Quote:
“Ageing bears that hadn’t eaten enough to hibernate through the winter would emerge early, starving to death; they’d eat anything.”
I have to chuckle at that - 35 years ago when I was married, my wife and I
planned a canoe trip in Algonquin Provincial Park in northern Quebec.
There are scores of islands and all connected via lakes and rivers and bogs and the like.
Very, very remote, and ‘zero impact camping’, no facilities, etc. Very beautiful and lots of wildlife.
Back then they had the largest number of black bear attacks in North America in that area,
and that had us a little concerned.
When we checked in to start our trip, we asked about the bear attacks.
One of the rangers told us not to worry - they thought it was only older bears that were weak and hungry.
That didn’t give us the ‘warm feeling’ of safety. ;^)
Very funny; I guess because they’d be older, weak, and hungry you two would be able to kick its ass?
I had a run-in with a black bear a couple of years ago along the NY/NJ border near West Point; an Indian student had been killed nearby a few months before by one, so I took it very seriously. I did what the books said; made myself “big”, moved towards it (hard to do - not a natural act), and yelled at the top of my voice (all after lloking for cubs, picking up a nice-sized limb and getting hold of my pepper spray). Thankfully it worked; when it had loped away a safe distance, I took a picture of it.