Aaaaa… Look at the cute little Bear…Come here little fellow… That’s a good boy.

Originally posted by intrepid
I came a crossed a couger on Vancouver Island back in the 70's. Beautiful animal. It didn't attack which surprised me. Guess I know why now. You didn't mention wolverines. Got anything on them?

Dont know anything about Wolverines... never saw one in real life...
But years ago a buddy and I Hiked up to Lake McDonald ... that's not to far from the little town of Whitefish Montana up in the Glacier National park... anyway while there we had two young Fishers start to follow us... their kind of like a Wolverine... dangerous no... mischievous yes... tore into our packs ran off with a stringer full of fish... chewed a hole through the side of the tent... I'd throw a stick at them "Go on GET..." they just looked at me like I was stupid.... I guess they know a sucker when they see one...Wouldnt dare pick em up... they got a mouth full of teeth like razors ya know

Originally posted by Trexter Ziam
Okay next comment. Survival was my "hobby" back in the 70's. Hanging food in bags, tied to ropes thrown over high tree limbs was supposed to keep your food safe from critters. But, bears can climb trees right? Black bears anyway. Seems that old survival trick is worthless in black bear country. Agree or disagree and why?

I've lost a bear bag to a bear. It was hung at good height some distance from camp. As neither I nor my companions saw or heard the bear (or had any hint one had been near until we went to retrieve the bag in the morning), I would call this a great success not "worthless." I'd far rather lose most of our food ration than have the bear sniffing it's way through camp to get at the food in the tents.

reply to post by Trexter Ziam


Most campgrounds have Bear poles already there... much like a school flag pole just use the clip and run it up the pole... Hanging food from a tree... I've never had a Bear take it but squirrels and mice...

I guess the big thing is not to have food with or near you in camps sleeping area if a bear is
attracted to the easy meal they don't associate you as an appetizer ... know what I mean

Thank you both. Good points, keeping food away from sleeping areas.

Only food we ever lost was to squirrels. They ripped, clawed and bit those old fashioned styrofoam chests apart and made a mess of everything. That was Bastrop State Park - prettiest park in our state until a few weeks ago. Now, it's 95% burned up in that fire.

I didn't know about the new flag poles for food.

I've only encountered Black Bears in my life with hopes that I will never meet a Grizzly face to face. While camping in Pisgah National Forest (western NC) I awoke to fresh bear tracks in my campsite. I never heard a thing while I was sleeping. Kind of scary. I thank my Ursack for keeping the bear at bay. I store all my food and waste in Aloksaks inside the Ursack. The Bears can't smell anything. www.ursack.com...

I also scared a bear away in central VA (Lewis Mt.) while picking wild blueberries the size of cherries. I owe that one to a bear bell on my belt loop. Got to make your presence known. He left and so did I. I never like to feel that I'm being watched in the woods.

My Aunt lives in Mena, Arkansas, and has a couple of bears that pay her a visit now and then. One is a sow who pretty much grew up in the holler, and so knows the folks who live there, and they know her. A decent and respectful relationship, all things considered. No one bothers any one else, and things are just dandy. Couple of years ago, the sow had a couple of babies, and in the evenings about sundown, she'd bring the kiddos up and scamper them up the sweet gum tree next to the house before heading off to forage in the lower area. My Aunt and her new hubby were sitting on the porch, said hello, and of course did nothing else but drink their coffee and watch the show. The cubs shuffled about a bit on the limbs, piddled on the edge of the porch, then presumably went to sleep. Now, if a stranger were there and not my Aunt, there'd be a bloodbath, I'm sure. But, as things are, she and nature are pretty good neighbors, and I'm glad that such a thing can still exist in a world full of idiots. If some nitwit wants to play tag with Smokey the Bear or fetch with the grinning grey wolves, I say let them. After all, we aren't really, REALLY the top of the food chain. It just stings to admit it.

The conventional wisdom with bears (especially grizzlies) are as follows:
1) Don't run, they're nose is stronger than any canine and can run over 40 mph
2) Get a dog, dogs are a tried and true method for dealing with bears and have saved many a life in the great north.
3) Bear mace, only get the expensive stuff but watch your spray. If it drops a grizzly then it drops you faster
4) Fetal position, place head firmly between knees and kiss your $%^ goodbye ;-)

Originally posted by UniverSoul
sexual harrasment donkey:

This video is a disgusting cruel joke played on someone... No way a donkey would mount a human unless something had been put on that human, or that donkey was drugged..


He just happens to have to go to the bathroom?..and his buddies film it?....and continue to film it after the donkey has him down and is mounting him?

I can't believe the mods let this stay up..

My husband and I was having our coffee on the sofa one morning before work, it was light out and my husband looked over his shoulder and said "that sure is a big dog on our pouch"! I looked and said OMG that's not a dog that's a bear!!
here on the Or/Ca border coast we have bear but rarely see one (just their droppings full of berry seed) never around town!

Originally posted by AuntB
I have to disagree about the elk not being dangerous. The ones that I have been seeing show no fear, they are almost aggressive. Now regarding bears, I don't like them. We just had one that climbed up on our porch swing trying to get some feeders that we have hanging way above their reach. Someone told me that the over abundant rains caused the leaves and such to mold, thus the wild life is creeping further into residential ares to eat.

We had a huge elk charge us on our bikes, it was mating season and those huge animals are really really angry during that time!

reply to post by DaddyBare


Black bears are hooligans. Teenaged thugs. They like to destroy stuff. What other animal would walk up, in the bush, no humans around, and eat the tire off of a 3 -wheeler? (I've seen the evidence.) I don't like them. Honestly, they scare me a little. But mostly they're just like bad-a$$ed kids.

Cougars, howver, do attack a little more than your post indicated. Most recently: www.huffingtonpost.ca... . Sad story. (And this is my first attempt to include a link. Hope it works.) I find evidence of 23 confirmed cougar attacks, a lot of them happening in Canada, my stomping grounds. Still not a lot, but not something you ever want to deal with . A good friend of mine watched a cougar kill her husky. She had her gun out, but there was too much going on too fast for her to get a shot off. The cougar won.

I spend a lot of time in the bush. Three weeks out of the month, lol! And either my husband or I are well armed at any given point in time. Just in case. We love to see them, but if they don't keep their distance, well ...

reply to post by DaddyBare


I saw your Gunny chevrons and wondered if you had seen this story from a few years ago. About a retired Marine who killed a bear with a log when it attacked his kids.


Link

reply to post by DaddyBare


I second you saying to stay away from a cub and her mother.
I was working at a house on the side of a mountain and some of the other workers were outside feeding a mother bear and 3 cubs tomatoes. ( A lot of cubs for one bear, I suppose she picked one up from a dead mother?) They where up on about a 5 foot retaining wall. As I went to get a tool out of the truck I got within 15 feet of one the cubs. The mother ran at me and stopped at the top of the wall just peering down at me. I about climbed the truck. My coworker was laughing at how fast I came around the side of it. It happened so fast that if she hadn't been on the wall she might have gotten me.
I wasn't even trying to get close to the cub so I could imagine accidentally walking up on one in the woods and getting mauled would be an easy thing to happen.

When I'm hiking with friends I always try to keep a conversation going so we let the wildlife know we are coming that way. I don't want to surprise anything that will surprise me back.

Great thread as always..
Encountered a few black bears over here along with pandas .. Yes pandas may be cute but dont get in their way they will ruin your day .. Along with tigers usually tigers wont go after humans unless they're too old or ill to hunt other game..
Best rule of thumb NEVER play with the animals when your in the wild leave them alone and they leave you alone.

I live on Vancouver Island and this week we are looking for a cougar in the area as well as a friend called me because a bear was in her yard every night and actually curled up to sleep beside a full tent in her back yard.
So it's scare the bear away. On my side of the city the deer are so brazen as to go down a busy highway to check out the flower beds. and ate all the front flowers at 2pm in traffic.
Hey they were here before us and they are getting their tax receipts! Peace and Namaste

I live in Minnesota on a farm way out in the sticks we have lots of black bears they like to come and tear down my bird feeders and raid the garbage cans they also love acorns there is lots of these trees on my property ..The black bears are just part of the scenery around here..I just watch then from my window or from a safe distance there cubs are just darling but if you see them alone mommy is close by for sure..They destroy stuff but i love the wildlife..Peace,sugarcookie1 S&F

As someone who has lived in Jackson, Wy for 30 years and has often camped solo in griz country....... and absolutely feeling nervous At Times..... here are a few videos that may make some reconsider camping hehehe. Seriously, sometimes I question the solo camp thing, but whatcha gonna do? This beautiful area can be irresistible. I just need to find a tastier and slower companion to take with me! Actually, on a truly more serious note....CARRY BEAR SPRAY!!!!! I cannot state that loudly enough. Yes, I do carry weapons too but a bear that can't smell you or see you is better than one that is merely wounded and really pissed off! Use your head and take precautions. Don't camp solo if you don't have to, and if you do, choose your site carefully and learn how to act in Griz or black bear country. They don't behave the same in a number of ways. There's a ton of info on a lot of sites but check out these videos! Some are hair raising investigations and experiments by scientists, etc.

www.youtube.com...

billingsgazette.com...

dsc.discovery.com...

This last video is on a site for Discovery Channel and contains a number of excellent videos about bear attacks on people, tents, campsites, and more.

reply to post by jaxnmarko

Almost forgot..... yes, elk, deer, buffalo, bison, moose, mountain lion..... don't anthropomorphise, these are all potentially animals! Having been chased by moose and been very near buffalo not out of choice, I was in danger. A buffalo can run as fast as a horse, same with a griz. When rutting, the moose, elk, deer, and buffalo are extremely dangerous. Moose are well known dangers in the valley here. Mountain lion, well, nuff said. And now there are plenty of wolves though they leave people alone I wouldn't want my child out in some places without close supervision. Sure, they look similar to a lot of our "best friends" but they ARE predators. Same goes for the coyotes here. Anyway, I just wanted to back up the OP and say that many animals we take for granted can be killers. Bullwinkle can hoodwink you! Rocky.... well.... sure, pretty small but what sharp teeth!

As always wonderful information, however, there have been 73 cougar attacks since 1991 in the U.S. and Canada. and 7 in California. I happened to be about 1/2 mile away at the time one of those took place. Freaked me out when I found out the next day.

This link also says this number is under reported
tchester.org....

If I have to head out of town if the SHTF, I'll be headed to an area with a high cougar population.This is my biggest concern.