Rain Man
06-13-2009, 09:55
I am posting this in Straight Forward to AVOID any discussion/debate of hunting issues and guns. Thank you in advance for NOT "going there" and that includes "taking the first shot" and then whining if someone shoots back. Just don't take that first shot. If you feel so compelled, post your own thread somewhere else. Thanks.
Anyway, as bear and human populations both increase, encounters are increasing too. On my week-long section hike of the Shenandoah National Park, my daughter and I saw bears each and every day. We got photos of fuzzy bear butts, because they were running away from us every time.
Associated Press in Harlan, KY, on bear population (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090613/ap_on_re_us/us_bear_encounters)
Excerpts from above news report:
"With black bear populations rising, run-ins have become almost commonplace — more than 15,000 in the past year in states east of the Mississippi River according to a survey of state wildlife agencies."
"The U.S. bear population more than doubled between 1989 and 2006, rising from 165,000 to over 350,000, according to The International Association of Bear Research and Management, a bear conservation nonprofit that takes a periodic census of the animals."
"More than a century ago, bears thrived in Kentucky, but over-hunting and habitat loss led to their disappearance. As the large animals have ventured back from neighboring states, Kentucky residents nowadays find themselves unaccustomed to living among bears."
"Mark Ternent, a state bear biologist in Pennsylvania ... said most of the encounters are harmless, ending with the bears running away.
"The average bear is afraid of people," he said. "If it encounters a person, it would rather flee than fight."
"Koger, a construction worker, said he has run across lots of bears over the years in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. Most of the time, he said, the bears don't relish the encounters either.
"Usually they want to get away from you as much you want to get away from them," he said."
Much more at the above link.
Rain:sunMan
.
Anyway, as bear and human populations both increase, encounters are increasing too. On my week-long section hike of the Shenandoah National Park, my daughter and I saw bears each and every day. We got photos of fuzzy bear butts, because they were running away from us every time.
Associated Press in Harlan, KY, on bear population (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090613/ap_on_re_us/us_bear_encounters)
Excerpts from above news report:
"With black bear populations rising, run-ins have become almost commonplace — more than 15,000 in the past year in states east of the Mississippi River according to a survey of state wildlife agencies."
"The U.S. bear population more than doubled between 1989 and 2006, rising from 165,000 to over 350,000, according to The International Association of Bear Research and Management, a bear conservation nonprofit that takes a periodic census of the animals."
"More than a century ago, bears thrived in Kentucky, but over-hunting and habitat loss led to their disappearance. As the large animals have ventured back from neighboring states, Kentucky residents nowadays find themselves unaccustomed to living among bears."
"Mark Ternent, a state bear biologist in Pennsylvania ... said most of the encounters are harmless, ending with the bears running away.
"The average bear is afraid of people," he said. "If it encounters a person, it would rather flee than fight."
"Koger, a construction worker, said he has run across lots of bears over the years in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. Most of the time, he said, the bears don't relish the encounters either.
"Usually they want to get away from you as much you want to get away from them," he said."
Much more at the above link.
Rain:sunMan
.