Actually, with a mother and cub (estimated at about 1.5 years old). I went camping on Friday up at Kidd Lake (about 80 miles east of Sacramento) and was planning on staying until Wednesday. Its a beautiful place. I was there last year with the same group Marin Canoe and Kayak Club. Theyve been going for years and havent had a bear encounter, even though the caretaker always warns that its a possibility. And this time there were prints in the mud and scat in one of the campgrounds. Anything with an odor went in the trunk of the car food, toothpaste, chapstick, etc. Friday night was just fine. We had our happy hour and then went back to our individual campsites for dinner. I read, did some Soduko puzzles, and went to bed pretty early. Saturday involved some hiking, paddling, and being lazy in the sun with a book. After dinner we had a gathering at the central campfire and sang songs. It was so great. I was beginning to relax after a busy summer of working two jobs. About 10pm I went to bed. About 11:30 I woke up to what I thought was someone getting in to their car. My tent was about 50 feet from where we parked our cars. It made it easier for getting the food out of the trunk every day. As I listened, I realized that the noise was not someone getting in to their car. It was clearly something pushing on a car and rocking it back and forth. It sounded like plastic was being pushed in and out. I froze in my bed as it dawned on me that this was a bear trying to get in to a car. My heart was beating fast, my mouth went dry, the adrenaline was shooting through my body and all my senses were on extra alert. And I was so hoping that it was not my car. Then I heard the glass shatter. I cannot express the terror that I felt. I did not move for fear of attracting attention to my tent. As I continued to listen, I heard the bear rustling around with (what I now know is) a plastic bag. Then I heard the whistle. Another camper, Richard (whose tent was just next to the parking lot), was able to shoo off the bear by blowing on his whistle. Later, he described this bear as the adolescent. About 5 minutes later, the bear was back. Or rather, the mother came around. Richard blew on his whistle and he said that Mom just stood there, on all fours, looking at him. So he set off his car alarm, and that got her moving. A few minutes later I could tell that there were a few flashlights out in the parking lot, so I decided to go out there and try to alleviate some of my fear. As I walked I was trembling and just scared out of my wits. It was pitch dark, and I have never experienced this before, so I had no idea what to do or what to expect. I kept remembering the story about the man who lived with the bears and they finally attacked and killed him. I was really not in the mood to be attacked. When I got to the parking lot, Richard and Alan were there looking at the damage. Thankfully, it was not my car. It turned out to be a minivan, and the owner had left the windows cracked and there was food inside. Apparently, he had not taken it seriously when told about the bears earlier. After talking with Richard and Alan for a few minutes I went back to my tent. They were so nonchalant about the situation, I was amazed. And still very afraid. Of course I didnt sleep. My senses were still on high alert. I heard some people opening and closing the side door of the minivan. The owners were cleaning up the best they could for the rest of the night, and they put one of their coolers in the toilet room. Well, it wasnt over. After the flashlights were gone, about ten minutes later, I heard a very large something take a leap and land with a large thud what seemed like 20 feet from my tent. Oh my gawd! My heart stopped. I still cannot express the terror I felt. I had nothing in my tent to defend myself or to make noise with. What was I going to do if this bear (or bears) decided my tent was interesting? For a few minutes I heard nothing. Not the best when you know they are around. Then I heard some pots and pans being nuzzled and falling to the ground at nearby tables. I couldnt sleep and I dared not move. I was just frozen in my bed staring at the walls of my tent for shadows and waiting for the sun to come up. Finally, I went to sleep for a few hours and woke up around 6am. I dressed, got out of my tent and went to talk to people. As you can imagine, I cut my trip short. I knew that I couldnt sleep at night if I stayed. Keep in mind that I never actually saw these bears. With as scared as I was from just hearing them and knowing they were so close, I have no idea what would have happened if I had actually seen them. You know, like had I gone to the bathroom and saw them as I was walking back to my tent. What amazes me still is how nonchalant most everybody was. They only want the food, so dont have any in your tent. Oh, it was just a bear. Ive been around them lots in Yosemite. Ill tell you, I dont want to give up camping so Im going to do some research and see what I can do to be better prepared. But I hope to never take a bear encounter in stride. Shannon ____________________________________________________________________________________ Need a vacation? Get great deals to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel. http://travel.yahoo.com/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
The reason everyone was so nonchalant is that black bears are normally not predatory to humans. 99.9% of the time they really are just after your food, not you. The man who was killed by bears was killed by grizzlies, which is another story. Your biggest danger from a black bear is from getting between it and a food source. If you get too close, the bear might swat you as it would another bear going after the same food. Though this could cause injury, it is not a predatory attack. If you retreat, the bear will most likely resume what it was doing before. Even getting between a mother black bear and its cubs is not terribly dangerous; bear researchers safely do it all the time. Because black bear cubs can quickly scurry up a tree when threatened, mother black bears do not have strong protective instincts. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has hundreds if not thousands of encounters between black bears and humans every year. Yet, in the last 60 years there have been only one or two black bear attacks that might be called predatory. In the case I recall, the bear was beaten off after injuring one of two campers. Later, after it was killed, plastic was found in its stomach, which apparently was causing it to slowly starve. The attack on the humans appears to have been more an act of desparation than anything. So be cautious around black bears, but don't be terrified. I worry more about crazy drivers on the highway to the wilderness than I do about the black bears in it. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Aug 8, 2007, at 10:38 AM, cholst_at_bitstream.net wrote: > Your biggest danger from a black bear is from getting between it and a > food source. As amply shown in this video clip: http://tinyurl.com/2wz2mq Paul Montgomery paul_at_paddleandoar.com http://paddleandoar.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Don't be silly Paul, that only works with grizzly bears! -----Original Message----- On Aug 8, 2007, at 10:38 AM, cholst_at_bitstream.net wrote: > Your biggest danger from a black bear is from getting between it and a > food source. As amply shown in this video clip: http://tinyurl.com/2wz2mq Paul Montgomery *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 8/7/2007 9:15:28 PM Pacific Daylight Time, kayaking_gal_at_yahoo.com writes: Ill tell you, I dont want to give up camping so Im going to do some research and see what I can do to be better prepared. But I hope to never take a bear encounter in stride. A fed bear is a dead bear. Tell your friend please, to take it more seriously. The bears that break into lazy humans cars usually wind up getting shot. Sometimes people get hurt in that dead bears path. If you are interested in learning more of human/bear interaction, read Dr Steven Herero's Bear Attacks, Their Cause and Avoidance. Avoid books such as Alaska Bear Tales1 or 2, which are designed to scare the hell out of you. In one of my Alaskan paddling trips a 9-10 foot brown bear swam into the cove we were camped in. He stood up and shook off and was so big I was scared to say anything. He was 30 yards away. I said...huh-lo Mr buh-Bear..nobody over here but us chickens. It was hardly a Dirty Harry moment. He left. Cheers, Rob G ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Monday 13 August 2007 20:50, Shannon wrote an interesting: > What amazes me still is how nonchalant most everybody > was. " They only want the food, so don't have any in > your tent." " Oh, it was just a bear. I've been > around them lots in Yosemite. " Sounds like comments you do hear in any dangerous situation, that reflect people's different ways of handling it, not in any way proof of nonchalance. First, you've got denial - it wasn't anything, like some parents say to their kids, after some mishap, like a broken leg, when in fact both parents are scared shitless. That's comforting for the kids, I guess ... Second, it is those who actually been in more dangerous situations, who are used to danger, say firefighters, police, wardens, or nurses. Then the individual bear is nothing but a nuisance. Thirdly, the real cool ones, who don't let things upset them, period. Who never are nervous, no matter what happens - not necessarily very nice people, but not necessarily hard to have around. Such people often lack empathy for others, but not always. Fourthly, there are those who are young and stupid, who just want to show off, and sing along - all too common! Happily this fourth category usually matures into something else. Anyway, all those types of people might talk in a similar manner after at close shave, like the bear in the car incident, and only the last are nonchalant and stupid. I remember vividly a helicopter crash some years back (the accident even made the news internationally), where I was one of the heliguards, who had to dive for cover when the helicopter crashed into the platform's helipad. God was with us that day, so nobody was killed, except the heli that was a write-off. A few concussions, some bruises, hurting shoulders, that was all. But the reactions from those onboard was very varied. Two of the Fourth category was onboard, jumped out smiling and thought it was great - a few hours later they had begun to realise what a close call it had been, so they were flown off to hospital, before they had mental breakdowns, or worse. The pilot likewise jumped out with a " went well this time, too" and went off to call the boss. A technican onboard said he was OK and went straight back to work - and had to be called back, as the nurse wanted to be sure he wasn't in shock - he wasn't. I think he's a Third type, but I don't know him, to say for sure. The other two, a man in his sixties and one about thirty, had crashed into each other, as the latter hadn't strapped in (stupid bugger). The old guy had to retire afterwards, as his neck got a beating when the younger heavier guy crashed into him, while the younger man had problems with a torn shoulder afterwards and nightmares, over and over again. He was the only one who reflected on the accident at the time, fully realising that it had indeed been a close shave - had the engine exploded just a second earlier they'd all be dead, as then the helicopter would have crashed into the side of the semisubmersible, and fallen into a watery grave, where the water was as cold as it gets - a few degrees below freezing. Had it crashed a little to the left, or right, I'd been dead, so it was indeed a close call. I used to be afraid of a lot of things as a youth (probably due to a fall down a staircase as a toddler), now very little frightens me - I know I am here on borrowed time, and Fortune/God/Allah/Jehova is calling the shots. So I try to live simple, plan ahead as little as possible, as things never turn out as planned - often much better, quite often worse. This week we were going paddling and sailing our Klepper XXL, and while we did some, I suddenly fell ill and we had to leave, quite urgently, to see a doctor. With logistics in the form of transporting a lot of gear from a remote point to where the car was parked, it took two trips to get it all back from our base camp, then it was the disassembly of the rig, the two Balogh outriggers, main mast and junk sail, the mizzen with its mast, and finally the stowing it all into the tiny trailer and the car, it took about a day - at the maximum speed we managed at the time, considering my condition. Better today if not fully recovered - I have posted a photo to show what I looked like at http://foldingkayaks.org/gallery/A-lot-of-Junk%21/P8120388 Got to go, Tord *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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