Yikes Today a friend of mine saw two young bears just 1Km from our houses. First i tought he was joking and i told him that it was prolly a couple of wolverines. But it was verified by two other hikers later today.
There havnt been any bears here for the last 100 years. Guess the sheepfarmers on the other side of the mountain and up in the valley are pretty nervous now.

Where Hauken? Where? I'll have to look over my shoulder until you let us know where these bears are...

Ooh...Where are my manors...Welcome to this fine site...Grab a beer and sit a whole...

What? Where on earth do you live that would have wolverines but no bears for 100 years?

Welcome to the HuntingNut Hauken. Where are these bears at ?.
Joe

I'm not sure why it is, but we are having a ton of bears aruond lately as well! Areas that havent had bears as far as I can remember are suddenly showing up. We even had a scout killed in June about 10 miles from my house when a blackbear tore into his tent and drug him out.

Hopefully the up bear tag #'s this year.


-DallanC

Fires Dallan...Fires...It's pushing them out of the mountains right into your back yard...

In some areas thats true. But in others the bears showed up earlier than the fires. I'm wondering if its due to drought they arent getting the forage up high and are migrating into new areas.


-DallanC

Could be that too...

Bears are an onggoing problem up here. Dozens of bears are killed by authorities every year in Pince George. These are right in busy neighbor hoods. There just aren't enough hunters into taking a couple bears each year. They make great sausage guys so give it a try.
Don

Bears are also a problem here ever since they canncelled the spring bear hunt.

Dimitri

DallanC wrote:

I'm not sure why it is, but we are having a ton of bears aruond lately as well! Areas that havent had bears as far as I can remember are suddenly showing up. -DallanC

Apart from what Bushy suggested, I think that you will find that the biggest problem is civilisation encroaching on the natural habitat of many animals that causes them to be seen in some areas.

The more that civilisation spreads, the less natural bushland that the animals have to live in. Its surprising how many animals adapt to living/feeding in suburban areas. We (humans) need to be mindful that many of these critters are at the TOP of the food chain.....meaning we are on the menu !!

Luckily we don't have any critters here in Australia that will munch and chew on ya.

Cheers, Vince

Except snakes...Oooo I hate snakes (and spiders)...

I have crawled into bear dens with no problems.
However, if you told me that there was a snake or spider in the den, you couldn't get me in there for no amount of money. Insects and reptiles are not my favorite animals.

Eric

In this little community in the sierra nevada foothills the authorities have removed both bears and cougars in the last few years. Two bears were ripping the doors off a fish hatchery and after being relocated they came back! Too bad for the bears. The lady that had a cougar jump through the window after her cat made a good story. The cat was scattered all ove the trailer. The lady was in the bathroom when all this occurred, she elected not to rescue her cat. I figure the bathroom was a convenient place to be when all that was going on.

Bushmaster wrote:

Except snakes...Oooo I hate snakes (and spiders)...

Spiders can be a real pain cause they are difficult to see....unless of course they are the larger variety. Snakes are not a problem....if you leave them alone, as a general rule, they will leave you alone.

Now bears and cougars.....thems is hungry buggers and we allegedly taste pretty good......the canibal tribesmen from Papua New Guinea in days gone by reckon "long pig" (white man) is pretty good stuff.

Cheers, Vince