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Cwalker935

Member
Joined
May 18, 2014
Messages
3,506
Location
Richmond, Va
I have been having issues with wildlife lately. Last week, I was besieged by a Cardinal (He's still making runs at our windows). Today, a very large and I do mean large black bear ran across the road in front of me. I had to slam on the brakes and only missed it by a foot or so. Had to go home and change my shorts.
 
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mark james

IAP Collection, Curator
Joined
Sep 6, 2012
Messages
12,720
Location
Medina, Ohio
I have good news Cody. Apparently you are very low on the food chain for your local bears:

Their diets typically consist of acorns, berries, carrion, corn, fish, frogs, fruits, grasses, grubs, honey, insects, larvae, leaves, nuts, peanuts, reptiles, roots, seeds, small mammals, soybeans, cody and wheat.

So you are below small mammals and just above wheat, maybe a good position. :cool:
 

Cwalker935

Member
Joined
May 18, 2014
Messages
3,506
Location
Richmond, Va
I have good news Cody. Apparently you are very low on the food chain for your local bears:

Their diets typically consist of acorns, berries, carrion, corn, fish, frogs, fruits, grasses, grubs, honey, insects, larvae, leaves, nuts, peanuts, reptiles, roots, seeds, small mammals, soybeans, cody and wheat.

So you are below small mammals and just above wheat, maybe a good position. :cool:

I was more concerned about damaging my truck than being eaten. He would had to have gotten me through the truck. But it's good to know that I am lower on the menu than a lot of other stuff.
 
Joined
Dec 22, 2017
Messages
3,032
Location
Wolf Creek Montana
I have good news Cody. Apparently you are very low on the food chain for your local bears:

Their diets typically consist of acorns, berries, carrion, corn, fish, frogs, fruits, grasses, grubs, honey, insects, larvae, leaves, nuts, peanuts, reptiles, roots, seeds, small mammals, soybeans, cody and wheat.

So you are below small mammals and just above wheat, maybe a good position. :cool:

I was more concerned about damaging my truck than being eaten. He would had to have gotten me through the truck. But it's good to know that I am lower on the menu than a lot of other stuff.

You're very lucky that you didn't hit this bear. Where I live bear are a common site and I can promise you that if you did happen to nail one with your truck the repair costs are not cheap. My son in law took out a deer a couple of hunting seasons ago and it cost him well of $5,000.00 for repair work. We both now have Ranch Hand cattle guards on the front of our trucks. Interesting thing is that I know bear get hit by cars and trucks around here but you never see the carcass laying on the side of the road. I think they get hit, but not fatally, and then run off.
 

Charlie_W

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
5,918
Location
Sterling, VA USA
We also had a black bear run across the road in front of us some years ago. One doesn't realize their size, weight, and mass till they are right in front of you. I am sure they would do a lot of damage to a vehicle....and no, we didn't hit it.
 

Woodchipper

Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2017
Messages
5,138
Location
Cleveland, TN
My son's elementary teacher was part of a gospel group. One Sunday evening they were coming back from NC and hit a bear somewhere n the mountains. I drove by their bus and the front bumper was a shallow V. Knew a guy who hit an elk out west. The elk started at the front on the driver's side and bounced off the side two more times. I told my kids never swerve to avoid a dog, cat, possum, etc. I wonder how many one car accidents and deaths are caused by this. My father always said to try, if possible, from hitting a large animal like cow, deer, or horse. Depending on your vehicle, they can roll up the hood and come through the windshield. Not a good way to see wildlife up close.
 

MSpringer

Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2018
Messages
40
Location
Alabama
We have had black bear sightings all the way down into Central Alabama now. A mother and cub was spotted about two miles from the house. They were basically extinct down here when I was growing up in North Alabama. Those conservation efforts are really paying off.
 

sbwertz

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Joined
May 11, 2010
Messages
3,649
Location
Phoenix, AZ
A friend of mine was the chief of police in Williams Arizona. One night one of his patrolmen found a deer that had just been hit by a car. When that happened, if it was a fresh kill, the meat was processed by a local locker company and donated to a food bank. The guy was fairly new, so instead of calling for a pickup for the deer he picked it up (it wasn't very big) and put it in the back of his patrol car, which didn't have a dividing screen.

Unfortunately for him, the deer was just knocked out. When it woke up, it wanted out of that car in the worst way. The driver's window was down and it tried to jump out but became lodged, caught between the driver and the door, held by the seatbelt. I guess the police call was pretty interesting. It beat him up pretty bad before it finally freed itself and ran off.
 
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Joined
Dec 22, 2017
Messages
3,032
Location
Wolf Creek Montana
A friend of mine was the chief of police in Williams Arizona. One night one of his patrolmen found a deer that had just been hit by a car. When that happened, if it was a fresh kill, the meat was processed by a local locker company and donated to a food bank. The guy was fairly new, so instead of calling for a pickup for the deer he picked it up (it wasn't very big) and put it in the back of his patrol car, which didn't have a dividing screen.

Unfortunately for him, the deer was just knocked out. When it woke up, it wanted out of that car in the worst way. The driver's window was down and it tried to jump out but became lodged, caught between the driver and the door, held by the seatbelt. I guess the police call was pretty interesting. It beat him up pretty bad before it finally freed itself and ran off.

Several years back I remember seeing an article of something very similar to what your story was. Unfortunately the person driving the car was killed when the Buck came to and in its effort to get out of the car gored the driver of the car. I've also heard of large animals, like Moose, coming through the front windshield of cars that hit them. The Moose on my property are very large and stand pretty tall. I wouldn't want to hit one even in my pickup truck.
 

MSpringer

Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2018
Messages
40
Location
Alabama
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