there be critters here!

[Brorag]

There I was, about 20 min ago, sitting at my desk, thinking about my porsche, when out the side of my left eye, I saw three black bumps, like a big fat lab and her pups, running across the front yard:

I looked out the window to my right and there stood a ma bear on her hind legs, looking back at me, no more than 3 feet outside the window. I grabbed the camera, and started shooting. Unfortunately the flash was on and they took off, ma bear running the cubs up a tree.











fortunately, my Porsche was spared...................

jd

[Danny_Ocean]

Very cool pics. Are you out in the "sticks" or in a suburban development? All I have to worry about is rattlers...yikes!

[dzls rok]

thats cool....but scary if you were outside!

[Brorag]

I could have patted mom on the head; the cubs were cute little boogers.
I'm at the back of a small sub-division, no house within 400yds. My place is on ~14 acres of woods in the mountains, some of it very vertical. Perfect for critters.
People hunt for bears in the area. Got turkey, fox, bobcat, eagle, deer, and a few porsches.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by dzls rok

thats cool....but scary if you were outside!

True...especially if you were caught between Mama Bear and Baby Bear...

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Our pet brown bear showed up on the kitchen-door porch awhile ago, wanting more bird-feeder food. I thought it was the UPS guy and opened the door. Poor kid scuttled up the nearest tree, fast enough to put the lie to the old advice, "If a bear chases you, just climb a tree."

[Brorag]

you should have seen those two cubs scoot up that tree!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Those are NOT "critters". Critters are the things those things eat...like you and me in the wrong situation. Those are called predators....REAL predators.

[Brorag]

Naa,
Here they're critters; folks used to wrassle with them...........
Bear meat's good; a little gamey..........

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by Brorag

Bear meat's good; a little gamey..........

Gamey? Never thought of it that way. Here's my favorite part of the bear:

[gtc]

Question: What kind of bear is best?

[RWebb]

It's good that the flash scared them - you don't want them to think of your house as a food source. Be sure not to leave any dog or cat food outside or anything else they might want to eat. Keep doors closed.

Black bears are not real aggressive (black bears can be brown in color - see the NY post above). They are omnivores and eat a lot of ant nests, grubs, etc. You definitely do not want to be caught in between a sow and her cubs. Dogs and bears will go at it even if neither has never seen a dog or a bear before. There is an instinctual reaction to the smell. Don't let your dog stay out at night in the yard or in a pen.

Grizzlies - aka Brown Bears - can be extremely aggressive - esp. "teenagers" and will kill and eat humans once in a while. Usually, they just maul the human - something that would just "teach a little lesson" to another bear - however, humans are not -- shall we say -- as sturdily built as bears and the little love slaps and controlled bites usually kill a human. When I taught Mammalogy classes, I used to hold up a bear skull and then hold up a Sherman tank model -- same design criteria.

Bear - human encounters often end in death for the bear. They are best encouraged to stay in the woods.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by gtc

Question: What kind of bear is best?

LOL.


That's a ridiculous question.

[seymore]

What part of NC are you from? My Dad lives in Brevard and I was born in Hendersonville. Maybe we could meet up and compare cars. Ill be in the area Memorial day. Sunday Thru Wednesday. The names Jake PM me if your interested. Thanks

[JV911SYDNEY]

Originally Posted by Brorag

there be critters here!

thats so freakin cool!!!

[gtc]

Originally Posted by Danny_Ocean

That's a ridiculous question.

So just out of curiosity, how long were the cubs up in the tree?

[Paulporsche]

Originally Posted by Formerly Steve Wilkinson

Our pet brown bear showed up on the kitchen-door porch awhile ago, wanting more bird-feeder food. I thought it was the UPS guy and opened the door. Poor kid scuttled up the nearest tree, fast enough to put the lie to the old advice, "If a bear chases you, just climb a tree."

LOL "What can Brown do TO you?"

[Mo_Gearhead]

This is exactly why you ALWAYS go hiking with a fat friend that has bad knees.
You don't need to outrun the bear(s).

[onewhippedpuppy]

I saw a spider yesterday........

[Jim Richards]

I saw some lobbyists.