Black bears that appear threatening

[yellowcanoe]

Reminds me of when I saw the back end of something going into the bush in Temagami..the Donald Lake Portage back to Matagamasi ( I think.. I know I started at Donald).. I stepped one step down the trail to get a better look and was up to my ankle in recycled berries.

 

[Iskweo]

This is one of those prints that we find and in this case thankfully never see. We heard it though...sounded largish.

 

[Iskweo]

My policy on bears is give them a couple of bangers or a face full of spray first. If they come back again, well, that has given you time to unpack some hardware and you can at that point use lethal force if needed. There is no need to simply shoot them out of hand just for being there. Bad medicine.

If they dont leave you alone, and appear really thin or mangy, then you can likely shoot them with a clear conscience. The point being that the next people they encounter may not be as well prepared and will be in dire straits. Of course, then you have a dead bear to deal with.

So far I have not even needed to pop a banger. I make it a habit to make lots of noise in the bush so I dont surprise one. If the bush looks really tight and heavy, you can always fire off a banger towards the trail just for good luck and to break up the monotony. On the water it is a different story. We are uber quiet and often see moose up close, otters, beaver etc.

If anything, I am now more concerned about cats than I am about bears, since we have seen one in our tripping area.

Christy

 

[Odyssey]

The thought of big cats scares the wits out of me.

 

[smallworks]

This happened to us @ 8 years ago. My husband opened a CAN OF SARDINES and emptied the juice in a river. Half an hour later we stopped for a snack in a remote area (in the ADKs) and as I passed him a cracker ( my back to the river) his face changed . He started saying "What's a Belgian Shepherd doing.....?" and the next thing I knew I heard what sounded like a vending machine charging through the swamp. It was a black bear directly behind me..... and, my husband sweetie, really knows better. The perfect murder? I'm embarrassed writing this!

 

[Alan Gage]

The thought of big cats scares the wits out of me.

Well then have I got a story for you!

Last winter when visiting a friend in Tucson he told me about a mutual friend of ours that had come through a year or so earlier. We'll call him Jeff because that's his real name and none of you know him.

So Jeff is driving along I-10 in the late afternoon when he sees a sign for Ft. Bowie, outside Wilcox, and decides it would make a nice diversion. You can't actually drive to the old Fort. There's a parking area and then you walk in about a mile. There are multiple trails and he somehow got turned around and soon found himself lost. There are lots of other trails in the desert from animals and immigrants so it's easy enough do. By now it's dusk and he decides to head for higher ground in hopes that he can see the parking lot. From his little ridge he manages to see some lights and starts heading back down towards them. As he's walking down the ridge he hears what sounds like a horse galloping up behind him. When he stops and turns to look a mountain lion hits the skids and comes to a stop about 15' away.

So they sit there eyeballing each other and thankfully Jeff remembers you're not supposed to run and to try and make yourself look big and scary. So he starts waving his arms and his jacket and yelling at the lion. And the lion starts snarling at him and pawing at the ground. It doesn't seem to be backing down so Jeff swallows real hard and slowly starts advancing towards it. He gets within 10 feet before the thing turns and takes off into the brush.

So now it's getting pretty dark, Jeff still doesn't know where exactly he is, and there's a mountain lion out there that might have ran a mile away or just 20 yards away. He loads up his pockets with rocks and starts walking again, all the while casting nervous looks about him. A 1/2 mile or so farther down the trail he looks up and sees the darn thing crouching in a bush on the hillside not far above him! He starts yelling at it and throwing rocks and manages to scare it off again. Thankfully this was his last encounter with Mr. mountain lion but he didn't know it at the time.

The lights he saw turned out not to be the parking lot after all but he managed to find himself on a gravel road where a couple guys in a pickup gave him a lift and couldn't quite figure out how the heck he got here from all the way over there. He called in to report the mountain lion incident and was told that, yeah, they were starting to worry about things like this. Seems it's not entirely uncommon for immigrants to perish in the desert while making the crossings and, while they don't think mountain lions have killed anybody, they do think they're starting to feed on the bodies and could perhaps start to view people a little differently.

Epilogue:

So my friend tells me that story and two days later I find myself coming into Wilcox after a long day of driving with wrong turns and 150 miles of the dustiest gravel roads I've ever seen. It's too late in the day to make it to the Chiricahuas for a hike before dark and my backup plan of hiking the Dos Cabezas fails when all the accesses to the mountains seem to cross private property with locked gates. By now the sun is close to setting, and me and Sadie both want out of the car really bad, when we see a sign for......Ft. Bowie!

Now, I'm realistic and I don't scare easily. I know the chances of me encountering a mountain lion, let along one that wants to do something other than run the other way, are incredibly low; even if Jeff had just that happen in this same spot a year ago. So we pull into the deserted parking lot to walk the trails and watch some birds. An absolutely perfect evening with clear skies, cool temps, and no wind. Birds are flitting back and forth across the trails, quail are running through the dry wash, Sadie is happy as can be sniffing all the new smells, and I've got my head on a swivel about jumping out of my skin every time I hear something rustle in the brush. Not the long relaxing walk I was hoping for and we cut it short before it got too dark.

Alan

 

[Odyssey]

Whew! My nerves woulda been tingling on that evening walk Alan! Not sure I'd of made it out of the parking lot. There's an ongoing smattering of sightings throughout the east of cougars. My brother saw one in northern Ontario from the safety of his car. I've not had the nerve wracking privilege.
Like I've said, I've seen recent, but not very fresh sign of bear around our campsites. There's bound to be bears just off the trail waiting for many of us to lumber by. I sometimes forget to be noisy. I'm sometimes nervous with the canoe on my shoulders walking down the trail, wondering how vulnerable I might be. I usually feel a little apprehensive when I go in search of fire wood. I tap my axe and saw together and hum a little louder than usual. Before too long I get wrapped up in the pleasure of being in the forest and forget to be afraid. We intend to invest in bear spray this year. It might serve to deter both big cats and bears. Many times my wife and I unintentionally get separated as we walk a portage, one of us wants to walk slower, takes a little longer to get loaded up etc. Halfway down the trail I'll start to ponder "Is this a good thing, or a bad thing, each of us walking alone?" I don't want our trips to be done in fear. Ever. But fear does from time to time visit us. With a little courage, preparedness and some planning I hope we can keep fear at bay, along with any fearsome creatures out there.

 

[smallworks]

I know of 2 people near us who swear they've seen mountain lions near us. (Shawangunk Mts). Also there were several sightings up north near Meacham Lake and other spots in Franklin County. Alan, I'd be sweating and Singing I think, if I were in Jeff's place. Amazing he had his wits about him. They know where you are. A whistle might help, but you never know with an empty stomach.

 

[Alan Gage]

We have random mountain lions even here in the cornfields of Iowa. Lonely cats looking for new territory start following the rivers so once in a while there will be a sighting or signs of a fresh dear kill. No permanent residents, just travelers.

My dad and sister are both quite confident they've seen one near the road while driving. A mountain lion is on my short list of animals I'd love to see in the wild. Just so long as it isn't staring me down from 15' away....

Alan

 

[memaquay]

I wrote this story on another canoe site, and was soundly ridiculed, so I'll try it out with you guys. It's a cougar story. There is a fierce debate in my part of Northern Ontario about the existence of cougars. Many locals claim to have seen them, the Ministry of Natural Resources claims they do not exist, probably because they do not want another endangered species claim messing up the cutting schedule for forestry operations.

Mitigating factors about the veracity of this story are as follows: Alcohol was involved, light levels were low.

So my buddy and I were out fishing in early June in my big freighter canoe with a 1.5 horsepower spinner on it. We did pretty well, but had polished off a few full strength Canadian beers. When we got back to the boat launch, I hauled out the stringer of fish, paddles, fishing rods and junk. My hands were full. As I started up to the road, a really big cat came out of the bushes and marched right toward me, growling with a low, malevolent rumble. I proceeded to walk backward, trying to discourage the pussy's approach with a variety of poetic exclamations learned during my studies for a PHD in profanity. The cat continued to approach, despite my vicious insults about its mother and her sexual preferences. Having had a few drinks, I was somewhat unaware of my surroundings, and had forgotten that the cement ramp for boat launch was behind me. The lip of the ramp jutted up about a foot off the ground, and my backward walking connected with the ramp and knocked me on me arse harder than if Mike Tyson had decked me. The fall knocked every bit of wind out of me, and I was paralyzed, unable to breath or move. The lion, or so it seemed by this time, because I was on eye level with it, continued to approach me, quickening its pace like a domestic Mittens that sees a 75 year old lady with the gourmet cat food.

Fortunately for me, my buddy is a Mohawk from Six Nations and had played a lot of lacrosse as a kid. When the cat was no more than a couple of feet from me, he unleashed a deadly sniper shot with a fist sized rock that clocked the hungry fiend right in the head. The cat sprung straight up into the air, about ten feet or more, twisting backward as it did, letting loose one gawdaweful yowl, and disappeared in the bush.

I gotta tell you, my normal calm and dispassionate nature was shaken, and after I got my breath back from the arse pounding, I was still a little unstable on my feet. We told the MNR the next day. They said they had other reports of a cougar being there, but told us it was probably just a local dog, or a big lynx. Maybe, I was a little drunk, and it was right at dark, but both me and the afore mentioned Mohawk still believe it was a cougar.

 

[Alan Gage]

Yowsa, that's quite a story! Good thing your buddy was there with a good arm.

Otherwise that friendly neighborhood dog probably would have slobbered all over your face.

I hope I never have a story like that to tell.

Alan

 

[ppine]

Memaquay,
Coming from you, the story is totally believable. A stringer of fish can create a lot of wildlife sightings. You goofed, but realized it then and especially now. It is a really good thing sometimes to have a companion or two in the bush when things go wrong. It might have been different if you were on a solo trip. It is a good reason not to slam beers when on your own.

I recently was banned from an outdoor website for a month. One of those places with lots of attitude and only a few people that know what they are talking about. Do not worry about those groups of people. You are among friends here. Thanks for sharing your story. I have no doubt you tangled with a big cat. They are in my neighborhood here in Nevada.

 

[memaquay]

Thanks guys, and you're right Ppine, it never pays to drink alone! My plan would have been to throw the stringer of fish at the beast, but once the wind was knocked out of me, I was completely incapacitated, it was a very peculiar business. My buddy, despite his Mohawk heritage, doesn't really like hunting or fishing, but comes along for the adventure. He's been on quite a few extended canoe trips with me, where we practice the concept of not drinking alone, but we still sometimes manage to get into trouble! Ha ha, but those are campfire stories, not suitable for the interweb.

 

[Holmes375]

Wyoming has a healthy lion population and their territories seem to be expanding. We've had a few troublesome animals running around town over the last decade. Very difficult to capture and excites the heck out of the small town media. The 2011 hunting season harvest was 286 cats.

I find cat encounters more disquieting than grizzly meet ups. Bears are omnivores, cats eat prey. There's just something about those eyes boring into you as that incredibly long tail switches about. Impossibly large feet. They look away for a moment and then look back. If it doesn't spook right off the bat then its considering you. Its a big arse cat that's considering you. Right hand unsheaths the knife, left hand draws the revolver. I shoot regularly but I know my chances of stopping a charging lion are slim - the handgun is simply a noise maker. Firing a shot into the ground has always ended the encounter for me. Pending bowel movements are re-scheduled for the following day.

Stumbling upon a sow grizzly with cubs is the big bear danger, with cats its stumbling upon their kill. The experienced elk/moose hunter here pays attention to his nose when hiking the woods. You'll often smell a cat kill before you reach it. Scavenging birds may be gathered on a distant mound of earth. Give it a wide berth and be vigilant.

Fortunately, the vast majority of lions prefer to avoid any contact with humans and they're very good at achieving this. And we humans are the happier for it

 

[BobMills]

Interesting that Yellowcanoe saw a bear during a trip to Temagami. I have only seen one bear in my life, in the wild. It was on a trip in Temagami - Diamond Lake - it was having a drink when it saw us in a canoe and so it was mostly back end. It moved so fast my brother in the bow of the canoe missed it. I have seen a lot of signs of bears, just no bear. We have had bears in the spring in our neighborhood looking for food, I'm told, just haven't seen them. I really don't want to see any up close. I'd rather hear or read others stories. I always have a bell attached to my pack when I'm portaging, and usually one of my kids carries bear bangers - I'm just not to courageous.

 

[Robin]

Never been threatened by a bear but I have seen quite a few paddling solo. All have been from my canoe, I have never encountered a bear while portaging or around camp.
Last year I counted 4 on the Marshall Lake circuit, one solo and a mamma and two cubs, all swimming. At a distance they looked like ducks or dogs.

I might have scared one off a portage in LaVerendrye. Ravens and eagles flew out of the bush as I landed and as I humped up the trail it was littered with dead spawning suckers, with huge chunks bitten out of them. The hair on my neck stood straight out. Plenty of scat piles there too. Yikes

Here in Connecticut we have a growing bear population and before they decide to open a hunting season they have began collecting a DNA data base.
On my property line a researcher strung a barb wire around 4 trees and placed an attractant in the middle, planning to come back later for the hairs bears would leave climbing over the wire. My son in law has a full cougar mount and I toyed with the idea of pulling a few hairs off it and placing it in the barb wire along with some moose hair from my sons mount...but I realized the error of my ways and didn't do it.

 

[Mihun09]

The Cougar we saw in 2012 was in WCPP, west side of the park along the Manitoba border. We have heard of the cats being in the Whiteshell PP south of there, but the location of this one would put it at the top end of Nopoming PP. We were only a few km's from Manitoba and it likely came in from that side. It was swimming across a narrows just up lake from where we had seen 3 Caribou earlier in the day, so it may have been there for them. After it got out of the water with us only about 50 feet away and under full steam still, it looked directly at us before loping into the bush. It stopped once and looked again before disappearing. I had the camera in the Pelican behind me and never thought to get it out as we paddled towards the swimming animal, never considering it would be a Cougar. Apparently it was the first Cougar sighting in WCPP.

 

[Shearwater]

I've probably posted this before but can't remember so here it goes.

At 05:30 this morning I had the urgent need to get out of bed to find plants in need of watering. Just as I unzipped my tent, I heard several rather large snorts and woofs from behind me. I rolled out, stood up and there, about 30 feet away, was a mother black bear and her cub. Momma really started to woof sending the cub straight up the nearest tree breaking branches in its rush to safety. My first thought was "Where's my camera?" then "And me without my bear spray!"
She stared at me and I stared at her. I yelled a lot! She finally got the hint, backed away and disappeared behind a large rock outcropping that horseshoed the camp. A few minutes later she reappeared about 180 degrees from where she had disappeared. Again a short stare-off competition. Finally, a few minutes later, momma snorted once more, the cub smashed its way down the tree and they were gone for good. It was then that I remembered that I was buck naked! Not a stitch on. Perhaps, I should leave out the part where I turned around and bent over to pick up my camera. That is correct. I mooned a mama bear that was about 30 feet away from me!

 

[Philtrum]

Trip notes, Sept. 2011, Quadga Lake, BWCA:

I sleep well, despite hearing some rhythmic huffing or wheezing around 10:00 pm. A bear? I let out a couple of big barks and the sound stops. After a second round of huffing and barking it stops for good - as far as I know. I’m reassured by knowing the camp is clean and the food well-stashed.

 

[ppine]

I have run into bears in most of the scenarios that typically happen. I can't recall coming upon a sleeping bear. It is always a privilege and an exciting event. Never lose your respect for them. I believe a little fear keeps people from doing stupid things around predators. Give them a way out and minimize your presence. Make plenty of noise when you cannot see.

I just viewed a good video by Dr Herrero sp? He talks about predatory black bear incidents that are almost always male bears. They show no agitation like huffing and jaw snapping or woofing. They charge and keep coming. In some incidents people have been followed for an hour or more. Making lots of noise can discourage them, but will not stop them. I have fought over food several times with black bears but have only once incident where a black bear for very territorial and would not leave me alone over several hours.