Frank
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|  | Close Encounters...
« Thread Started on Jun 7, 2004, 9:19pm » | |
We had a Close Encounters of the...Florida Black Bear kind last weekend.
At about 20:45 my 14 year old jumps up and runs to the back door because "Dusty" our male Australian Shepherd barked. Thinking my sisterNlaw was home from her date, he throws the curtain aside on the window of the back door and gasps!
Since I'm not one to get all worked up over nothing, I just patiently waited for him to tell me what was wrong.
He comes barreling into the living room proclaiming "Daddy, there's a bear behind your truck!"
I get up and have to fight my way through five kids to get to the back door. What a ruckus they made! I figured the bear was long gone after all of the noise.
I looked out the window and sure enough...there was no bear.
But wait...oh, there he was now standing behind my wife's Jeep. He came around the end of the Jeep to the drivers side (the side near the door) and appeared to be going for the barrel we keep feed in.
So, given that I know that bears are in fact, very shy creatures and will usually run when they see humans...especially LOUD humans...I step out onto the porch within about 10-12 feet of this 400+ pound bruin and start waving my hands and yelling at him to "Get on outta here!!!!"
This prompted him to grab the barrel and start backpedaling away from me. Without thinking much about it, I took a step towards him and yelled even louder. The barrel slipped out of his mouth and he bolted away.
But only about 60 feet away at the corner of our driveway near one of our big oak trees. He was pacing back and forth and looked like he was saying to himself "I wish those humans would go back inside so I can EAT!" 
He makes a fake rush towards Dusty, which doesn't faze him the least and they almost touch noses.
By this time, I have my 12g stoked with buck and rifled slugs and I'm getting a bit concerned about my dog. I mean, this bear seems unconcerned about the presence of dogs and people. ![[image]](http://northlandphoto.com/campfire/images/smiles/shocker.gif "[image]")
He finally moves off about 125 feet to the west, towards the Ocala National Forest...lingers for a bit and finally slips off into the road and heads away.
After a bit, we all settle back in.
At 23:45...the dogs start barking again so I grab the shotgun and my Surefire tactical light and step onto the porch. There he was about 125 feet away, standing in the middle of my property, right next to the wooded part of my property. He's just staring at me looking right at the light in a curious way. He starts off to the south...right towards the corral where our colts are located, needless to say...they got a bit skittish!
Deciding that enough is enough, I let loose a 12g buck a couple yards over his back. He crashes off through the woods and after checking on the colts, I figure all is well and that I wouldn't be back after that!
At 02:30 the dogs bark and he's standing just outside my 14 year old's bedroom window. (we discover later that there was some dog food spilled there)
I spook him off and he leaves a bit easier, but I'm getting kinda crazy over all of this so I grab my Kimber Pro Carry stoked with Triton +P .45 HP's, my tactical light and my truck keys.![[image]](http://northlandphoto.com/campfire/images/smiles/gun_smiley.gif "[image]") I head down the road the way he made off and lo and behold...there he is, calmly wandering down the road!
I kinda chased him with the truck, down the road, a hard left, a hard right...darn...I hafta back up on this turn...and then he was gone.
I ran up and down the road into the forest and he was nowhere to be seen from there...
A week has passed and he hasn't returned...but I figure he'll be back. I half expect to walk out and find the big blue "bear with the shiny eyes" to be mauled...
Living in the woods is so COOL! 
But the wife and kids are beginning to wonder... 
Night all!
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Bre
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| | Re: Close Encounters...
« Reply #1 on Jun 21, 2004, 3:58pm » | |
Wow Frank! 
That's quite a determined bear! You are a much braver person than I!!!
Any more sightings since?
Bre
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aighead
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| | Re: Close Encounters...
« Reply #2 on Jun 22, 2004, 9:37am » | |
Omigod! What a story! Here's a secondhand bear story from my distant past:
Many years ago one of my (then) co-workers had an encounter with a black bear in Oregon.
Tony was camping and asleep in his tent in a sleeping bag. With one swipe of his paw the bear ripped the tent open and stuck his nose in. That's what woke Tony up. The bear then shuffled off a few paces.
Meanwhile Tony was in fast motion out of his sleeping bag and out through the hole the bear had ripped and over to his car, an old Beetle. Wuups! The car was locked and the keys were in the tent.
The bear noticed Tony's activity and started back to the tent. Tony, in his underwear only, took the nearest escape route. He climbed on top of his car and waited, shivering from the cold and from the adrenaline that had now replaced the blood in his veins.
The bear sniffed around and ambled off into the forest, apparently satisfied that Tony didn't have anything of further interest in the way of food or whatever. Tony lingered just long enough to get into his bluejeans and retrieve his car keys. He was not curious in the least bit to see if the bear was coming back--imagine that!
Tony brought his tent to work for show and tell. It was a small tent. Hard to believe he escaped without a scratch! Bears are so unpredictable . . . lucky for Tony his bear just seemed to lose interest.
***A factoid about bears that fascinates me is that they are considered to be part of the pig family! A pig with sharp teeth and big long claws!
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Frank
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| | Re: Close Encounters...
« Reply #3 on Jun 22, 2004, 5:16pm » | |
He came back...twice now...this time I remembered to get pics though....
![[image]](http://img67.photobucket.com/albums/v203/floridajeepers/ourbear1.jpg "[image]")
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StarGarnet
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| | Re: Close Encounters...
« Reply #4 on Jun 22, 2004, 10:41pm » | |
It's a real bear havin' to fight off them bruins, eh, Frank? Great picture!
We did a little vacationing this year and saw a young Idaho griz in a remote meadow. Dished face, humped shoulder, it was a griz all right. A rancher told us about a grizzly sow grazing with range cows. Mama griz was most likely in the shadow of the treeline, right near. We watch for about 15 minutes. It's about 300 yards away. It stands on its haunches and sniffs, then walks around nibbling on the brush. I say to dh after we leave, "Wasn't that neat seeing that grizzly cub? Wasn't it neat NOT seeing its mama?" Then there was the moose calf sashaying up the road ahead of us as we drove. I say to dh, "Wasn't it neat seeing that moose calf? Wasn't it neat NOT seeing its mama?" I'm always glad for mama moose to hang around the willow wallow awhile instead of visiting me!
There were also a few black bears at the convenient bear feeders otherwise known in Idaho as "Refuse Disposal Stations."  There are lots of critter families this year. Turkeys and chicks, grouse and chicks, spotted fawns, chipmunks, ground squirrels chasing each other and making that shrill pip they make to tell the "town" gossip.
It's good to be back home, though. I'm plumb wo' out!
Star Garnet
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5th generation daughter of the Idaho backwoods. |
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