View Full Version : dead bear near Garenflo Gap
Saw an unusual sight yesterday--a dead bear, not too big, lying partially under a log footbridge, just north of Garenflo Gap. The weather has been cold enough it didn't smell.
Pedaling Fool
02-01-2009, 20:03
That is strange. They should be in their dens this time of year. However, I know if it gets warm enough (don't know specifics) they will come out and do a little foraging.
I've seen bear prints in the snow.
Tennessee Viking
02-01-2009, 20:11
With it being so hot and dry last year, I am thinking that some bears didn't put enough winter fat on to use all the way through winter.
I just wondering if it might have been Jumper the Bear. He tends to hang around Walnut Mountain Shelter a lot.
I just wondering if it might have been Jumper the Bear. He tends to hang around Walnut Mountain Shelter a lot.
Maybe you can go ID him? ;)
Tennessee Viking
02-01-2009, 20:31
Maybe you can go ID him? ;)
I have only heard stories, never personally encountered him. Jumper got his name because he learned to jump from the tree trunks and grab onto food bags. And loves to play pinata with hikers in hammocks.
Jim Adams
02-01-2009, 20:33
Saw an unusual sight yesterday--a dead bear, not too big, lying partially under a log footbridge, just north of Garenflo Gap. The weather has been cold enough it didn't smell.
Maybe he was just trying to hide!:D
geek
We were speculating that he had been wounded during hunting season.
It was a strange sight. I was walking along at the back of a group of three people. I saw a big carcass in the leaves, with some guts sticking up through the flesh. My first thought was that it was a deer, because of the size. Then I realized that the fur was black. I thought dog. But it was too big. Getting closer, I realized it was a bear. The head was under the logs, out of sight.
One of the other people had walked right over the bridge and past it without seeing it. She thought I was joking when I asked if she had seen the dead bear. I had to point it out on the way back from Garenflo Gap.
Jim Adams
02-01-2009, 23:35
We were speculating that he had been wounded during hunting season.
It was a strange sight. I was walking along at the back of a group of three people. I saw a big carcass in the leaves, with some guts sticking up through the flesh. My first thought was that it was a deer, because of the size. Then I realized that the fur was black. I thought dog. But it was too big. Getting closer, I realized it was a bear. The head was under the logs, out of sight.
One of the other people had walked right over the bridge and past it without seeing it. She thought I was joking when I asked if she had seen the dead bear. I had to point it out on the way back from Garenflo Gap.
Well you know how all that black just blends in with the brown ground.:D
Does she hike in snake season?:eek:
geek
Yes, she hikes in snake season, and all other seasons, too. Don't get in her way.
Jim Adams
02-02-2009, 00:15
Thats cool that she hikes strong in all seasons but I wonder how close she has been and didn't know it?
I know that I zone out at times and miss alot just on the side of the trail...when I finally see one up close that I "missed" it kinda freaks me out!
geek
Yeah, she was a little freaked out that she had walked right over this huge dead animal and not even noticed. It was a lot easier to see than a snake...
Nicksaari
02-02-2009, 11:26
this is sad. i mean black bears die, as do all gods creatures. but im not familiar with the area. where is this?
i wonder if the bear had lived a full life, had helped raised little ones. these are the only things i can think about when i hear or see of a dead black bear.
i think black bears are magical. and those of you who aren't fortunate enough to see one in person- sucks to be you.
I know what killed the bear...It got ahold of some hiker's peanut butter and contracted salmonella.
this is sad. i mean black bears die, as do all gods creatures. but im not familiar with the area. where is this?
About six miles south of Hot Springs.
randyg45
02-02-2009, 13:52
Shoulda scored the claws. Jewelry, inlays in rifle stocks and pistol grips, etc.
Shoulda scored the claws. Jewelry, inlays in rifle stocks and pistol grips, etc.
Possibly poached for it's gall bladder? who knows at this point.
Jack Tarlin
02-10-2009, 19:47
This episode seems rather tame, which is good.
A few years back, a moose came to a bad end in Mahoosuc Notch, and one knew all about his mis-fortune well before one witnessed it.
We kinda flew thru the Notch that day.
kayak karl
02-10-2009, 19:57
i saw it too Marta. it was 6.4 miles north of gap under second walk bridge. i reported it to bluff outfitters but the rangers already knew about it. i was TOLD they suppected it was poisoned. i didnt ask how or why.
coheterojo
02-10-2009, 23:15
I saw it way back on the 29th of December. It was under the 2nd single beam bridge crossing a drainage to the N of Garenflo Gap. My hiking partner took pictures. I didn't.
Whereas the body didn't look that bad you could see where areas of fur had begun to slough off. The eyes were milky and opaque. Apparently it had been dead for some time already. I heard about him in advance from a SOBO named Chef and later from another hiker named Father Dragon (?) so it wasn't a surprise. I actually looked forward to seeing it but when I finally got there it was just sad. Not cool just sad. So I , who takes pictures of every leaf, rock and view under the sun, could not and did not take a picture. It seemed kinda morbid rather than cool.
I much prefer to see a bear in its live state to be honest with you but its not as if nature is going to specifically exempt the trail from examples of the end game every once in a while. If, on the hand, this was the result of a criminal act that would be bad news indeed.
Tennessee Viking
02-10-2009, 23:52
I would figure that the forest service would have located and taken it out for a autopsy to find the cause of death as soon as possible.
Jack Tarlin
02-11-2009, 16:45
Autopsies are for people.
Animals get a "necropsy".