Oh, crud, the bears have found me!

“There's a reason my name is BearCrossing. Some of you may already know that I attract bears. I've had many, many close encounters with bears including a bear sitting on my tent in Yosemite, a bear getting onto the tailgate of my truck when I was sleeping in the back of it, and a bear trying to break into my cabin many times. Anyway, I thought by moving to Springville I'd be relatively safe from the bears. Well, looks like they've found me, lol There's been one spotted just a few streets over from my house!”

“LMFAO! Tell the tent story again! You know I never get tired of it!

BTW - I will never bp with you. It's not personal of course, it's survival.”

“Maybe you need a new cologne... Sounds like you're emitting bear pheremones... LOL”

“aren't bears attracted to women when it's that time of the month?

maybe you should go on that new birth control bearcrossing, the one that makes it happen only once every 3-4 months?”

“is that what you use, sacco?”

“Menstruation as an attractant is a myth.”

“BM, it attracts you”

“a myth is a female moth”

“For BM - My first job for the Forest Service was at South Lake Tahoe. I heard bears at night many times during that summer digging in trashcans that were not bear-proof and I once came across a steaming fresh pile of bear scat... But I never saw a bear.

Then one weekend I went camping in Yosemite National Park, by myself. I stayed in Tuolumne Meadows Campground in my little K-Mart Kid's tent and was awakened in the middle of the night to hear an animal sniffing around my tent. At first I thought it was a dog but a few seconds later I heard the chain on the bear box rattle and more commotion so I knew it was a bear. I knew all my food and smellables were in the box so I tried to remain calm. There was a puddle of water between the bear box and my tent and I heard the bear splash a little coming back towards me after he/she was unsuccessful in getting into the box. I then watched my tent partially cave in as the bear sat or stepped onto the corner of my tent! He almost sat on my feet, I pulled them up just in time! I was so scared I didn't let out a peep! After what seemed liked an eternity but was probably only a minute or so, the bear got up and left. Needless to say, I didn't sleep the rest of the night!

The joke for the rest of the summer was Carol had a bear sit on her tent but she still hasn't seen one!”

“LMFAO!!!!! Thank you!

Ewker - I do wear my Red Wings with pride.


BTW - y'all know women are complete horndogs during that time, yes?
last edited: 1/04/05 11:18:16 AM”

“you would have probably given the bear a heart attack if you had jumped straight up with the tent hanging all around you.”

“no lyra, i don't use that.

i'm a male, as you well know, and as you also know only females have such cycles.

your childish antics are getting old.”

“Oh crud, the BEERS have found me...and its so early yet...”

“Ewker, I was afraid to move thinking my best bet was to play dead inside the tent!”

“BM, don't forget they are horndogs when pregnant also. I knew a woman who only went out on her hubby while she was pregnant. He thought he would hurt the baby if they had sex...stupid,stupid”

“sequoia, do you know what kind of bear it was”

“You guys...don't you know? We are ALWAYS hordogs :P”

“There's only one kind of bear in California, the black bear - the last grizzly was shot here in 1940.”

“that last post was in my stern, funnin' font btw.

you know i think you're the bestest lyra”

“There's only one kind of bear in California, the black bear - the last grizzly was shot here in 1940.”
BearCrossing
11:28:38 AM

then you would have given the bear a heart attack or he probably would have sh1t all over your tent...lol”

“Reminds me of my bear encounter in Quetico. Bushed up against our tent, got our well hung food, proceded to sleep in our campsite, relieving gas from both major orfices, and came back for seconds after chasing him/her off at dawn's first light.

No sleep that night, either.”

“Playing dead is the wrong survival strategy for black bear, they eat dead things.

Survival guide is same as cougar, look big and threatening but prepared to back off (exaggerated slow backward steps while facing threat), but fight like he11 if actually attacked. Gotta look like a fellow predator, not an opportunistic meal.”

“i know you were only funnin', sacco! and i also know i'm the bestest. ;-)
i was just taking a break from TT for a bottle and a nap, that's why i didn't lay the smack down on ya sooner!”

“...lay the smack down on ya...

lol. that phrase tickles my funny bone in such a way that if you were to tickle me like that i'd say,"oohh, that's nice."”

“Ah, I know, you can scare off (most) black bears by looking big and scary and yelling and throwing things at them. But Yosemite bears are different, they just look at you funny when you do that and continue to do whatever they're doing. And I checked with a ranger afterwards who said I probably did the correct thing by remaining still and silent in my tent.”

“I was all ready to volunteer to share a tent with you on a trip because I heard you were a snugglemonster. Now I have to rethink that! ;-)”

“In the midst of night a message is sent
The ranger girl is sleeping alone
And when it's sitting on your tent--
In the dark the Black bear moans.

For they know where she packs and camps
They find her baby wipes by their scent
And when the night is dark and damp--
You hear the sound of branches bent.

And now they've come into the town
In search of her to find and scare
To change her smile into a frown--
To eat the neighbor's trash right there.

But she is noble, she is wise
She will outsmart the great Black Bear
Inside her house there is a surprise--
Her two attack cats will claw and tear.

If you think this a waste of rhyme
Know the Black Bear is waiting for you
The ranger girl will be just fine--
But the curse of the Black Bear is true!
last edited: 1/04/05 4:55:05 PM”

“snugglemonster? lol”

“lol, snowpoet, I doubt my cats would be much of a match!”

“I wouldn't look big and scarey and throw things at a mamma bear. Not a good plan. I have met quite a few mamma bears (black, not grizzly) and it worked just fine for me to talk to her calm and back up slowly. They would roar and rear up on hind feet and sway back and forth, but stop coming forward. And i am not a giant person....only 5'3". The only trouble i had was once, as i was trying to back up to my truck, and the cub kept popping up to "say hi", (i guess). I kept whispering "shooo!" But his mom came and cuffed him and yelled at him, and he finally quit teasing me! I love seeing bears out there. Only i don't hang around where they are used to people and getting people food.”

“ill never forget the time i turned a corner in jersey to see three grown bears, two of them fighting, about 50 yards away, that was hair-raising”

“After you changed your shorts, it must have been a great sight.

Kudos again to your AT journey.”