[drivingpairs] Re: about bears
- From: Jenny K <l_b_dunn@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 13:31:44 -0700 (PDT)
HI Rachel,
I live in ne Minnesota near the BWCA and we have lots of bears around. since
you didnt say, im guessing that you are talking about black bears, altho i
think you have browns near you? the best thing you can do with a black bear is
make yourself BIG and make LOTS of noise. Here near the BWCA there are lots of
outfitters that sell bells. this may be something you could do also....
jinglebells arent just for snow anymore!. I have done some shooting near my
horses, both for training and scaring bears and they dont seem to mind it, but
i have never been closer than 40 feet when i have done this. If you know there
are bears in the area, you might consider carrying a noise maker or airhorn.
just make sure you dont spook your horse.
BE VERY VERY careful around a mother bear. she will defend her cubs to the
death! if they hear the noise they will usually leave. that is if they havent
associated humans and horses with food. so dont carry any with you that you
may think fall into the paws of a bear.
From what you decribed of the woman that got thrown, she did the right thing.
just like children and dogs, bears test things out with their mouth. much like
a shark would. if she only got tasted, she may have been knocked out herself
or been disoriented enough not to think about being BIG and LOUD. Hope she is
ok.
if it is a black or brown bear, they climb trees, grizzleys do not, so that is
something to think of also if you should get parted from your horse. this time
of year, the bears are coming out of their dens and are hungry from their
winter sleep. they eat anything and everything. in about another month or so,
they will probably go back farther into the woods.
last summer i had 2 on my front porch, they more scared me than anyother damage
done. they are only looking for food.
So use common sense. you are in their home and just have to learn a little
about them. this may sound strange, but goto the library or hunting store and
pick up a book about bear hunting. i have one that i have been reading and it
talks about bear habits and things too look for if a bear is or has been around.
Hope it helps. if you need any more info, please hollar!
Jenny ~~ ne MN
Peter & Rachel Eldred <preldred@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Folks
As I'm not set up to post to CD-L, I'll ask this question here: What is the
accepted protocol when one encounters a bear while you're driving on the
trail? This is assuming that the bear is not instantly aggressive, in which
case Get the Heck Out of There is probably the only obvious choice. This
never worried me much in my riding days because I always felt I could get
away, but of course when driving we can't always turn around on the trail.
And now that I'm driving a pair and a four-wheeled vehicle, turning around
is even less of an option. The one time I actually met our local bear on the
trail, I was driving my VSE and my friend was driving her Hackney pony
behind me. We had just started our drive and I was not about to head home
already. She was a fair distance away, so I just started yelling at her like
I was angry, and my brave little horse marched on (with some encouragement).
She (the bear) sauntered on down the trail quite a ways and then just took
off into the bush. Of course we came home a different way, once our hearts
started beating again. But our local bear is notoriously shy. On the other
hand, she has two cubs this year, so I'd prefer not to run into any of them.
On our local news today a horse was spooked by a bear on the trail and
dumped his rider. The bear came over to investigate the woman and bit her on
the leg, but the woman was able to scare it off. A bear trap has been set
up, but still, that's my worst nightmare. Should this woman have done
anything different? Maybe she did everything right, which is why she's still
alive.
Just wondering what I should do if it happens to me.
Rachel
In BC
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