Bear Encounters

“heaven forfend people who live in bear-country bear-proof their houses. those naughty bears are so rude!”

“Yep, straight to the hunting grounds for them bears....”

“towndawg needs to enroll in "how to spot a troll 101"

also, let me just say "600- to 700-pound male bear"

wow. massive”

“Saw my first black bear of 2006 yesterday. Also saw a couple of male turkeys doing their best to impress a group of females.”

“We males are all programmed the same way, regardless of species.”

“I, amazingly enough, have not seen a bear for about a year and a half! I'm going to have to change my name! lol

Besides this recent dry spell, I've had many, many bear encounters. Mostly from working three seasons at Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. There I learned the difference between park bears and other bears. There is a BIG difference. Park Bears aren't afraid of noise. You can yell and scream and bang all the pots and pans together that you want and they won't budge. There are bears that despite every noise you can make and all the little rocks you can throw at them and all the people in the campground trying to scare them away, they won't flinch and will walk right up to people at a picnic table and grab their food and start eating. I've seen bears that even while being pelted with rubber bullets and rocks being slung-shot at them and pepper spray being sprayed at them (deterrants that bear techs try), they will continue to eat their picnic goodies. Those bears, unfortunately, are doomed. They completely loose their fear of people and usually will start to become aggressive. And once a bear swipes at a person or charges them or destroys lots of property (ie breaks into cars), well, that bear is not long for this world.”

“I hear they'll even sit on occupied tents.

;)”

“BTW, the one and only time I've had a bear seem scared of me was in Colorado. My experiences with bears in California are they aren't easily scared away.
last edited: 4/10/06 1:57:16 PM”

“That's a whole lotta ass to be sittin' on an occupied tent!!”

“Yes, they sit on tents, come into your cabin to eat your raisin bran, pistachios, and teriyaki sauce, and even will eat baby wipes if given the chance :p”

“Outside the park, bears are hunted by hunters. Inside the park, bears are hunted by rangers. Of course, park bears are better fed, for their short lives.”

“Outside the park, bears are often shot by homeowners protecting their property.”

“That would be the park bears bailing out. Only so many rubber bullets and bear spraying a poor critter can take before it lights out for better living conditions. Bear sanctuary my arse!”

“It takes about 6 years to get a bear license in WI and this is my lucky year so I can't wait to have a bear encounter right about the middle of September....”

“Of course they killed it.


http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12738644/?GT1=8199”

“So was it pozzly bear or a grilar bear?”

“Hmm. "The Grizzler."”

“They also found evidence of Canadians who have successfully interbred with Grizzlies.....


”

“http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14376888/


a$$hole.”

“What a douchebag! Too bad the bear didn't get out to then rip out his voice box!”

“Those Minn rednecks sure are meanums'.”

“Hey, SS, please don't talk about my family members like that. Besides,

"Gentry, 39, of Franklin, Tenn"

this one was only a touron from TN! I wonder how many arrows it required.
last edited: 8/16/06 3:15:41 PM”

“Big tall tree and a short piece of rope???”

“I hope he gets the max and then burns in hell!!!! piece of crap person. I also hope his music career sees nothing but the belly of the charts. What a friggin loser to shoot a caged bear!”

“Quick!
Bearmagnet can't get on TT today.
Everyone go over to backpacker.com and make fun of him! ;-)
http://forums.backpacker.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/852107219/m/6411018611”

“heh heh heh heh!

So Sarge still posts over there, or is it a different sarge?”

“I'm back, mofo's!”

“Hee Hee Hee...”

“Usually, i douse myself in hotsauce and lay under a heat lamp before camping in jersey or PA. Sometimes it also helps to lay a few marshmellows under your pillow too. But chicken terriyaki works well too i suppose.”

“Another one. Will they never quit?”

“Oh sorry. Was that one done already? Jokes on me then. I didn't read every post. Sorry to intrude on your turf dude.”

“Here's a pretty sad one...

Bear killed after deadly attack on boy By PAUL FOY, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 58 minutes ago

AMERICAN FORK, Utah - Wildlife officers on Monday fatally wounded a bear they believed was the same animal that snatched an 11-year-old boy from his family's tent and killed the youngster.

The bear had been wounded early in the day and was pursued by hunters aided by a helicopter and 26 tracking dogs. It was described as a male, possibly 300 pounds and "jet black." Authorities were sure it was the right animal because the dogs had tracked its scent from the boy's camp site.

The bear was confirmed dead late Monday morning near the area where the boy was killed, said Lt. Scott White of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

The boy was sleeping alone in one section of the family's large tent late Sunday. He screamed before he was dragged away in his sleeping bag in a canyon about 30 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, said sheriff's Lt. Dennis Harris.

The boy's body was found about 400 yards from the tent, in the direction of another campsite where a bear sighting had been reported earlier in the weekend, Harris said.

"When it's hot and dry like this, bears are short of food," said Jim Karpowitz, director of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

"I know of no other fatalities by a black bear in Utah," Karpowitz said.

Utah is not known to have any grizzly bears, which have attacked and killed people in the northern Rockies.

American Fork Canyon is a popular camping destination. Harris said the family was camping about two miles up a dirt road from a popular campground.”

“i saw that news story - terrible.”

“Sad.”

“This just plain doesn't sound right; anyone else smell a rat here?

1. Where were the kid's folks? If he was screaming and making noise, wouldn't you expect the parents to wake and see what's going on?

2. Black bears are generally non-confrontational. They usually commit their mischief when no one is watching. While I've heard of bears attacking a single person, especially if the bear is big enough, I've never heard of a bear attacking a group of people. Even a hungry bear usually knows better to just abandon ship in lieu of easier food than to pick a fight with a group of people.

3. The article didn't mention anything about whether the kid snuck any food into bed with him, for you know, midnight munchies, etc. If that was the case, bringing food into your tent when camping in bear country is just plain asking for trouble.

I mean don't get me wrong, I think this is absolutely terrible, and probably would've wanted the bear's scalp myself. But when are people actually going to start taking bears seriously and realize that they are usually not only bigger than us, but probably also more adept to getting around in the woods than we are?”

“Not to detract from the tragedy of this, I wounder if candy bars or some other scent was involved in the original entry to tent. I know I like going to bed with a munchy. No statement concerning that in the news story.”

“This was a rogue bear that had attacked another man the day previously. I just heard an interview with a guy who said the bear tore through his tent on Saturday night/Sunday morning early and took several swipes at him, trying to grab him. Had his buddy not had a handgun nearby and started shooting, first off into the air as a warning, and then at the bear when it didn't retreat, I suspect he would have been this bears first victim rather than the 11 year old boy. The bear even returned shortly after as the scared group sat around a camp fire. They shouted and threw rocks at it to keep it at bay until morning. The thing that bothers me is that they reported it to wildlife management officers that morning, who said they would track it down that day. It appears that they didn't even make an attempt, and it was the following night that it got the boy.”

“those rangers were probably bothering someone about beer in their campsite instead”

“I still smell something fishy here. It reads as if the parents kind of didn't notice a bear was dragging off their kid. Not sure what may have actually happened - maybe it's just as they described it, too - but I think we stay tuned and may find some other weirdness with this story....”

“Update:

Dead boy's family: No warning on bear By PAUL FOY, Associated Press Writer
46 minutes ago



PLEASANT GROVE, Utah - The grandfather of an 11-year-old boy who was killed by a black bear blamed federal foresters Tuesday for not warning that the animal had harassed another group of campers hours earlier.

"We're hoping that the Forest Service will do a better job protecting campers. It's been like a surreal nightmare," Eldon Ives said at a news conference on his front lawn.

"The violent way he was taken is a sorrow that will never heal," Ives said.

Sam Ives was snatched from inside a tent that was a Father's Day gift to his stepfather, Tim Mulvey. The grandfather said there was no food in the tent to attract a bear.

"Something's dragging me!" the boy screamed as he was pulled by his sleeping bag late Sunday in the Uinta National Forest, about 30 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.

The boy was found mauled to death about 400 yards away. The bear was fatally shot about 12 hours after the attack.

Authorities said it was the same 300-pound black bear that confronted campers before dawn Sunday. Kurt Francom said his son was kicked in the head through a tent wall. The bear clamped his jaws on a pillow and carried it off.

Using tracking dogs, Forest Service staff tried to find the bear but were unsuccessful. Signs in the area generally warn about bears.

The Forest Service said the incident involving the Francom family was initially reported as a "brush-by" — a bear taking a harmless swipe at a tent, which would not enough to warrant an aggressive warning. It was only later that authorities learned it had been more serious.

"There's incidents and there's attacks," acting District Ranger John Logan said Tuesday. "If we started closing sites down because of incidents, we might as well just lock up the public land."

He added that "there hadn't been a fatal bear attack in Utah in recorded history. I think the agencies took appropriate action."

Sam would have been a sixth-grader in the fall at Valley View Elementary School in Pleasant Grove. His grandfather said his daughter and son-in-law were too distraught to answer any questions.”

“I sleep with bear spray.

"there hadn't been a fatal bear attack in Utah in recorded history

I hate when 'Dack rangers say 'there's never been a recorded incident'. Just means I could be first.
last edited: 6/19/07 5:53:17 PM”

“Utah campground shut in search for bear Thu Jun 21, 9:17 AM ET


A campground in the eastern Uinta Mountains remained closed Wednesday for the third consecutive day as trappers tried to capture a hungry black bear that frequently returns to hunt for food.

Attempts to catch the bear started last week and were not related to the fatal mauling of an 11-year-old boy in the Wasatch Mountains, said David Ream, a recreation manager at the U.S. Forest Service.

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is in charge of capturing the bear at the Ledgefork campground above the Smith and Morehouse Reservoir, about 45 miles east of Salt Lake City.

"The bear keeps coming back," Ream said. "We try to get people to put their food away. Not everyone does. ... We've emptied the Dumpsters. The traps are baited."

The state wildlife agency is "not comfortable" with the bear at Ledgefork, Kevin Bunnell, mammals program coordinator, told KSL Radio in Salt Lake City.

Bunnell said many bear sightings this spring involve yearlings cut loose by their mothers.

"That's the best explanation that I have for why people are seeing so many bears," he said.

A large male black bear dragged Sam Ives from his family's tent late Sunday at the head of American Fork Canyon in Utah County.

The family put up the tent in an undeveloped area where dispersed camping is allowed. The site is about 30 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.

The boy's grandfather, Eldon Ives, criticized the Forest Service for failing to shut down the nearby Timpooneke campground or warn everybody of a bear attack at the same spot 18 hours earlier.”

“I wish all the Tourons who don't store food appropriately could understand that it's THEM that cause these problems / situations.
I'll bet if they knew the possible ramifications of their actions that they'd be a lot more careful!”

“This morning a black bear wandered through the yard; just sauntering through really. My ex-dog, Freckles, went ballistic and didn't stop barking for 15 minutes after the bear slowly disappeared into the woods. This afternoon, Freckles was tied up outside by the big picture window on the west side. A bear (different, the same, who knows?) came out of the woods and walked right up to the window. Again, the dog went nuts. Melanie, my daughter, went outside, untied the dog and brought her in. She said she kept her head down the whole time and did her chore as quickly as possible without looking at the bear. Neither of us is convinced whether or not it was a brave or foolish thing to do. Possibly both.”

“Probably the same stupid bear I had to deal with a few days ago...although, at this time of year the woods are full of hooligan, dumb, young, curious male bears...gr-r-r-r-r...”

“I guess that's so much for the "dogs keep bears away" theories.”

“ My ex-dog, Freckles

what the hell? did you and freckles get a divorce? did he have an operation? is freckles trans-speciesal?”

“Naw, I gave her to my daughter and she visits when they do. Works best for everyone.”