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Taking the Kids: Staying safe in national parks from COVID, bears, bison and more...

By Eileen Ogintz, Tribune Content Agency on

Know the symptoms of heat exhaustion — pale face, nausea and vomiting, headache, cramps. Drink water with electrolytes, eat high-energy foods (with fats and sugars), rest in the shade for 30 to 45 minutes and cool the body by getting wet.

Heat stroke, meanwhile, is life-threatening and happens when your body loses its ability to cool itself. There are cases at the Grand Canyon every year, officials say. What to do: Send someone for help immediately while you remove their excess clothing, fan them and continuously pour water on the victim's head and torso.

Never feed wildlife. Keep your food, trash and water inaccessible to them. Consuming human food not only is unhealthy for wildlife, but can also encourage aggressive behavior that may require animals to be destroyed, park officials say.

Be bear smart! Grizzlies are larger than black bears and have a distinctive “hump” on their shoulders and long claws that are suited to digging, not climbing trees. Black bears have short curved claws that make them adept at climbing trees. And only about half are actually black. The rest are brown, blond or cinnamon in color.

Watch for fresh tracks or scat. Make noise and hike in groups. Never hike alone, as the woman who was knocked over by a grizzly had been. If you see a bear, do not run but back away slowly.

Got your bear spray? (Be forewarned you can’t bring it on a plane.) It is the most effective means of repelling an attacking bear, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Make sure you know how to use it. (The idea is to put up a cloud of spray between you and the charging bear. Watch a video in which three Yellowstone employees share their story about a surprise encounter with a grizzly or listen to a podcast about a family whose hike in Yellowstone taught them how important it is to carry spray.)

Keep your distance — at least 100 yards from bears and wolves and at least 25 yards from all other wild animals.

 

Dawson Smith explains that over the years, 399 — and her daughter 610, who also is often visible with her own cubs (so named from times they were banded for research) have learned that people won’t hurt her, thus she believes her cubs are safer near the road than where a big male grizzly might make a meal of one of the youngsters.

Even a bear that seems as oblivious to humans as Bear #399, Smith says, could charge, especially if she senses her cubs are threatened.

He shook his head at the growing “Bear Jam.” Respect the bear’s space — and that of other animals.

This is their home, after all.

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kid’s Guide to Philadelphia, the 13th in the kid’s guide series, will be out this spring.)


(c) 2020 DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

 

 

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