Bear Attacks of the Century: True Stories of Courage and Survival

by Larry Mueller, Marguerite Reiss

Do bear attacks touch people in the far-back recesses of their psyches? Reach latent ancestral memories of cave days when humans were potential prey? Indeed, there are those who say their nightmares involved bears before they ever saw one, either in the flesh or in the movies. Unfortunately, these nightmares all too often come true. People perform almost superhuman feats in their fight to survive bear attacks. Jim Marriott, for instance, was attacked andmauled by a grizzly while carving out a moose head. When playing dead didn’t work, he slammed his skinning knife into the attacker’s neck. The surprised bear backed off only to charge again, cut his tongue trying to bite at the knife, and got the knife sunk into thesame place. By the third charge, Marriott was on his feet despite chewed buttocks and damaged legs. This time the bear left with the knife still sticking in his neck. “In bear attacks, the human survival instinct is extraordinary,” says a doctor who sees the terrible punishment victims of bear attacks live through. “And equally amazing are the heroics and seemingly superhuman efforts of those around the victims.”BEAR ATTACKS OF THE CENTURY gathers together these stories of courage,chronicling the most horrific encounters between bears and people. With expert advice on avoiding attacks and information that may help both species leave an encounter unscathed, this book is required reading for hikers, hunters, campers, or anyone visiting bear country, and those who want to learn more about these sometimes deadly but always fascinating animals.

Genres: Animals, Nonfiction, Nature

196 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2005

Reviews

[Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s not a long read and the chapters are tight and concise. I compare it to watching a realistic medical drama except all the patients are victims of bear attacks. The courage and stamina the victims possessed - they and their friends - is extraordinary.

There are five or six deaths recounted in the book. People have died from grizzly attacks nearby since I live right by the Rockies. Grizzlies can climb trees (when I was a kid we were taught they couldn’t) and bear bells are like dinner bells. So are gunshots - the bears have learned to connect the gunfire of hunters with fresh venison.

The book ends with a chapter that includes tips on what to do and not to do in bear country (including Yellowstone where tourists still risk their lives doing crazy things for Yogi Bear photographs).

No bear is Yogi Bear.

They’re beautiful and magnificent ….. and wild.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories about bear attacks. If this book does not give you respect or more respect for bears after you are done reading it, then you don't need to go anywhere bears live, you are going to for sure become a bears next meal/toy. Some of the stories talk about what did and did not work on their quest to survive the attract. A couple stories are little gory but overall not to detailed with gore. It does have expert advice on how to avoid attacks and advice on what to do if you do get attacked.

[Devin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give the book Bear Attacks of the Century by Larry Mueller and Marguerite Reiss a 5 star rating for a few reasons on how they wrote the book. The book was very well written because they did a lot of research. The detail they went into the story was not to much to bore the reader and not to little to leave the reader with questions. The quotes they used in the short stories were good because gave you an idea of what the people were thinking at the time of the attack. They also did a good job of putting you there because the book would give you shivers Overall the stories were well written and enjoyable to read.
In the book, My favorite quote would have to be when ben felt the bear crack his skull. The Auther described this by saying, "Ben could fell his skull around his eyes and cheekbones"(25, Larry Mueller). Say more stuff after this that just gives you chills and the thought of the feeling of your skull being cracked. How the author describes the situation really brought the book to life for me and that is why it would be my favorite quote.
The short story The Grizzly skull cracker is about two hunters that went hunting and one of the hunters named ben getting attacked. Ben carried a 357. magnum single-action Ruger with him. When he is attacked by a grizzly bear he uses the gun to defend himself but it does not work entirely. In the process, the bear cracks his skull while ben is fighting for his life. Ben in the end gets away from the bear.
There is a story in the book that is called Ceasless Terror and it is about how two hunters went hunting on a cold day and one of them shot a Moose. They would both get so much meat in the bags and leave. A bear came up on them. The bear attacked one of the hunters and all he had was a knife to defend himself. After the attack, they were not sure if he would last until a plane would come back to pick them up.
One short story involving a bear other than a grizzly bear is Tundra Terror. It is about a group of people in a building that was not well built for their protection against polar bears in a cold weather climate. A bear broke into one of the rooms and started to attack men. All guns in the building were locked up in a safe and the only other man that know about the bear was on the other side of the bear. This made it next to impossible to get a gun. More men came and used fire extinguishers to fight the bears. Someone had a gun in their room because they were out earlier and used it to stop the bears the man that was attacked would live and changes to the building were made.
The Overall Theme of the book is bear attack and what they may do. It is also how you could get prepared and what to do if you were to get into a bear encounter.

[Rajiv · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific read !

Whether you are a gentle nature lover or a die-hard hunter or an adrenaline junky, this book is full of high adventure.
Classic lessons on what to do and what to avoid are beautifully cited. There is a tale of a human fighting a full grown grizzly with a 4” and finally killing it with his bare fists!
Lastly, the final chapter is by states trooper with clear advice on bears. Invaluable!

[Leonca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Available on YouTube, read very well. Mostly focuses on food aggression during deer hunting. Makes an interesting contrast with bear behavior in the more common female-defending-cubs stories. Spooky and, as you would expect, at times gruesome.

[Mary Christensen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was genuinely so ridiculous. Would probably be fun for a tourist to read while in Yellowstone, but for anyone who knows the most basic facts of bear biology or bear attack facts could call BS on this collection of stories.

[Venessa Johnstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I love in a book.. gave me the shivers a couple of times...

[tyRonE hArDing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best bear attack book I've read yet. Definitely want to be careful when you're in a grizzlies home.

[Kora Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting information!

[Kristi Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good length. Interesting stories. Haven't heard one quite like this.

[Kathleen Metevier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great bbok

I've read this book a few times and have recommended it to others who are interested in bear behaviour and specifically interested in avoiding being attacked by a bear

[Coby]

this book is really spooky, but its full of good storys and all sorts of things. the storys in it are really scary and bring the fear out about those little bears everybody think are cute. some bears wont stop attacking you untill your dead and then they'll eat you right then and there or theyll leave you to die slowly. and if you do maange to live the chances of survivl is very, very slim. some of the people who where lucky enouph to survive have lost limbs, sufferid from brain damage,or sufferd some kind of disability for the rest of their lives( limping, inaability to use a leg or an arm) But it's also teaches whoever reads it about what to if you or a freind is being attacked by a bear. also it teaches you how to prevent them from attacking you and how to keep others in your group safe by keeping watch at night, never kepping food in the tent, and keeping the things you kill, teid high in a tree far from where you sleep. but all-in-all this book is very good and teaches you a lot about what you can do to keep safe.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another quick read. I've read quite a few bear attack books but hadn't heard any of these stories (all of which take place in Alaska). One of the spookiest to me was the one in which the bear jumped through a glass window to gain access into a room 2 men were sitting in.

I'm always amazed at the strength and courage humans display in survival situation. Though, I don't think I ever want to go hunting in bear country now....at least without a good caliber gun.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book documenting Alaskan bear attacks. True stories that will make your blood run cold. I think the writing is good and I didn't find any repeat stories from other bear attack books I've read (though there may have been some cleverly reworked ones that I missed). All in all, one of the better books on the subject.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really spooky - especially when you're reading it in a tent in bear country. But it also helped prepare so I had an idea of what to do or don't do if I should encounter a bear on one of my hikes.

[David Hegland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. The only safe grizzly I'd the one that's far away!

[Lanell · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you find bear attacks fascinating this is a book for you