More blackbears

[BigBill]

We have more Blackbears. A sow with her two cubs, a few bruins. One got close to my dog today. I think it’s time to breakout the bigger bear medicine (pump 00 buck). Since were seeing more bears the neighborhood has to be seeing them too.

Yet we haven’t had a season to hunt for blackbear yet. Haven’t seen the 400# Bruin since his gal called him.

 

[375hh1973]

They are thick around here too this year.

I swapped out my Sig P226 in .357sig for my 5" 629. Dad slings the .45/70 for walks in the woods.

 

[Squarebutt]

Big sow walked up to our house Friday afternoon, went around the front by the cars, turned and headed back the way she came, on the other side of the house. The neighbor's labradoodle went ballistic, bouncing off her fence and the bear ignored her. It meandered away and showed up on the next street with a pair of yearling cubs which she had stashed in the brush earlier.

 

[Jon651]

Florida black bears are significantly smaller than their northern cousins, but there is a story concerning them that goes back several years in the Central Florida area...

There is a state road that runs west out of Sanford, FL towards the Ocala National Forest that is right in the middle of prime Florida black bear territory (State Road 46). For years many bears were lost from being hit by cars along that roadway. Finally, the state and adjoining counties came up with a plan to erect fences along side the roadway and funnel the bears into and through "bear tunnels" that were built underneath the road bed in order to reduce the number of bear deaths and auto accidents.

However, the bears would not use the tunnels as planned! In spite of all efforts, the bears continued to dig underneath the fences or scale over them to cross the roadway and continue to get hit and killed. A study was commissioned in order to determine the reason why the bears refused to use the tunnels.

After many years and millions of dollars spent on the bear tunnel study, one conclusion was the determined to be the most critical obstacle to the bears from using the tunnels as originally planned.

And that conclusion? Well, none of the black bears in the area who would benefit from using the tunnels... ever had the exact change needed for the tollbooths!

 

[BigBill]

It all started when my wife’s co worker came up for game night we play scrabble. She said there’s a bear down the street big as my kitchen table it has both leafs in it that’s over 6’ Long. I kind of didn’t believe her. The next few days my quazy yellow lab is going after it in my back yard. He hasn’t been seen to much after that but we heard him hoot one night calling 1-800-collect for a mate. The next thing he got an answer from a distance in the bottoms, ever since we haven’t seen him. About a year later a cub shows up. He’s been camped out here ever since, this year a sow shows up with two new cubs. Then I’m not sure how many full grown bears we have now.

There goes my fruit ��.

 

[Usmc5811]

Where I’m from they have become a nuisance just like a coyote or fox. And a lot of local cattle and sheep farmers treat them the same way.

 

[bearman49709]

Three weeks ago one came in the night, destroyed my bird feeder and left the seed on the ground like they always do, then carried off the suit cake still in its holder.

 

[AJ]

Three weeks ago one came in the night, destroyed my bird feeder and left the seed on the ground like they always do, then carried off the suit cake still in its holder.

A friend in Pa. has the same problem, up to and including the suet problem. I called one day and asked him what he had been doing. He told me about the bear taking his suet feeder down and into the woods. He said he had gone into the woods looking for it. I said I hope you took a gun. His answer had me laughing for the rest of the day, He said "Of course, I had my .32". I asked him if it was to shoot himself, because all it was going to to the bear was irritate the bear. He now carries something a bit larger.........

 

[5-Shot]

You guys are a lot more cavalier about bear than I am. Bears are common here and for years I just viewed them in a Gentle Ben kind of light. That changed a few years ago when we were staying in a Virginia state park. We'd just finished dinner and were walking back to our cabin. The walkway wound around the perimeter of a small (50x75 yards) forest on the side of the mountain. I suddenly heard a crash in the woods that sounded like a tree falling. Instead it was a very large bear roaring down the mountain faster than any dog I've ever seen and snatched up a small deer. It reminded me exactly of when my Jack Russel used to catch ground squirrels. He grabbed up it and shook it violently. When it was dead he sat there, not 30 yards away, ripping off big chunks and glaring at us. It changed the way I look at bears. I am significantly more respectful of them now.

Ed

 

[ancient-one]

When my daughter lived out in the country not far from Narrows, Virginia they had a bear that kept tearing up their bird feeder up and getting the suet.
The Wildlife folks gave them rubber bullets which they never used. A hunk of suet opened up and filled with Cayenne pepper did the trick but at a cost.
The bear had evidently been used to finding liquids in camping coolers. He dismantled two along with two metal water coolers. All were empty. The last they could hear of him he was heading for the New River which was just a couple of blocks away.
My daughter had a scary experience while out with her dog in their small back yard. They had not been out very long when a bear stood up on the outside of the fence. Her dog, a large Scottie, was trying to go after the bear. She was trying to get the dog and get in the house. When she finally did she saw the bear heading up the side of the mountain, probably more scared than she was.
I have a cousin that lives on a mountain not far from Fayetteville,AR. and according to the AR Wildlife people, that area has the most bears of anywhere in the state. She has sent me pictures of large bears looking in her glass patio doors. So far they have had no problems but I am afraid for her. Her hobby is photography and she goes all over the farm taking pictures. They have every thing, lots of trees, springs and a creek, a beautiful place. She just laughs when I question her about doing it without protection.

 

[BigBill]

Our Shepard hooks with suet are put away. The bird feeder is up too high for them. I did scare one off.

 

[Squarebutt]

Our neighbor got tired of all the bear damage to her bird feeder, so she hung it outside an upstairs window. The next night they heard noises, but checked the feeder and it was okay in the morning. When they went out to the yard they found claw marks 10 feet up their vinyl siding. He couldn't reach the feeder, but he sure tried.

 

[BigBill]

Update, the very first bear I seen I estimated at 400# two years ago. He was spotted about 1.5 miles from me and estimated at 500#+ now. He’s a big Bruin. The only way to bag him is kick him in the butt and shoot him in the car. Lol. Can’t take him out on a quad.

 

[bummer]

Couple of weeks ago when I was coming home from work ( 1 am) I came around a bend and a big fat one was munching on a torn open garbage bag