bears sighting

[dferg]

On october 7 my son and i were hiking the section between hwy 321 and damasacus. He noticed a loud crunching noise but could not locate the
source. As I drew closer to my son and began to wisper about what it might
be, our attention was drawn upward as a female black bear did a 40 foot
free fall sliding down the full length of a hickory tree. We were not too
alarmed as we noticed the cubs were in the same tree above her.
As the mother slid down we lost sight of her in the under growth
below the trail. Evidently after sliding down the tree she didn't move.
We quietly moved on up the trail. This was a first time bear sighting
:Dfor the both of us.

[Footslogger]

Good stuff. I had a similar experience (minus the cubs) during my 2003 thru in the Shennies. I had gotten up really early and was hiking along before sunrise when I heard a rustling above my head in a tree. I stopped and looked up at the same time a big black bear was shinnying down a tree in front of me at break-neck speed. I froze in place as the bear landed on it's butt about 10 feet or so in front of me. To my relief it immediately ran into the woods and I never saw or heard it again.

It was quite a "wake-up call", to say the least.

'Slogger

[woodsy]

Good for you guys, pretty exciting (heart pounding?) stuff to get a sighting like that. I had a similar down the tree in 2 seconds sighting but it was a Fischer not a Bear.

[Newb]

I hope it wasn't this bear:

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5605483

72-year-old woman injured in black bear attack
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. Authorities say a 72-year-old woman suffered minor injuries when she was attacked by a black bear that had been rummaging through garbage on the deck of her cabin in Gatlinburg.
Authorities said the woman, who has not been identified, encountered the bear yesterday morning when she "turned a corner of her cabin" and the bear lunged at her.
The woman apparently fell backward and the bear, which was accompanied by her two cubs, bit her right thigh, right hand, left forearm and gave her some scratches.
She was treated and released from Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center.
Brackins said the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is aiding authorities in the search for the bears.
Officials said yesterday's incident was at least the third black bear attack in East Tennessee this year and the second to take place on the edge of the Smoky Mountains.

[Lone Wolf]

Time for a hunt.

[Blue Jay]

Time for a hunt.

Hey, we're already killing people as fast as possible.

[Gaiter]

Hey, we're already killing people as fast as possible.

but unfortunatly we are creating more enimes even faster (sorry i know that turns this into a political thing, but i couldn't resist)