Close encounter of the furry kind

[Bugsinrugs]

Blow up the picture if you can. Had a close encounter with a mama bear and her cub on my morning walk the other day. Had my sons two dogs along with my Stella. Dogs flushed her out and up the tree. I backed off and got the dogs to come to me. Mama and cub took off down the hill. Adrenaline rush for sure. Glad there are no grizzlies around here.

[The Synergizer]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

Glad there are no grizzlies around here.

Ha! Yes, because black bears are so harmless..

https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/man-severely-injured-in-bear-attack-near-lemon-reservoir/

https://www.azgfd.com/2023/06/16/bear-kills-man-near-prescott/

[Bugsinrugs]

I’m thinking that three dogs barking at her was a buffer for me. Plus, I backed away trying to show that I wasn’t a threat.

[Scott Douglas]

Can you out run your dogs?

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

Can you out run your dogs?

Doubtful

[masraum]

Yowza! Glad it didn't work out badly since it was a mama with cub.

[Skip Newsom]

That's plenty close alright!

I wander to trails a bit in the Cascades, plenty of Black Bear out there too.
I purposely make enough noise walking to alert them and hopefully flush them away from my path... mama bears are notorious about being protective.

I usually have at least a pepper spray container handy, a dog would be a great asset since they almost always know something's around before we do.

[Scott Douglas]

That looks like a pretty big bear if you ask me.

[billybek]

The old dog and I had an encounter with a very aggressive deer at the beginning of my holidays.
Just outside Kimberley BC, a doe was stamping and bluff charging the old (13) border collie and was looking to kick the crap out of the dog.
We backed up almost 30 yards with me yelling and waving my coat over my head.
It wouldn't let up until I found a big hefty stick and when it did a charge, I leaned in to clobber it.
She wasn't expecting that and backed off. I was able to back out without any further aggression from it.
Didn't have bear spray as it was a short little hike at the edge of the camping area I was staying at. Hindsight....

[Bugsinrugs]

Wow… hope I don’t run into an angry deer. My son a vet told me about a hunting dog that got mauled by a bear. He was up a tree and came down and kicked the crap out of the dog. Pretty sad is what he said.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

I've been lucky not to encounter any angry deer.
Bear- black bear here- come in three shapes and sizes.
Smaller bear- which flop around and run like fuzzy stuffed animals. I've had several run into the road on bike rides right in front of me ( I was on the bike- not them), and I've found myself chasing them down as they flee, and they eventually veer off the road- much like deer.
Papa bear- which don't flinch and will stand ground
Mama bear- No encounters so far.

I've had two large male bear encounters. In both cases, they weren't like timid deer at all. One walked right in front of a cold fall night bike ride I was on. We climbed a hill at about 5 mph, with no lights, as the harvest moon was so bright no lights were necessary. Ahead, a dark blob was *lurking* in front of us. The dark blob slowly crossed our path, within 20 feet out, went across the road, then, stopped. There was no sound, but there was a silent and heavy presence. Three of us were there. We had our lights on our helmets and turned them on so see what it was. Ablaze, we lit up the bear, but he turned back towards us walked straight in our direction with not a care in the world. He was not scared of our 15 zillion "lumens" of light one bit. You could slice the frost on his breath with whatever you'd slice frost on a breath of a bear with. On bikes, we were essentially trapped. No way to speed up the mountain. No way to unclip and turn around and gain speed. I yelled out a guttural roar (as much as I could). No response from the bear, he continued towards us. I might have well been using my inner voice. Foul language didn't persuade him either. At about 15 feet, my colleagues became concerned, chimed in, and also yelled. The bear continued right at us. Finally, at about 10 feet, he stopped, and eventually slowly turned and lumbered off into the night.

10 feet away makes any bear look damn big.

This is also what I've encountered with large bear in my yard. They simply don't give a s#$%. They are doing their thing, and aren't timid like deer that run and flee at the first opportunity.

Also, I've bear sprayed a bunch of dogs. Dogs generally don't stop when sprayed the way you'd think. They slow down, and stop, eventually, but seem more confused than anything. Then sometimes they get their senses and recharge their attack. Much like a terminator that has been shot full of 12 gauge. It slows them, but not always stops them. More than anything, it just buys time for Sarah Connor to GTFO of town.

I would not want to trust bear spray on a bear, seeing the slow reaction time of dogs.
JMHO...

*lurking* inspired by Seahawk's mention of the word.

[john70t]

If this was re-captcha (the rest of yer life), I failed the test.

[Jolly Amaranto]

[LWJ]

I get it. I almost hit a big Mama black bear with two large cubs last fall on a dirt bike ride. Stopped less than 10’ from her.

Woke me up a touch. Her too!

All parties left unscathed. Phew.

[sc_rufctr]

Bears are cool but I thought this thread was gong to be about Bevers.

[red 928]

[Bob Kontak]

Hook line and sinker lol

[Bugsinrugs]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Bears are cool but I thought this thread was gong to be about Bevers.

All the Bevers around here are bare😃

[Starless]

Living with bears is now a way of life for us.