No, Menstruating Women Do Not Attract Bear Attacks

[obamanut2012]

Women who might think twice about a summer trip to a national park can now officially rest assured: it turns out that menstrual odors do not attract bear attacks, according to a paper by the National Park Service.

The paper was written in response to the long-standing concern that the odors associated with menstruation could lure in hungry bears, putting women at a higher risk than men of being mauled. The concern proved to be little more than an urban legend, at least when it comes to grizzly and black bears.

According to researcher Kerry A. Gunther, who wrote the paper: "There is no evidence that grizzly and black bears are overly attracted to menstrual odors more than any other odor."

The paper also traced the origin of the myth to a single evening on Aug. 13, 1967, when two women were killed by grizzly bears in Glacier National Park. The events caused speculation at the time that the attacks may have been prompted by menstrual odors. Presumably, as years passed without any investigation, the speculation eventually morphed into belief—and, unfortunately, unjustified fears.

<snip>

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/08/menstruating-women-do-not-attract-bear-attacks

*********************************************

I was told these a zillion years ago in Girl Scouts, and my mother told me it wasn't true. If it was, with all my hiking, camping, and trail running, I would have been mauled by now!

[darkangel218]

1. Nothing that fresh scented tampons and pads couldnt take care of

:p

[KT2000]

2. that was part of orientation

when I worked at Yellowstone Park many many years ago.

[REP]

3. I know a woman (former) Forest Ranger who swears it attracts elk during mating season

She has some funny (because they ended well) stories about marauding elk + periods. Anecdote is not the plural of data, but there ya go!

I have also heard that the sound of an apnea-sufferer's snoring sans CPAP will attract bears. Since my idea of "camping" is staying someplace that doesn't have room service or wifi, I don't plan to test this ever.

[Starry Messenger]

4. My idea of camping is like REP's, so I won't be testing this either.

But on the face, it makes no sense that menstruating would attract bear attacks. Women lived among bears in this country long before camping became a hobby. There wouldn't have been any women left on the continent.

[Rex]

5. Always wondered if that was true or not.

Looks like NOT.

[Neoma]

6. It's bullshit.

I've gone camping more times than I can count. (Smokey Mountains too.) Only encountered them once... On the side of the road, when I was asleep in the back of the car.

[spirit-soul]

23. And you were on the rag every time you went camping?

[Neoma]

24. My grandpa loved camping and my brother's an Eagle Scout.

I also wasn't in public school (after 3rd grade) growing up. Guess how much camping I did.

So yes, I can call bullshit on this one. If you're talking about some idiot keeping food in their tent however, that's another matter.

[loli phabay]

7. all evidence form this study apart, im still not %100 convinced

i dont think id like to have any blood on me with predators around.

[loli phabay]

8. what about swimming in waters with sharks :shivers:

[dogday]

9. Menstrual Odors

this is just something, really?

[4th law of robotics]

10. They say that, then provide a list of things you can do to minimize your risks

of bear attacks while menstruating.

The data they site is . . . equivocal to me.

I was told not to take deodorant while hiking as any smell could potentially attract bears. If Old Spice is a concern then I would imagine so is the smell of blood (for a predator/scavenger species).

Really it looks like the total number of bear attacks are just so slight that it's impossible to come up with any real conclusions. The Yellowstone one for instance has an n = 9. That's not too impressive.

[Gormy Cuss]

19. What is says that there isn't evidence to conclude that menstrual odors are a risk

and there also isn't sufficient evidence to preclude it because there hasn't been any controlled experiment to assess the risk with grizzly bears. The polar bear study indicates some attraction, the black bear study revealed none.

As you noted, the incidence of bear attacks is pretty low. IMHO the NPS issued the warnings because people expect them to offer advice on the topic.

A lot of health & beauty products smell like food to critters and that's why the standard advice is to avoid using them. It's a relatively low risk and easily avoided by using unscented products and putting these products in the bear box or hanging them with the food.

The menstrual blood thing really is out of proportion to the risk though and it's good that NPS has tried to address it.

[kdmorris]

11. I was told that in the Girl Scouts too

My Dad told me it was crap - that most bears are more attracted to the smell of Raspberries than to blood. While they are omnivores, he said that humans are not really considered "food" by most bears, unless some "dumbass" humans have been feeding the bears human food - then bears associate humans with food.

My Dad was a smart man, so I always believed that was probably the truth vs what the Girl Scouts told me. That being said - it's best to be prepared when camping to survive any wild animal encounters that may happen (wild bears generally leave when humans are present - unless they are sick, starving or some "dumbass" human has fed them human food)

[foghat rules]

12. Bull hockey. It's a strong scent.

This is not a feminist issue--we are talking the scent of blood. So silly.

[Hatchling]

13. Bye bye troll!

[Starry Messenger]

14. Thank you MIRT.

I got one of the lamest juries ever on my alert on this.

Bull hockey. It's a strong scent.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1139&pid=8796

REASON FOR ALERT:

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate. (See <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=aboutus#communitystandards" target="_blank">Community Standards</a>.)

YOUR COMMENTS:

Library girl, repeat troll. Please hide for MIRT.

JURY RESULTS

A randomly-selected Jury of DU members completed their review of this alert at Sat Sep 22, 2012, 12:14 PM, and voted 1-5 to LEAVE IT ALONE.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT and said: Hidden for MIRT and calling OP silly.
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Hmm....tough one. I mean, what kind of response does the OP expect?
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Yawn. Another useless alert taking up jurors' time.
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given

[obamanut2012]

15. Juror #4 -- The response I expected was not, apparently, one you would make

ie one based in stereotypes and not facts. My OP was not flamebait.

Good God.

[hello larry]

16. Good God?

Dramatic much? Dogs will sense a woman's cycle so why not bears? Good God, indeed. As if this is a feminist issue--smelling like blood and attracting a wild animal.

[obamanut2012]

17. Aren't you a busy bee

[kdmorris]

18. She's dead, Jim...

Returning disruptor, I believe.

[Gormy Cuss]

20. Yep. We seem to be having a troll problem lately.

Fortunately, hosts here can block trolls before MIRT revokes their privileges.

[Neoma]

25. I might have forgot to mention that LG comes around once and awhile.

[raw raina]

27. I do not wish to be called a girl, honeybunchesofoats.

Womyn, por favor.

And thanks for marginalizing me by mocking my posting from a library. You must be a 'bagger who's against them socialist pinko liebarries, eh?

[DURHAM D]

28. Enjoy your stay little one.

[yardwork]

21. Emilyg, I presume?

[obamanut2012]

22. Library Girl

[whathehell]

30. Oh please...Show us the evidence.

Women don't "smell like blood" when they have all their clothes on. duh.

If you are bleeding from a WOUND, that will likely be ON THE SURFACE of your skin -- Bleeding under

layers of clothing is quite different, and if they are wearing a TAMPON, they have no blood on the surface at ALL.

[not an iSheeple]

31. Uh...please tell me you are a woman.

No, really. You better tell me your effing gender, pal. Methinks you are a dewd.

But in any case, as a woman, I smell like blood because guess what? Not all women stick tampons up their vadges all day, every day. I can smell myself! And it's a strong scent.

[whathehell]

32. Uh..I am, but I'm having a hard time

believing you are.

As for "smelling yourself", tampon or not, I believe there's only a couple of possibilities here:

You're not wearing any clothes and your head is in close proximity to your vagina..

There's A Problem, be it medical, hygienic, or psychological and, if it's the former, you should see a gynecologist.

Sorry but I menstruated for decades and I could not "smell myself" walking down the street, nor

can I "smell" any other woman and have never heard of anyone else who could.

[obamanut2012]

33. Dread my post upthread

This is Library Girl.

[whathehell]

34. Okay...Thanks for the heads up.

Why do you call her library girl?

[im looking thru u]

36. Because I always post from lie-BARRYs

and these elitest are the cool kids with laptops. Their bottoms are probably very soft and padded well. I spend my big ticket items on stuff like a Vita Mix, good juicer, and good bike. I have a desk top but don't want Internet service. It's not very expensive--only about $20 a month, right? But I don't have tv also. It would freak me out to post from home.

[im looking thru u]

35. Well maybe your blood is all vanilla raspberry sorbet, dearie.

Me strong like bull. My blood is the blood of a real woomyn. Yay me!

[aaaaaa5a]

26. Here is some info on shark attacks.

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/08/do-menstruating-women-attract-shark-attacks

[obamanut2012]

29. Library Girl seems to love this thread -- just ignore her

We Hosts and MIRT will take care of it.

In addition, I'm not self deleting or locking this thread.

[tantric_nun]

37. Why? You like bears, periods

or both?

P.S. I am on my period!

Thankfully, no bears in Roscoe Village!