Other than the fact that we all hope the two never have to meet - sometimes it might be better than the alternative.... seems pretty strange consider our recent discussion on bears. A sad thing happened about 36 miles south of Juneau yesterday at a gorgeous little spot called Sweetheart Creek. A fellow fishing for sockeye salmon surprised a female brown bear with three cubs - at a distance of about 10 feet. The noise of the falls in this area would obliterate any noise that a person might make near the riverbank. Bears and humans "compete" for salmon in this stream. The terrain of the riverbank varies from somewhat flat to straight up - and is covered in typically DENSE Southeast Alaskan rainforest undergrowth. The human survived the encounter - one cub did not and the sow was wounded. The sow will probably eventually die and the outlook for yearling cubs without a capable mother to guide them through the last critical months of food gathering before the winter snows set in is pretty bleak. We probably won't see them next spring. The female is wounded and possibly a huge threat to anyone that might visit this area. Would pepper spray have worked in this situation ? Maybe - a basically stationary (ie not attacking yet) bear, surprised, and at close range - possibly the "best" scenario for pepper spray use. Would he have been attacked and injured or killed if he hadn't shot....I don't know. Dave Seng Juneau, Alaska *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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