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islandguy
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# Posted: 4 Jul 2010 10:46pm
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last trip to the cabin, Im relaxing at our picnic table, when I see what I think is a deer jumping in the bush nearby, but when it leaps into the clearing, Im shocked to see its either a coyote or a wolf in persuit of some kind of bird. Later, I hear coyotes yowling nearby, so I conclude it was a rather large coyote, and not a wolf.
A previous time, I saw what I was sure was a deer near the cabin, so I began to approach to get a picture. Next thing I know, the damn thing is charging right at me, and I realize its the only tan coloured black bear Ive ever seen, and its cubs were the same colour. My brothers old pickup truck was within 50 feet, so I made it to the truck before mama bear made it to me.
I had been charged 3 years earlier by a mother bear with cubs, and had to jump into the river to get away. I surprised them walking along the river fishing. Now, I usually wear a bell so I make noise when Im in bear territory. Anyone else had any "unpleasant" encounters with local wildlife?
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avan
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# Posted: 5 Jul 2010 09:55am
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One time a young moose calf came close to me, so I was just in the midle between the young and the mother. The moose charge me, but I was protected by some tree around, so I didn't moove with just a 30ft larged ditch between us, she start "howling?" and kicking the soil. She know i'm there but can't see me as I realy don't move (they detect movement) watching her under my front cap indirectly. She finaly leave. Boy! what a freaking experience.
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hattie
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# Posted: 6 Jul 2010 12:23am
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When we were setting up our placer camp, I went hiking with another woman. She laughed when I packed bear bells, a horn, knife and bear spray. As we were walking down the road into camp we came across a mama bear and her babies. She didn't mind us because we were walking in opposite directions. Suddenly the woman I was with started blowing the air horn. Well mama stopped and stared at us as if to say, "are you challenging me?" I couldn't get the woman to stop blowing the horn. Meanwhile my dog was headed back to camp (smart dog). The woman kept up with the horn until it ran out of air and we walked backwards down the road back to camp with mama watching us until we were out of sight. It's hard, but you should never run from a bear. Last year we purchased some "bear bangers". They are really easy to use and make a sound like a shot gun (some also have flares). They seem to work really well in keeping bears away. Much more effective than bear bells (which my Dad used to call "dinner bells" *S*).
"Black bears" come in all colours. We had a beautiful cinnamon coloured one at our camp last year.
I am terrified of cougars. They aren't afraid of anything and if you come across one you are in BIG trouble. A local was killed years ago by a cougar. She was out on horseback with her kids and a cougar attacked. She got off her horse and told her kids to ride home and get help. She didn't have a chance. *sigh* Someone said that if a cougar attacks you should shove your fist down their throat and it will suffocate them. WOW....I don't think I would have the smarts or courage to do that!
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Rob_O
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# Posted: 6 Jul 2010 07:42pm
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Quoting: hattie Suddenly the woman I was with started blowing the air horn. Well mama stopped and stared at us as if to say, "are you challenging me?" I couldn't get the woman to stop blowing the horn.
Shoulda hit her with the pepper spray
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hattie
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# Posted: 7 Jul 2010 11:18pm
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hehehe...never thought of that :-)
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islandguy
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2010 09:36pm
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The cougar attack, that was in all the papers. Cindy something wasnt it?
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hattie
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# Posted: 28 Jul 2010 12:06am
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Quoting: islandguy The cougar attack, that was in all the papers. Cindy something wasnt it?
I'm not sure...It was before we were living here. One of our neighbours told us the story.
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Rob_O
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# Posted: 29 Jul 2010 12:30am
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Quoting: hattie hehehe...never thought of that :-)
As the comedian said, "I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you". Good info to remember when dealing with aggressive wildlife
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Lawnjoky
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# Posted: 29 Aug 2010 01:04am
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I had an unpleasant encounter with a moose in Alberta about 10 years ago I was there moose hunting after some calling with no results I started walking down the trail. A few minutes go by and I see a set of moose antlers above some brush. I kneel down and watch. A younger bull moose is running across about 35 yards in front of me. Suddenly it turns and charges me. I jump up and wave, it speed up, with no choice I shoot. Upon impact it spins arouns and takes off. I fire two follow up shots and it collapses dead.
I have had five encounters with Mt Lions but nothing compares to that moose. I would not have shot such a young one except with the charge I had no choice. When we were gutting it I found the first bullet strike dead on. It was a third of an inch nick about a eighth of an inch deep. The moose had been so close that the bullet was travelling at such high velocity that it exploded upon impact.
As to Mt Lion encounters I have always found them a bit timid, they would rather walk away. The last one was in New Mexico and I was driving down a dirt road in my jeep with my son. He asks me what just ran across the road. I hadn't seen it so I stopped and ran over to the embankment. There 30 ft down the hill was a young female Mt Lion. We looked at each other for a minute or so and she started walking away. She looked back a couple of times and just acted casual about the meeting.
Now snakes scare the blank out of me. I shoot first when it comes to snakes. I had my last encounter about two weeks ago in Tennessee. We were moving back to California and I was getting the house ready while the movers were finishing up loading. I had a little work area set up in the garage with a tarp and paint etc on it. I had just put away all the paint and I pick up the tarp and a snake flops out. One of the movers went after it with a shovel but his boss said it was harmless. The boss leaned down to rescue it and suddenly blurts out "sh!t its a copperhead" Wham went the shovel! I wonder how long that snake had been in the trap. I was sitting on the tarp stirring paint etc all day.
Joko
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Gary O
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# Posted: 29 Aug 2010 06:21pm
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Bears and big cats don't bother me much, nerve wise.
Snakes, however, give me the heebeejeebees.
Our property, although in snake country, doesn't have any. They have an aversion to pumice, of which is most of our 'soil' there (Mt Mazama, thousands of yrs ago). Otherewise I'd only go there if I had a pistol, shotgun, bullwhip, and body suit.
In my daredevil youth, came across many a moccasin when working golf courses down south. One time, early one foggy morn I drove over one that was laying across a buggy path. Thought it was a tree limb. Got out of the cart, mosied back to the 'limb', reached down and NGAH!!
The darn thing had a carp in it's mouth! Went back for a shovel, turned around and it slithered back into the pond. Couldn't stop shivering all morning......
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Lawnjoky
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# Posted: 31 Aug 2010 12:13am
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I know what you mean about moccasins. One day I was doing my morning run and there was a big one on the other side of the road. It was pissed and it was striking at passing cars. I guess it wanted to cross the road. Thank God for the morning commute traffic
We have rattlers around my place in New Mexico. I'm real careful in the spring summer and fall months. I kick the steps before I take the first one. I kick firewood before I pick it up and I never reach under bushes. I also carry a 45 colt on my belt with the first two chambers loaded with snake shot. M record is three rattlers shot in one day. My truck has killed a lot more.
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fpw
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# Posted: 31 Aug 2010 11:21am - Edited by: fpw
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Last week, just hanging out close to the Stump Ranch.
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hattie
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# Posted: 31 Aug 2010 05:48pm
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He's a scrawny little thing isn't he?!
We just had a bear family raid one of our apple trees. They ate about 50 apples and then tore apart the back half of the tree. grrr....We called conservation, but I think if they don't send out a live trap there will be some hillbilly justice as the bear family have terrorized other people in town. I want danger pay for having to clean up the calling cards they left on our lawn....My dog just looked at it as if to say, "that didn't come out of me!" ewwwwww.....
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2010 02:54am
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fpw
that is a homely fox i must say.sort of creeps me out.
we use to have a beagle and a weiner dog.they would run thru the woods while we went on walks.they would flush out deer and on our walks they would chase deer right in our path as we hiked about.
Hattie i am very scared of cougars also.i keep thinking i will be working about outside and look up and there one will be.what would be my course of action?run...quietly slither off.yell?? i do not know.
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MikeOnBike
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2010 12:32pm
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Don't run from a cougar! You will become prey.
We see a cougar about once a year on our place. They have never been aggressive. They are always headed away from us. This year it was a juvenile. My brother spotted him while we were working on the shed. When persued he quickly disappeared.
If you meet a cougar:
· Never approach a cougar. Although cougars will normally avoid a confrontation, all cougars are unpredictable. Cougars feeding on a kill may be dangerous.
· Always give a cougar an avenue of escape.
· Stay calm. Talk to the cougar in a confident voice.
· Pick all children up off the ground immediately. Children frighten easily and their rapid movements may provoke an attack.
· Do not run. Try to back away from the cougar slowly. Sudden movement or flight may trigger an instinctive attack.
· Do not turn your back on the cougar. Face the cougar and remain upright.
· Do all you can to enlarge your image. Don't crouch down or try to hide. Pick up sticks or branches and wave them about.
If a cougar behaves aggressively:
· Arm yourself with a large stick, throw rocks, speak loudly and firmly. Convince the cougar that you are a threat not prey.
· If a cougar attacks, fight back! Many people have survived cougar attacks by fighting back with anything, including rocks, sticks, bare fists, and fishing poles.
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2010 12:57pm
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THANKS MIKE.THANKS SO MUCH.I NEVER KNOW WHY A PERSON WOULD TALK TO THE COUGAR.HEEHEE.SURE SCAREY.
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 18 Dec 2010 05:00pm - Edited by: SE Ohio
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When skiing with a buddy near Lake Tahoe, we came off a narrow wooded ski trail into an open area. There was a strong smell. I looked down and pointed out a bear track to my friend. His eyes got big as I explained we were so close to the bear we could smell it, that we had just missed it, and I told him it might be watching us. I went on to explain that a bear could run faster than we could ski, but that wasn't a problem. "Why not", he asked. I said "I only have to ski faster than you" as I quickly pushed off onto the narrow wooded trail again. He was a faster skiier than I, but the trail was too narrow for him to pass! My friend was nervously following me the rest of the way down the mountain, right on my heels unable to pass. I got a good laugh out of it, but he still doesn't think it was funny.
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Stein
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# Posted: 18 Dec 2010 11:45pm - Edited by: Stein
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Not my current cabin, but a cabin that we stay in up in MW Ontario every September. They had a semi-tame red fox so I thought I would try to hand feed it. It was very tentative, but eventually it would eat from my hand. My buddy did snap a pic but it was pitch black and the camera wouldn't autofocus very well. The only light was the flash. I had to tell him when to take it. Still a cool shot, though.
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islandguy
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# Posted: 19 Dec 2010 05:06pm
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Hattie, that attack in your area was Cindy Parolin, who fought that cougar for over an hour before she died from her injuries. The last thing she said when rescuers arrived and shot the cougar, was to ask if her kids were ok. She received a medal for bravery posthumously. Oddly enough, there were 2 other unrelated cougar attacks in BC the same day, neither of them fatal.
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hattie
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# Posted: 19 Dec 2010 07:01pm
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Thanks for the information islandguy. She was a brave woman, but it was such a sad ending. I have been told (don't know if it is true) that for many years her husband would go out and shoot every cougar he saw.
The bears we had here this past fall were shot by conservation. They set up a trap and in the middle of the night the two cubs were caught in the trap. Mama watched from a distance. The next day a conservation officer came and took the trap (with cubs) to the end of town where mama bear was hiding. She came out when she heard her cubs crying and the officer shot her - then he shot the cubs. How sad. Some locals and some campers had been feeding the bears and they became very familiar with people. On night when our neighbour's son opened his door, mama bear was standing on the porch and took a swipe at him. Luckily his sister pulled him inside the house and saved him. That was when conservation got involved. It was very sad for everyone in town when mama and her babies were shot (except for one local who thought "we should have us a barbecue"). Hopefully everyone learned their lesson and no one will feed the bears again in the future. They are so beautiful to watch, but like they say, "a fed bear is a dead bear".
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caveman
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# Posted: 22 Dec 2010 01:56pm
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a few of the neighbors
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elkdiebymybow
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# Posted: 26 Jan 2011 01:36am
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I was bowhunting a few years ago when my buddy and I called in a mountain lion. The cat made four advances on my friend and when the lion got 18' away, crouched down, ears laid back and ready to pounce, my friend drew back on his bow and let an arrow fly. We found the mountain lion about 40 yards away and packed it to camp. That was the 4th time I had called in a mountain lion while calling elk but the first time one came in on a multiple advancing stalk to where anyone felt threatened. It was pretty unbelievable.
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Che
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# Posted: 25 May 2011 05:50pm
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Dear living near parks can be quite tame. I had one eating out of my hand until I ran out of food at my camp site. She even followed me back to my car and wanted in, as I was getting more food for her. It seemed as if she owned my car.
I went for a run shortly afterward and when I returned full of sweat at the campsite, she came over and licked down my entire back when I took off my shirt. She must have enjoyed the salt, and people where gathering around in amazement.
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smitty
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# Posted: 26 May 2011 01:54am
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the one thing that makes me nervous about building a cabin in upstate is the bears. Coyotes, and fox dont bother me. But we want to enjoy the land, and the thought of running into a mamma bear, kinda scares me. But there are precautions to take. We are going to take every one of them into account.
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bobrok
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# Posted: 26 May 2011 08:28am
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If you make enough noise, as we humans do, you shouldn't be bothered. In 6 years on a mountain we have seen two bears. One was more scared of us and slinked away. The other was stretched out in a friends pickup bed and is now on display at his place.
Caution is king, though, in regards to food, trash, etc.
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Malamute
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# Posted: 28 Jul 2011 01:50am
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I had a grizzly want to come into camp one night as I was setting up camp, the dogs went ballistic, barking like crazy for 20 minutes or so, the bear never came in.
Had a moose try to get the dogs once also, it was a cow with a calf. Have had a couple porcupine encounters, they don't go well for the dogs. Had way too many rattlesnake encounters, including one in the house once, and a dog get bit in the face. I kill any that come around my place now. The grizzlies and wolves are getting pretty thick, they've killed livestock, bears have attacked a few people, including a sow grizzly with cubs that killed and ate a guy last summer. Been way more bad encounters the past few years as bear numbers go thru the roof. The official numbers seem to be rather low, as well as the range they say they inhabit. One local ranch has had grizzlies walking around in the middle of the day in the open, and they saw a mountain lion in the past day or so in the middle of the day. So far the cats haven't been causing much trouble in the area, but some ranch horses were mugged by a cat a few years ago. Keeps it interesting, walking around in the hills, or even just going out in the yard. Grizzlies have been sighted about a half mile from my place a number of times recently, and miles farther from the mountains than I am. So far no big problems personally, but I changed out my work truck gun from a 30-30 to a 375 H&H rifle and 44 pistol. I've been working about a 1/4 mile from where the grizzlies and mountain lion have been walking around in broad daylight.
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KevTheBugMan
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# Posted: 28 Jul 2011 12:55pm
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There is a string of fishing holes across the road from me in a heavily wooded area, only a few people know about it. A few times while I was out there I heard the most bizarre noises I've ever heard and could not place what animal could be doing it. It was most certainly a threat vocalization of some kind.
I took a guy fishing out there one day and he had already heard my claims of the noise and laughed at my imitation of it. So there we are chattin it up and catchin a few fish and my buddy asked, what time do I normally hear these noises? I looked at my watch and saw it 6:30 pm and said right around this time everyday.
Maybe a minute passed and we heard a single grunt and my buddy reeled his line in and got quiet and listened really carefully. Then the woods erupted in the same vocalization I had been hearing.
I looked at him as if to say what the heck is that? His eyes glazed over and he went pale. He said that's a feral pig. I was relieved to finally get an answer to what was doing it from an experienced hog hunter. We were unarmed other than our fishin poles however.
He said it was too close and that he could hear its breath when it grunted. We booked it out of there pretty fast and he told me not to go fishing back there to it was killed.
I called a few good old boys that owned some hog dogs and two days later they got him. They had him loaded in the truck by the time I got there and when I looked at this pig filling up the back of a large bed pick up it sent shivers down my spine. I was a domestic feral mix, kinda peachy in color with chocolate spotting and big cutters.
I won't tell any fish stories about how much I think it wieghed but I will say that running into that thing while it was alive on his turf would have been a total nightmare.
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 17 Aug 2012 08:29pm
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Spent a pleasant afternoon in 72 degrees watching my 15 year old play a football scrimmage- some powerhouse teams from the twin cities and some from here in Wisconsin. Final scrimmage ended and no sooner had the players left the field for the side lines and 3 deer came bounding out of the woods and across the 20 yard line. I guess they wanted to play too! They were cute and it made me smile to be in this small rural town  Life is just better in the sticks!
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bushbunkie
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# Posted: 19 Aug 2012 05:59pm
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Speak of the devil...last week the family and I towed our jayco pop up up to the bunkie cause my folks were coming for a visit. We gave them the bunkie (they're 80) cause the beds are more comfortable, etc. So it ends up being a beautiful evening...full moon...and my wife and I are out in the trailer with the kids...all the sides zippped down...at 3 a.m. I hear bottles clinking on the table. Our food is in a cooler tightly wedged under the seat of the heavy picnic table. Unless the racoons are in cahoots with eachother and have been pumping iron, no way they can get it. All of a sudden we hear "zippppppp"...my wife leans over to me and says:"that sounds like our cooler sliding across the gravel!" I'm thinking...that must be one big fat raccoon!!!!! I grab my mini flashight and walk over to the picnic table, now noticing that the cooler is on the other side of the table from where I had wedged it. I lean across the table, flick on the light and yell "GIT"...just as the BEAR sits up...and looks at me! ...at that point I yell" you're not a racoon " so loud, the poor bear flies into the forest knocking over my small bbq!
My wife is yelling from the trailer and I tell her we have our first bear at the bunkie...probably a year and a half old. WE hear him around the perimeter in the bush and I know he wants to come back for the cooler...so I just sit in the dark with my wife and wait. Sure enough...15 minutes later he waddles up from behind the bunkie looking for the cooler...at that point I made such a loud noise he files out of there and all we could hear was him going farther and farther into the bush. I guess the cooler goes back in the truck every night like we did before!
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OwenChristensen
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# Posted: 19 Aug 2012 06:22pm
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Cut the bear up and put him in the cooler.
Owen
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