushi. Thousands of them. Sometimes the road was covered in them. Wild boar can attack people. Hornets you just don't see coming.

On a mountain alone, and pre smartphones required wit and experience which I had.

 Avoided the mountain areas where bears were known to be. 

So you avoided Nagano entirely ?

Checking traps at night,...

@piskian

Unless I read the article wrong, it doesn't say that he was checking the traps at night, just that his friend called the police at night. Perhaps he was gone all day and when he didn't return in the evening, his friend called the police.

Saw this on the news. I've seen traps (on tv docs, not for real) made from wires where the leg gets caught, but this one was an old-fashioned spring iron trap like you would see in western movies or cartoons, that buries it spikes into the animal's leg. Damn painful and rightfully forbidden in many countries for cruelty. So this old guy got too close to the trapped bear who rightfully jumped on him and the guy bled to death from his wounds.

Seawolf,

I'm reading on NHK that it was a 'kukuri' trap, which is the trap "made from wires where the leg gets caught" you mention, not an actual 'bear trap' which has the spikes.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20231014/k10014225501000.html

Either way, it does sound like he did get too close and was attacked as you say.

Did you wear Night goggles? Like the SAS have. Or beer goggles. Like the village hero?

The magic just isn’t happening tonight is it?

Feels like you are trying too hard to grind out gags, the result is mediocre schtick

I'm reading on NHK that it was a 'kukuri' trap, which is the trap "made from wires where the leg gets caught" you mention, not an actual 'bear trap' which has the spikes.

Yeah, it seems like the old fella got too close to a trapped bear and it had him. I assumed that it was one of the cage traps that you see everywhere (but are rarely in use) but it looks like a simple leg trap that a farmer put out on the verges of the forest.

Video report here showing the trap

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/nagano/20231014/1010028447.html

Alan Bogglesworth

 Avoided the mountain areas where bears were known to be. 

> So you avoided Nagano entirely ?

Not every location in Nagano has bears and not every mountain has bears.

Asiatic Black Bears are active from late spring until the autumn.

In our location near Hakuba, there was one fatal bear attack in 10 years and that was off the mountains in a walnut grove. Bears love walnuts.

Key point:

Avoid Japan forest/jungle at night.

Many years ago I visited a friend in Kake, Hiroshima. We did some driving in the nearby hills. Mamushi (poisonous Japan snake) were everywhere. Now I live in Kyushu - heaps of spiders, and they’re a good size. Aussies would call ‘em pecker. I sometimes miss home where it is cold, and even then a (rattle) snake gives you some warning!

P.S. As a Canadian, scrap that. Don’t try to wrestle a bear. Or use a survival knife wisely.

Good grief. It doesn’t say he was out at night.

Warning signs are usually placed where bears have been spotted.

Hey good thinking,

We do the same thing at the beaches in Australia.

Putting up signs that say Sharks Not Permitted keeps the predators away.

The mother bear should NOT have been killed. She was very likely protecting her cubs. Now her cubs will die without their mother. Too bad the man was killed.

Avoided the mountain areas where bears were known to be. Watched many from a distance

How were you watching bears if you avoided the mountain areas where bears were known to be?

Because bears and other animals can be seen from one mountain to another. There were locations where bears were known to live so people tended to avoid those places. In Nagano, there are hundreds of mountains. In the right location, you see the entire length of the Northern Alps. A sight worth seeing especially at sunset.

You can also learn about the signs and identification of bears. Carry a whistle or bear bell or even pepper spray.

Because bears and other animals can be seen from one mountain to another.

The mountain range in that area is about 30KM from north to south.

The mountain range in that area is about 30KM from north to south.

From the right location, you can see a very wide range of the Alps. Go and look for yourself.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_Japanese_Alps_panorama_from_Mount_Neko.jpg

A bear killed a woman in Toyama yesterday.