Taken by Bear in Yellowstone: A Century of Harrowing Encounters between Grizzlies and Humans

by Kathleen Snow

Humans and grizzly bears have been coming into contact in Yellowstone National Park ever since it was founded in 1872. Most of these encounters have ended peacefully, but many have not. In order to most accurately tell the stories of those involved in the more deadly incidents, Kathleen Snow went directly to the the National Park Service archives. With help from personnel at park headquarters, Snow has collected more than 100 years’ worth of hair-raising stories that read like crime scene investigations and provide hard-learned lessons in outdoor safety. A must-read for fans of Death in Yellowstone and anyone fascinated by human-animal interactions.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals

444 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 7, 2016

About the author

Kathleen Snow is a member of the Montana Writers Guild and Outdoor Writers Association of America. Her nonfiction has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, Women in Natural Resources, and other periodicals. Her fiction includes the new mystery, Searching for Bear Eyes, from the University of Montana Press.

Reviews

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to read taken by bear after my brother picked it up in a Yellowstone gift shop. I found the book to be educational in how to prevent and survive an attack.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book. It was interesting to read of these bear encounters, but also learn more about how they are handled and investigated and how park rangers decide what to do with bears involved in the attacks.

[Sasha Rosetta Kladar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool stuff definitely gory

[Marc Gregson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative, engaging, and at times, terrifying. Respect the grizzly!

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Purchased this book from West Thumb Basin gift shop within Yellowstone. I liked the detailed encounters throughout the book. I feel it had a lot of repetition in the accounts though. The author coul have either left out the initial account from the survivor OR witnesses, OR left out the case file report which just repeated what the person just said. Also, after the first few chapters stating that the area was searched, bear signs were posted, trails were closed and bear (for the majority of cases) was found not at fault and therefore no action taken could’ve been left out as well. She could have said it once, then only stated in other chapters if something other than that normal procedure was done. I understand a few bears were trapped and even killed, but the majority was not and the book started to get boring as it repeated itself in every chapter. I bought 2 more books from this same store, I’m hoping those are NOT the same as this as I will be very disappointed. Hopefully a portion of my purchase goes to the park at least!

[Alexander Stemer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting insight into decades of human-grizzly encounters in and around Yellowstone natural park. Key takeaways include: don’t mess with mama bear, make noise and carry bear spray while hiking in bear country, don’t hike alone at night, and store your food well away from camp. Fortunately, we’ve since learned most of these lessons through trial and error.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Respect the bear.

[Andreana Weldgen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, really enjoyed it and at the same time it's very scary

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, informative, educational, and spooky/frightening reading regarding grizzly bear encounters and attacks. It was like a real-life scary story that I read every night this summer.