Posted on 11/04/2007 10:21:55 PM PST by george76
Hopefully this is true :
they find comfort and closure in this act.
Small family ranchers with small herds can not withstand loses to their life stock.
They need that extra cow to help pay the mortgage and property taxes .
I never camp without a firearm.
Period.
Then again, I never drive anywhere without a firearm.
Period.
That's right. I've seen the wolves watch experts do a survey looking for the presence of wolves of areas in NW Ontario. The experts concluded there were none in the area. After they were done, I pointed out to them where they had urinated on their former campsites, and where they had marked all of the spots they otherwise had been. LOL.
Good luck on the trapping!
That’s actually a pretty obvious thing if you think it through. Grizzlies are considered in some places to be endangered, but not here. Since there aren’t any. The “last grizzly” was killed in 1979.
I’ve heard several stories on the last one, but allegedly the guy that did it, hunted it down and killed it, then claimed he shot it with an arrow from a bow. I haven’t been able to verify the facts in the story at this time. The web site I will give you at the end of this note will tell you what they believe.
Anyway, to the point, grizzlies aren’t supposed to be here, but if they are, and they come into conflict with humans, the bear will lose every time.
If there is a tacit denial that the bears still live here, then there isn’t a reason to “protect it” (which in my opinion is a GOOD thing). This keeps our forests and ranges OPEN for human use. IF for some reason the bear is suddenly found, discovered, or kills someone and it’s proven it’s a grizzly bear, then many wilderness areas will suddenly become “protected territory” in this state.
So, I think this is merely a tactic denial on the part of Fish and Wildlife folks.
I had a good hour conversation with the wildlife biologist responsible for the area where I spotted the bear. He said that basically I had “identified” a grizzly, but he was putting it down in the books as “a very large, male black bear”. No reason, that’s what he said he was doing. I didn’t ask him to elaborate any further on the subject, as I was pressed for time, and so was he at that point.
I will point you to this web site though....I found it in searching for some other information, but it covers the a part of the area I was located in when I saw my bear.
http://www.coloradowilderness.com/wildpages/sanjuan.html
Just for a comparison... I was at 10,500 feet, in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, about 15 miles from Westcliff Colorado, high up in a basin formed by several peaks. There are several lakes up there, and the road is barely maintained, rocky as hell and requires a four wheel drive, with a high clearance to make it up to the top. I drive an unmodified 2000 Jeep Cherokee, and run the risk of doing undercarriage damage on occasion.
I’ve visited that area multiple times over the past few years, fished there, and stalked game (not for hunting just for pictures). It is high altitude wilderness. I’ve seen several different black bears, packs of coyotes up there, many types of birds, mule and whitetail deer. I have found mountain lion tracks up there, but have never seen one.
The tracks I saw were definitely NOT black bear tracks. They were too big, the claws were too far from the pads and the size was simply too big to have been the black bear we’d seen earlier (he wasn’t much more than a 100 lbs). The bear I saw stood four feet high at the shoulders (compared to the tree branches by the trees he was next too), he had a hump, and when we made noises, he didn’t scamper off. He stood and looked at us for a bit longer before he decided to wander away.
Black bears RUN usually.
Me either, Badeye. I carry multiple weapons when I go into the wilderness. I’ve had people get upset with me for “hunting”, because I’m carrying a rifle but I’m not hunting. They can kiss my rump. The .30-30 goes with me into the bush. Period. And a side arm as back up.
(I COULD start carrying around the AR-15 with a few magazines and let’s see what they say then.... /snicker)
Thanks for the ping. I was just having a discussion last night with someone about there ‘never being a confirmed killing of a human by a wolf’.
I’ll have to forward this.
India Fighting Plague Of Man-Eating Wolves
Since the first killing five months ago, 33 children have been carried off and killed by wolves, according to police figures, and 20 others have been seriously mauled...
Matters are still far from the disaster of 1878, when British officials in this area recorded 624 human killings by wolves. But fear is pervasive. Men stay awake all night, keeping vigil with antique rifles and staves. Mothers keep children from the fields, and infants are kept inside all day.
http://www.wolfsongalaska.org/Wolves_South_Asia_man_eating.htm
I read an article somewhere a couple months ago where several hungry wolves caught a sow black bear coming out of winter hibernation, as she exited her winter den she encountered the wolves and jumped up into a pine tree, but didn’t make it very high. Several wolves bit into her hind legs and pulled her back down. Parts of her were scattered about. Deep claw marks about 8 inches long, where she was pulled down were very evident on the tree.
I do not know the specifics you saw, but a bear may be able to defend itself against a single wolf, however packs may be successful predators.
so what was the “shorts” part about?
An expert, who prepared a report for the coroner’s office, said it was more likely a bear killed Carnegie.
How comforting.
Me either, Badeye. I carry multiple weapons when I go into the wilderness. I’ve had people get upset with me for “hunting”, because I’m carrying a rifle but I’m not hunting. They can kiss my rump. The .30-30 goes with me into the bush. Period. And a side arm as back up.
(I COULD start carrying around the AR-15 with a few magazines and let’s see what they say then.... /snicker)
Funny thing since yesterday. Saw a report that the black bear is making a big come back here in Southern Ohio. 116 confirmed sightings in the last year. Video and pictures of one feeding off of garbage about 20 miles from where I live.
I’m much more concerned with bi peds than bears.
Yeah, like I was saying though, when Bear Meets Human and there is conflict, the bear loses.
Don’t get me wrong here, I think bears have a ‘right’ to live too, but not at the expense of human beings. We do encroach on their habitat, so we have to expect to have occasional conflict.
But being a hunter and being a woodsy sort of fella, I think that conservation is best. That is, let animals live where they live and people visit them. Not be seen, heard or leave anything other than foot prints (if you have to).
On the other hand, humans need to be, and ARE, responsible for their own actions. Thus, keeping garbage OUT of reach of animals certainly will help with such a situation.
As for wolves being “reintroduced” to areas where they used to live, well... I’m a little torn on that one. I think it is cool. At the same time, there’s honestly only room on this planet for one full-time predator. Us. Eventually, we’re going to come into conflict with wolves again.
As to the “facts” about “confirmed” wolf attacks, I’d say that’s a whole load of nonsense. Wolfs HAVE attacked human beings in the past, and certainly they did so on a regular basis when humans were much more privative.
I’m certain it will happen again if wolf packs get large, and are no longer scared of humans (this comes when humans leave their garbage around, and feed animals).
‘As for wolves being “reintroduced” to areas where they used to live, well... I’m a little torn on that one. I think it is cool. At the same time, there’s honestly only room on this planet for one full-time predator. Us. Eventually, we’re going to come into conflict with wolves again.’
Pretty much the same view here. We’re dealing with a huge jump in the coyote population in Southern Ohio, more black bears are appearing, and we have a growing problem with hybrid wolves released less than a year ago (12 - 14 mating pairs released within ten miles of my home) by a dumbass upset with his wife asking for a divorce (unbelieveable true story).
So I keep a close watch on our dogs - behind our split rail fence with ‘dog wire’ these days. And I ALWAYS have a firearm at the ready.
I meant it as an expression meaning that he wasn’t prepared as well as he should have been. If he had been carrying a shotgun or even a handgun he would have had a better chance of survival.
Gosh, I’d love to send you my dear little black-and-white Karelian Bear Dog. The breeder assured me he’d know exactly what to do and not run around stirring up bear trouble and bringing it back with him (main reason for not taking most dogs into bush). I’ve followed their usage over the years out West with problem bears, an option midway between relocating or shooting them.
Course’ my little pooch would probably try to introduce himself to the wolves...
So where exactly to you live in the Great White North? What are the main online local news sources?
And has anyone from Barrow given an authoritative review of “30 Days of Night?”
“As for wolves being “reintroduced” to areas where they used to live, well... I’m a little torn on that one. I think it is cool. “
Being a resident of rural Oregon I don’t think it is quite as cool and most of the folks out here agree with me.
If the big city folks like the wolves so much, let them reintroduce them in their city parks.
We live along upper yukon, 4 miles from canadian border.
Wolves take any loose dogs and often eat sled dogs on chains. We have plott hounds for house dogs and watch dogs. One dog won’t deter a bear, 3 barking dogs will. People here just shoot bear that come around a second time.
Actually, we have slow dial up but look at pretty much same web sites everyone else. More concerned with weather and caribou migration than the world news I guess.
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