Bears- experiences and stratgeies

[treesloth]

"Lighten up Francis." The Old Chief, NOT about religion AT ALL. Please, DO NOT misquote me or twist what I stated! I said NOTHING to this effect: "these quotes, falsely accredited to Chief Seattle, are also not shared by many people including poets, philosophers, statesmen, adventurers, environmentalists, Presidents, world leaders, peoples of others cultures, etc." I said, "*The ideas contained in these quotes* accredited to Chief Seattle were and are shared by many people including poets,....."

Pedidochas, I don't like fraud either. Many quotes are credited to individuals that have not been positively verified. THAT DOES NOT HAVE TO TAKE AWAY FROM THE POSSIBLE INSIGHT IN THE QUOTE THOUGH! Don't you get that? Treesloth and Winged Monkey seem to be able to do that! Can't you give ANY credence to the CONTENT in these quotes IF it is as you say - you are interested in the ideas and the content? If those are not Chief Seattle's quotes, I will not debate that. This is not the high school debate club. I was not hanging on Chief Seattle's every word when he was alive.

This is a bear strategies and experiences thread started in the STRAIGHT FORWARD forum. PLEASE, let's primarily focus on that! I was sharing the idea that things can be connected in ways we as humans do not fully understand. Indeed, it is a belief, that some may define as religious in nature - that ALL LIFE, including a bear's life, has VALUE, even outside of immediate human desires and needs! None the less, this belief CAN BE RELEVANT to the thread topic! *The point I was making is what we do as humans, or how we behave as humans, impacts BEAR BEHAVIOR AND HENCE BEAR/HUMAN ENCOUNTERS!* Things are more connected than humans sometimes currently recognize! These ideas(beliefs) are shared by a great many people!

Dogwood - you should just let it go, man... I have. Arguing with these two dudes at this point is akin to arguing with a park bench. Take for instance the following phrase mentioned earlier:

"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”

That is enough for me to understand that if these guys don't believe in the meaning of the above phrase alone, no matter WHO wrote it, then they are simply not worth my time. I'm not engaging either one of them further on this.

And you're correct, the thread has drifted past the original intent of what it is (was)... but the 'drift', as it were, does fit in with the big picture of the underlying intention: To coexist with nature and all things within it. Bears and all. :-)

[Dogwood]

Thanks Treesloth.

[The Old Chief]

Perdidochas - you should just let it go, man... I have. Arguing with these two dudes at this point is akin to arguing with a park bench.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Perdidochas - you should just let it go, man... I have. Arguing with these two dudes at this point is akin to arguing with a park bench.

Can't we leave the park benches out of this?

[CKM]

So... I'm going to bring it back to bear-bagging here. Has anyone used those mesh wire bags? Too heavy to be worth it? Heard sometimes people have had mice troubles...

[Traffic Jam]

Chaco Taco, the availability of berries and nuts is directly responsible for bear activity. For example, in 2011, berries and nuts were abundant in GSMNP, leading to increased births. In 2012, berries and nuts were in short supply but there were more mouths to feed, causing bear/human interaction to increase. This year, I would expect births to be down due to 2012's poor harvest (pure speculation on my part) causing bear incidents to be much lower than last year.

I'm not sure why people bother hanging food bags when bears are attracted to many smells (lip balm, trash, deodorant, baby wipes, scented feminine products, etc.) Not to mention an empty backpack still smells like food. Personally, I always hang my entire pack. I always get THE LOOK too, LOL! The one that says, "Why are you hanging your entire pack? Are you an idiot?"

On the trail, bears always have the right-of-way. If a bear is sitting in the trail eating blackberries, it's the hiker's responsibility to not disturb it and wait until he leaves. Purposely driving the bear away when it's not done anything is irresponsible. If a bear notices you, YOU'RE too close and YOU need to leave, not the bear.

I've had quite a few interactions with bears. Except for one pesky yearling two years ago, the bears were terrified of me. I've never had to do more than quietly walk away or beat my hiking poles together.

Healthy wariness and respect, not fear, will keep you and the bear safe.

[Hill Ape]

this forum has a very strange obsession with bears

beardriving.jpg

i'm sorry, i know i shouldn't have, really

[coach lou]

That is disgusting

[treesloth]

That is disgusting

To some, maybe not to others. To me, it's just hilarious.

[RCBear]

this forum has a very strange obsession with bears

beardriving.jpg

i'm sorry, i know i shouldn't have, really

I held the throwup in my mouth as long as I could. Its the dying from laughter inside that finally made it end up all iver my new galaxy note. Nasty nasty nasty. Yet funny funny funny.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk 2

[Drybones]

this forum has a very strange obsession with bears

beardriving.jpg

i'm sorry, i know i shouldn't have, really

Enough to mag a gaggot.

[hoffhiker]

Didnt anyone watch Yogi Near as a kid? Just saying. Lol

[Drybones]

Didnt anyone watch Yogi Near as a kid? Just saying. Lol

Smarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrter then the average near.