I'm afraid to go to my woodpile!

[Cwalker935]

Someone was pounding on my door about 6 last night. It was a breathless neighbor who had seen a large black bear walking down my driveway and to my woodshed. The bear was gone by the time I got outside. I am not sure but I may be missing a spalted red oak log that I have been planning to turn into a bowl.

 

[Bob Wemm]

Who's a bear then ?????????

Bob.

 

[Cwalker935]

The bear part is true. I made up the missing wood part.

 

[Bob Wemm]

Oh Rats,
and here I was thinking we would have a Bear Pen Turner in our midst.

Cheers,
Bob.

 

[mredburn]

Take a small child and rub the juice from a can of tuna fish all over him and have him run in the opposite direction while you run to the wood pile!:biggrin: This will distract the bear long enough for you to safely get what you need. Its a win win situation if the child is one of the neighbors that you dont like!:laugh:

 

[Ed McDonnell]

These days, seeing a black bear wandering around is about as common as seeing a dog. It seems like they are everywhere.

Now, if it was a grizzly that would be something to get excited about. At least you don't have to worry about finding a 18 foot python in the wood pile.....

Ed

 

[Kenny Durrant]

Maybe your neighbor was out of breath because he took the log and hid it so he could blame the bear. Bears don't eat wood so it was probably full of bugs. The bear did you a favor so now you don't have to worry about how and what to fill the voids with.

 

[Cwalker935]

These days, seeing a black bear wandering around is about as common as seeing a dog. It seems like they are everywhere.

Now, if it was a grizzly that would be something to get excited about. At least you don't have to worry about finding a 18 foot python in the wood pile.....

Ed

We still get excited about bears around here. I am glad that I don't have to deal with pythons, gators, diamondbacks, water moccasins, coral snakes, etc. that you folks in Fla deal with. I have a trusty hoe nearby to deal with an occasional copperhead. That, rabid racoons, and ticks are about all I worry about- oh and now bears. Good luck to you hardy folk way down south.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

Walk softly and carry a big bowl gouge.

 

[Brian G]

At least you don't have to worry about finding a 18 foot python in the wood pile.....

Ed

That would make a lot of cast snakeskin blanks. Or just one big one.

 

[KenV]

These days, seeing a black bear wandering around is about as common as seeing a dog. It seems like they are everywhere.

Now, if it was a grizzly that would be something to get excited about. At least you don't have to worry about finding a 18 foot python in the wood pile.....

Ed

Brown bears maul people. Black bears eat people.

Alaska rule of thumb

 

[Ed McDonnell]

Brown bears maul people. Black bears eat people.

Alaska rule of thumb

Your black bears must be a lot bigger and tougher than the east coast city bears!! Or maybe you meant that black bears eat whatever is left after the brown bear is done?

When I was doing back country hiking in Idaho and Montana many many moons ago the rangers / guides would have fun with the tourists telling them to hike with little bells and pepper spray to avoid being eaten by a grizzly. Then they would tell them how to identify grizzly scat to determine if a bear was in the area. The grizzly scat would be loaded with little bells and smell like pepper spray. They seemed to think that was real funny. I saw a lot of black bears and they just ignored us. I never did see a grizzly (in the wild), but it sure would have been exciting.

I don't have a problem diving with sharks or paddling a kayak through gator infested swamp, but hiking in bear territory had me constantly looking over my shoulder and jumping at every strange sound. I guess it all comes down to what you are used to and what you grow up dealing with.

Ed

 

[Holz Mechaniker]

Oh Rats,
and here I was thinking we would have a Bear Pen Turner in our midst.

Cheers,
Bob.

Um safety wouldn't allow either Bear or bare pen turning.....

 

[Kenny Durrant]

Whenever someone is teaching you about the outdoors the first thing they tell you is never go alone. There is a good reason for that. If your swimming in shark infested waters or in bear country you don't have to out swim the shark or out run the bear just your buddy.

 

[sbwertz]

These days, seeing a black bear wandering around is about as common as seeing a dog. It seems like they are everywhere.

Now, if it was a grizzly that would be something to get excited about. At least you don't have to worry about finding a 18 foot python in the wood pile.....

Ed

Brown bears maul people. Black bears eat people.

Alaska rule of thumb

OK, I'm confused. Black bears are small bears...usually 300-500 lbs and about 3 or 4 feet tall at the shoulder. The Alaskan brown bear (Kodiak) is the biggest bear around. The only other brown bears I know are grizzly bears and they are also MUCH bigger than black bears.

 

[Cwalker935]

Accordingly to wikipedia there have been 29 deaths by black bear, 28 deaths by brown bears and 2 deaths by polar bear in North America since 1990. They do not list grizzlies for sone reason.

 

[mark james]

2 years ago was Scuba Diving at Cocos Island (Pacific) with schooling Hammerhead Sharks and schooling Black tip reef sharks.

Hammerheads were very shy and typically swam away from you. Black tips were inquisitive, but also largely ignored you. A night dive where they were out feeding, they swam between our legs to get to fish. That took a few minutes to adjust to!

 

[mark james]

These days, seeing a black bear wandering around is about as common as seeing a dog. It seems like they are everywhere.

Now, if it was a grizzly that would be something to get excited about. At least you don't have to worry about finding a 18 foot python in the wood pile.....

Ed

Brown bears maul people. Black bears eat people.

Alaska rule of thumb

OK, I'm confused. Black bears are small bears...usually 300-500 lbs and about 3 or 4 feet tall at the shoulder. The Alaskan brown bear (Kodiak) is the biggest bear around. The only other brown bears I know are grizzly bears and they are also MUCH bigger than black bears.

Maybe they take smaller bites...:biggrin:

 

[KenV]

These days, seeing a black bear wandering around is about as common as seeing a dog. It seems like they are everywhere.

Now, if it was a grizzly that would be something to get excited about. At least you don't have to worry about finding a 18 foot python in the wood pile.....

Ed

Brown bears maul people. Black bears eat people.

Alaska rule of thumb

OK, I'm confused. Black bears are small bears...usually 300-500 lbs and about 3 or 4 feet tall at the shoulder. The Alaskan brown bear (Kodiak) is the biggest bear around. The only other brown bears I know are grizzly bears and they are also MUCH bigger than black bears.

The biologists here classify Ursus Horabilis (sp) into those that eat really well and grow big eating salmon (brown bears) and those that have to work harder for a living (grizzly). The grizzly is applied to interior Alaska. Brown bears are coastal Alaska. Both have brown fur

All bears can be dangerous but black bears are the ones who consider you as a potential dinner.