Here in Maine, we often tell each other, there’s really nothing to worry about in our vast outdoor playground.

Poisonous snakes and spiders aren’t lurking in the grass, waiting to chomp on us. Tornadoes are extremely rare. Grizzly bears don’t live here. And neither do mountain lions (or so we’ve been told over the years).

But when 11-year-old Sam Ives died Sunday in Utah – torn from his tent and dragged away by a critter Maine’s got plenty of – it did make many of us pause to think.

Are we as safe as we thought?

And what’s to keep a Maine black bear from getting equally aggressive?

To get the answers to those questions, I went to one of the state’s top bear experts, Randy Cross.

It was initially a bit tough to get in touch with Cross, a Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife biologist who serves as the field crew leader for the department’s ongoing bear study.

He was out trapping and tagging bears as part of the state’s ongoing research project, as it turns out.

But after he returned to Bangor on Thursday, Cross agreed to sit down and talk about the Utah tragedy, Maine’s bear population and what Maine campers and homeowners ought to be aware of when it comes to our burly bruins.

First, the good news.

“Bears are certainly a big, powerful animal, and as such they are dangerous,” Cross said. “Fortunately, bears in Maine, in general anyway, have developed a fear of humans that helps them behave well around people.”

Cross said black bear attacks are rare, whether in Maine or elsewhere.

“[An attack in Maine] is a remote possibility,” said Cross, who has been working with bears for the state for the past 25 years. “There are a lot more reasonable things to worry about than a bear attack in Maine.”

With that said, Cross admitted black bear attacks, in general, aren’t very common.

“I think it’s remote out there [in Utah] as well,” he said. “It’s not like it happens five times a year or even five times in a decade. We’re talking about something that happens less than five times in a century … almost anywhere you want to go.”

The Utah bear that killed Ives weighed about 300 pounds, and was subsequently killed by fish and game officials.

Maine has plenty of bears as large or larger, and Cross said a healthy respect for the animals is important. So, too, is avoiding conduct that draws bears to you.

“The biggest problem I think you have with bears becoming dangerous are bears that have lost their fear of humans,” Cross said. “The habituation of bears usually begins with inadvertent feeding of bears and escalates from there. But once bears have lost their fear of humans, they’re a much more dangerous animal at that point.”

Cross said Maine’s hunting heritage may be a factor in reducing bear-human contact here, in that the most aggressive, bold bears are generally among the bruins that are shot each year.

Leaving food in places where bears can find it can create huge problems, Cross said.

In many parks across the nation, signs warn against keeping food in or near tents, and stiff fines are assessed when campers break those rules.

In Maine, campers may be a bit more lax, and may not realize they could play a part in creating a dangerous problem.

“A lot of times the root cause of these problems are bears becoming rewarded by visiting campsites,” Cross said. “And then, eventually, there’s an altercation, a close encounter with people.”

Cross said campers generally don’t intend to feed bears, but end up doing things that does, in fact, provide food for the bruins.

“Most people know [the basics]. ‘Don’t feed the bears’ is common knowledge,” Cross said. “But people feed bears without thinking they’re feeding bears. That’s often just by throwing their food leftovers in the bushes or what not. [That] would be enough to attract bears to a campsite and eventually cause problems for the bear and the campers as well.”

And campers aren’t the only ones who should pay attention to their food storage habits, Cross said.

“This particular incident in Utah happened in a campsite, but people who live in bear country have to be aware of etiquette as far as trying to remove all attractants, even from your home,” Cross said. “Bird feeders, dog food left outdoors and things like that cause problems anywhere people live in bear country in Maine, which is a good part of Maine.

And while the vast majority of Mainers will never have close contact with a bear, I couldn’t resist asking Cross for a plan of action, should the worst happen, and a bear end up in your campsite.

“If it ever did come to that, the advice for a black bear is to fight back, make a lot of noise, attract attention,” Cross said. “You may be able to get help from others as well.”

The goal, he said, is to frighten the bear and get it to flee. Out west, with bigger bears lurking, that’s not always an option.

“With grizzly bears, fighting back tends to escalate the situation, but we don’t have grizzly bears,” Cross said. “We have black bears, so we should fight back.”

Sensible cell phone usage urged

The proliferation of cellular telephones isn’t limited to our urban areas, as outdoors enthusiasts have surely noticed over the past few years.

U.S. Cellular and the Maine Bureau of Parks & Lands have joined forces to urge folks to be sensible when they use their cell phones in Maine’s wild areas.

Cell phones are valuable tools, after all, and have helped save many lives. They can also be a serious nuisance for those who head off the beaten track to get away from civilization’s trappings, only to be bombarded with ringing phones and fellow hikers talking incessantly on their phones.

“Wireless phones can save lives, but as in any situation, we ask that our customers be aware of the people and places around them,” said Jim Holmes, director of sales for U.S. Cellular in New England in a news release.

In the same release, Steve Curtis of Maine’s Bureau of Parks & Lands said outdoors enthusiasts should get trained in outdoor safety, enjoy parks safely and keep their cellular phones available for only serious emergencies.

Among the suggestions offered on U.S. Cellular and Maine’s Bureau of Parks & Lands safety tip sheet:

. Tell someone where you’re going, what you’re doing and when you’ll return.

. Don’t deviate from the planned route without updating friends and family.

. Keep your cellular phone turned off or turn the ringer to “off” or “vibrate,” but keep the phone accessible.

. Respect others by not using your wireless phone in the wilderness unless it’s a true emergency.

. Do not rely on your wireless phone as a substitute to proper planning and preparedness. You may not always be able to get cell phone service.

. Know local emergency numbers and when in remote areas, plan ahead and know where you can get a signal to your phone.

. Don’t rely solely on 911. Check with local public safety officials to make sure 911 works in the area you’ll be traveling.

. Do not call for assistance if, with proper planning and thought, you can walk yourself to safety. Call for help only if you are lost or injured and can’t effect a self-rescue.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.