Footsteps of Bear and Man

Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance
By Stephen Herrero

This is my favorite, read this if you want an educational insight into the behavior of bears. A must for anyone visiting grizzly bear habitat! There's a lot of information here and my library will be require a new copy soon. Note: A revised edition of this book came out last year. I recently picked it up a will update this review if need.

Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness
By Doug Peacock

For those not familiar with Doug Peacock, he was the model of the character George Hayduke of Edward Abbey's novels The Monkey Wrench Gang and Hayduke Lives! After serving for the military in Vietnam as a Green Beret medic he return to the US a mental wreck. His salvation became the Rocky Mountain wilderness and the American Grizzly. He watched, filmed, and spoke about grizzlies. No, it's not really scientific reading but if you want to believe that caring about the outdoors can make difference in your life see how it changed his.

Polar Dance: Born of the North Wind
by Thomas D. Mangelsen

Thomas Mangelsen is an incredible outdoor photographer. Visit one of his many galleries if you haven't already. This is not an educational book but if you enjoy superb photography this is one for your collection. The images cover only cover polar bears and arctic wildlife but the photography is wonderful. The author also includes factual accounts of the arctic world, folklore, and a personal account of the featured bear family.

Walking With Bears
by Terry D. Debruyn

DeBruyn, a biologist walks with bears in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He believes that in order to protect the bears one must determine what they do all day. He uses a G.P.S. monitoring system for radio-collared bears to locate and then follows them through their daily habit. The book is informative but I found the writing a bit dry.

Summers With the Bears: Six Seasons in the North Woods
by Jack Becklund,Patti Becklund

I tried to like this book since it got such great reviews. Having a relationship with black bears over 6 years touched me, since I could imagine the joy of experiencing a family’s lineage over time. However, the dehumanizing of these bears by feeding and touching the bears angered me. Whenever I read about another garbage bear that has been put down I think about this book and all the people who are reading it.
The moral is "don't feed bears".....enough said!

Ghost Grizzlies: Does the Great Bear Still Haunt Colorado?
by David Petersen, Doug Peacock (Introduction)

In 1979 the "last" Colorado grizzly was killed by a bow hunter or was it. This book is Peterson's search in San Juans for sign that the grizzly has survived man and continuing takeover of prime grizzly habitat. It discusses the grizzly, history of the San Juans, and the need for wilderness preservation in North America. I enjoyed it!

Bears and Other Top Predators
www.bearsmag.com

I could not let an opportunity go by with a plug for a great magazine. It was a quarterly publication and was worth waiting for. After receiving my first copy I immediately ordered the four back issues I didn't have. Great pictures, interesting articles! The magazine is not in print any more but you can still order back issues.