View Full Version : Bear Claims
Matt Pincham
11-25-2003, 09:00
Hello All,
A guy has just started working at the same store as my girlfriend and he has hiked part of the Appalachian Trail and a few of his friends completed the trail.
The thing I can't figure out is that he told my girlfriend that when we're hiking the trail there will be 'loads' of bears. Now pardon me if I'm wrong but I was under the assumption that bear sightings were quite rare?
Also he said up towards Maine there are Grizzlies...from my research and reading aren't Grizzlies only in West USA. Extinct in the East?
He also said he watched a bear kill a smaller animal and rather than claw/bite etc it just sat on the animal. What surprises me is that the bear didn't run off.
Is it me or has this guy seen too many Yogi Bear cartoons?
Lone Wolf
11-25-2003, 09:24
The guy is FOS. In New Jersey you'll see a lot of bear though.
Blue Jay
11-25-2003, 09:54
There are Grizzlies in Maine, the Easter Bunny is there too.
Lumberjack
11-25-2003, 11:52
No grizzly on the eastern us. - I had thought they were gone from the western us as well but the park service has been re-introducing them amd a few have drifted down from canada.
maine has killer moose tho... be carefull. :jump :banana :jump
There is some evidence that polar bears once roamed as far south as New England. Maybe they could be reintroduced. :welcome
NJPacker
11-25-2003, 14:00
:-? There's a Grizzly (stuffed) in the new Cabelas in Hamburg!! The only bears currently native to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the US are the black bears. NJpacker
Dances with Mice
11-25-2003, 14:22
Is it me or has this guy seen too many Yogi Bear cartoons?
I think I know this guy too! Was he also Special Forces in the Army and is now working undercover for the FBI?
Whatever he says, just smile and nod your head. He's mostly harmless.
Jester2000
11-25-2003, 19:17
There seems to be a fair number of threads about bear, so I'm sure you already got the info you need, but in case not:
-- no grizzlies, as their sensitive olfactory systems are offended by hikers
-- there's a bear in the zoo in Bear Mountain, NY
-- ticks scare me more than bears
-- especially humungous bear-sized ones
-- you're not going to see a bear every day, or anything, but you'll probably see a few. I saw them in NC, PA, NJ, and MA (the last one was running down the street in Dalton, Mass. as we sat on Tom's porch)
Hammock Hanger
11-25-2003, 19:56
I saw 2 bear in GA - different days but could have been the same bear, 1 in TN, 3 in VA when hiking in the wee hours of the morning, 1 cub in VT, 1 in NJ.
Grizzlies....:jump I think NOT!
Hammock Hanger
Hikerhead
11-25-2003, 20:32
You watched as one almost took a bite out of my behind.
I saw 2 bear in GA - different days but could have been the same bear, 1 in TN, 3 in VA when hiking in the wee hours of the morning, 1 cub in VT, 1 in NJ.
Grizzlies....:jump I think NOT!
Hammock Hanger
Hammock Hanger
11-25-2003, 21:22
You watched as one almost took a bite out of my behind.
or you skunked him....:jump HH
Matt Pincham
11-26-2003, 09:38
I think I know this guy too! Was he also Special Forces in the Army and is now working undercover for the FBI?
Whatever he says, just smile and nod your head. He's mostly harmless.
That raised a smile. I suppose his perception of 'loads' may have been 5. That'll be more than enough encounters for me.
Thanks
Matt
Hammock Hanger
11-26-2003, 10:06
It wasn't a bear or even a rattler that had me sick as a dog in a NH hospital but a tiny mesquito and an itty bitty tick!!!
Hammock Hanger
no grizzlys but becareful of bigfoot on the AT. Also if you reach the end of the AT in Maine during winter becareful of Yeti.
grizzlys are in the west with Scuzzlebutt.
Moon Monster
11-29-2003, 21:46
Theories are theories, but some say brown bear did roam the East 1000s of years ago. Interestingly, those theories explain why black bear are skittish and more docile than browns even when they haven't seen humans or browns before--browns sometimes kill blacks. This happens today where both are in the same areas out West.
Anyway, of those hikers around me on my thru-hike, I think a large majority saw at least one bear outside of the 2 in the Bear Mtn. Zoo. Hot spots include Shenandoah and NJ and the Smokies, but they're everywhere. Blacks are found practically wherever there are woods in the East, including the swamplands of NC, VA, and FL.
I saw 3 on my thru. Alas, I didn't see any moose, though.
Jester2000
12-01-2003, 21:29
Moose do not exist. The existence of Moose was a practical joke thought up by a couple of Canadians, picked up and used as a marketing tool by Moosehead beer, and later appropriated by New England state tourism boards.
Those who claim to "have seen a moose" or to have "eaten moose steaks" are either part of the conspiracy or the unknowing dupes of those who are.
But Bigfoot's real.
Moose do not exist. The existence of Moose was a practical joke thought up by a couple of Canadians, picked up and used as a marketing tool by Moosehead beer, and later appropriated by New England state tourism boards.
Those who claim to "have seen a moose" or to have "eaten moose steaks" are either part of the conspiracy or the unknowing dupes of those who are.
But Bigfoot's real.
Contrarily, I have heard that there is one and only one moose and it is shared throughout New England. It is limited to those areas that display the "Moose Crossing" signs and since there is only one it is highly unlikely (unless you can somehow obtain the secret schedule) that you will ever see the moose.
And oh yeah, Bigfoot's definitely real.
Jester2000
12-05-2003, 16:36
I stand corrected.
Contrarily, I have heard that there is one and only one moose and it is shared throughout New England. It is limited to those areas that display the "Moose Crossing" signs and since there is only one it is highly unlikely (unless you can somehow obtain the secret schedule) that you will ever see the moose.
And oh yeah, Bigfoot's definitely real.
And that one moose can poop on 500 miles of trail in one night.
And that one moose can poop on 500 miles of trail in one night.
Just imagine what they're feeding that moose. :eek: