Bears on the Road

[Knapper]

This was a featured story on yahoo's home page today:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090613/...ear_encounters

[Breeze]

Ryan, thanks for that link!

Its a great article and "bears out" ( sorry, thats REALLY bad) what we are seeing in terms of "population explosion".

I'm trying to comfort myself that Yellowstone, Yosemite and All--of-Alaska (as well as MANY lesser known destinations) are still trying to come to grips with this ongoing problem. This is our own chapter, this one is now ours to struggle through.

Breeze

[Patrad Fischroy]

This is a problem all over. Here in the Denver area as people have been encroaching more and more in the bear habitats there are ever more encounters. The bears here are on a one strike rule, the first time they have to be dealt with they are darted with a tranquilizer and moved back into the woods but marked with an ear tag. If they are caught in town again its a death sentence for them.

[Michael]

I took the pictures that started this thread, I feel there are some things that need to be addressed.

1. We did not stop for the bears. The bears stopped for us. Antifreeze leaking from the cooling system of my wife's ST forced us to stop. We chose that spot because it was reasonably level and had good sightlines up and down the road. Had we known about the turnout about 1/2 mile up, we may have chosen that location instead. Because we have pets and I don't like the thought of intentionally poisoning animals, I use antifreeze with a bittering agent that makes it quite unpalatable. The only problem is it still smells sweet, so it'll still bring in critters to taste test.
2. The food in the pack was not bear proofed. We did not anticipate having a bear investigate our menu. Should the bag have been left at the toll house? I don't know. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first such encounter on the Auto Road, so predicting the event would not have been easy.

If there are any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

[Snow Miser]

No questions, but I do remember those pictures from last year. They are awesome!

[CHRIS]

I agree with Bob. They are incredable shots. I have but one question. Did your wife have to change her shorts at the top?
I know if it were me I would have.

[Charlie]

I agree with Bob. They are incredable shots. I have but one question. Did your wife have to change her shorts at the top?
I know if it were me I would have.

chris you dont have shorts on remember you have a kilt

[Michael]

I agree with Bob. They are incredable shots. I have but one question. Did your wife have to change her shorts at the top?
I know if it were me I would have.

She claims she did.

I bought her a small stuffed bear at the gift shop in the Adams building, the bear now accompanies us on all our motorcycle trips.

[Seliarap]

I was out on a hike a while back and came around a corner

and there was a bear in the trail and I completely lost my head

and screamed and the bear turned around and saw me and

then ran off into the woods.

I looked all around through the woods

to see if there were any cubs.

I wondered if it was safe to go on down the trail. Then as I went on

down to my car, I saw this bear that ran off and it was back in the woods

staring at me.

I'm wondering how many of them react this way

around these parts. I would like to think they ALL run away

when you scream.

I have heard you should yell and wave your arms at

them.

[LeonReynolds]

Wow that looks cool! But as good as that looks I still would not want to be that close to such a powerful animal. Especially next to momma and her cubs.