Re: [Paddlewise] Bears

PaddleWisers ...
We have black bears in Louisiana ...SMALL black bears !  They are fun to
watch when you do sight them being mostly elusive and shy animals.  
Their size does not make them a threat of any kind unless you were to
corner one and leave it no options.  They might trash a campsite looking
for bacon drippings, etc., but only while you are gone from camp.

Back in college-days a local pizza house was having a grand opening and
had a bear wrestling contest  ..."stay in the ring for 5 minutes and win
$20"  ...and a free pizza !

Hell, I had scared bears bigger than this off before.  This shouldn't be
a problem.  The bear was well muzzled, had had its claws cut blunt, and
stood just under 6 feet reared up.  The bear outweighed me about 50
pounds.  Standing up I was a few inches taller than the bear.  The bear
was actually a pet to this old codger putting on the event.
 
The bell sounded and I began scrambling around.  The bear is on a short
tether with a handler and is trained to push away strongly at anything
and everything with its front legs.  I managed to dodge under the push
and get a  good bear-hug on the bear.  I hung on for dear life.  I was
doing pretty good right up to the point that I got a good whiff of the
bear's breath ...Whew !   That was definitely a bear threat to avoid !!

End of story   ...I won the money and the pizza.  The blunt claws still
managed to shred my shirt and jeans, and leave long raking marks down my
back and sides.  The most "un-bear-able"  ( ...sorry 'bout that ! )  part
of this story is that my girlfriend said I stunk like a bear for about a
week, despite taking 3 or 4 showers a day !!

Oh, by the way I use an unfeathered Touring paddle for relaxed low-angle
paddling.
...adieu   ...Peyton  (Louisiana)  
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