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Black bear attacks mountain biker in Washington State park



 
 
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  #71  
Old September 18th 07, 04:28 PM posted to alt.mountain-bike,rec.bicycles.soc,rec.backcountry,ca.environment,sci.environment
Puppet_Sock
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Posts: 40
Default Black bear attacks mountain biker in Washington State park

On Sep 16, 7:07 pm, wrote:
[git with dog harrassing bear, surprised at bear attacking him]
I believe this
bear was surprised by my dog and protecting his territory.


Even the git knows he's a git.

Folks like
me have intruded on the bears over the years but I was within two
miles of my home and I don't plan on staying inside.


If you've no respect for your horrible self, you could at least
have some respect for the bear. If your shredded carcass is
found beside the trail then it's a fairly strong possibility the
bear will wind up destroyed. You won't be any loss. We can
always find another idiot to replace you. And your dog sure
won't be missed by anybody. But the bears are getting rare.

Why don't you get yoursefl an x-box and move to the city?
You don't understand wilderness.

At the very least, get a leash for your mutt and keep it on
the leash at all times in bear country. Or leave the flea
circus at home and let others enjoy the woods.
Socks

Ads
  #72  
Old September 18th 07, 04:35 PM posted to alt.mountain-bike,rec.bicycles.soc,rec.backcountry,ca.environment,sci.environment
Bruce Jensen
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Posts: 522
Default Black bear attacks mountain biker in Washington State park

On Sep 17, 7:02 pm, "Ryan Robbins" wrote:
"Jeff Strickland" wrote in message

news:4NBHi.2751$io2.196@trnddc06...

AS IT TURNS OUT, black bears are attacking all sorts of people these days.


Really? And I take it that you're basing this assumption on a couple of news
reports which, by definition, report things that are unusual. Attacks by
black bears are rare. Fatal attacks are even rarer still. Here in Maine, we
have the largest black bear population east of the Mississippi. I don't
recall ever hearing of even so much as an attack by a black bear here. I
have had four black bear encounters since June, one only 25 feet from a
mother bear and her cub. And every time the bear didn't make any attempt to
attack. On three occasions, the bears took off. On one occasion, the bear
just kept eating nuts, not minding the discharge of my flash.


Among the dozens and dozens of "bear awareness" websites, here is an
interesting one. I don't necessarily agree with her obsrevational
methods - howevre, when it comes to the observational and factual
information, this discussion seems to get it really close to "on the
nose." In short, it isn't necessary to freak over black bears, and
hungry bears do not equal more attacks on humans.

http://www.bearsmart.com/bearFacts/TruthAboutBears.html

Bruce Jensen

  #73  
Old September 18th 07, 04:36 PM posted to alt.mountain-bike,rec.bicycles.soc,rec.backcountry,ca.environment,sci.environment
Jeff Strickland
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Posts: 613
Default Black bear attacks mountain biker in Washington State park


"Ryan Robbins" wrote in message
news:XkGHi.2194$yO2.866@trndny01...

"Jeff Strickland" wrote in message
news:4NBHi.2751$io2.196@trnddc06...
AS IT TURNS OUT, black bears are attacking all sorts of people these
days.


Really? And I take it that you're basing this assumption on a couple of
news reports which, by definition, report things that are unusual. Attacks
by black bears are rare. Fatal attacks are even rarer still. Here in
Maine, we have the largest black bear population east of the Mississippi.
I don't recall ever hearing of even so much as an attack by a black bear
here. I have had four black bear encounters since June, one only 25 feet
from a mother bear and her cub. And every time the bear didn't make any
attempt to attack. On three occasions, the bears took off. On one
occasion, the bear just kept eating nuts, not minding the discharge of my
flash.


You and I are in complete agreement, the nature of black bears is that they
avoid human contact if they can.

My point is that in the west we have had years of drought and the food
supply is diminished, causing the bears to be more agressive than they would
otherwise be. Mike is suggesting that the cause of the agression is the
mountain bike, I am suggtesting that the bike rider simply ended up in the
wrong place at the wrong time, and found a hungry bear that was also
defending her cubs.

The drought in the west is not an assumption, by the way.


  #74  
Old September 18th 07, 04:44 PM posted to alt.mountain-bike,rec.bicycles.soc,rec.backcountry,ca.environment,sci.environment
Bruce Jensen
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Posts: 522
Default Black bear attacks mountain biker in Washington State park

On Sep 18, 8:36 am, "Jeff Strickland" wrote:
"Ryan Robbins" wrote in message

news:XkGHi.2194$yO2.866@trndny01...







"Jeff Strickland" wrote in message
news:4NBHi.2751$io2.196@trnddc06...
AS IT TURNS OUT, black bears are attacking all sorts of people these
days.


Really? And I take it that you're basing this assumption on a couple of
news reports which, by definition, report things that are unusual. Attacks
by black bears are rare. Fatal attacks are even rarer still. Here in
Maine, we have the largest black bear population east of the Mississippi.
I don't recall ever hearing of even so much as an attack by a black bear
here. I have had four black bear encounters since June, one only 25 feet
from a mother bear and her cub. And every time the bear didn't make any
attempt to attack. On three occasions, the bears took off. On one
occasion, the bear just kept eating nuts, not minding the discharge of my
flash.


You and I are in complete agreement, the nature of black bears is that they
avoid human contact if they can.

My point is that in the west we have had years of drought and the food
supply is diminished, causing the bears to be more agressive than they would
otherwise be. Mike is suggesting that the cause of the agression is the
mountain bike, I am suggtesting that the bike rider simply ended up in the
wrong place at the wrong time, and found a hungry bear that was also
defending her cubs.


I think you're on the right track, but I am doubtful that the cubs
play into it (it isn't at all obvious that the attacking bear even had
cubs, despite the reported presence of a momma bear with cubs in the
area) - I think the dogs probably got the bear more riled up than
anything, and the biker wound up in the midst of it, an easy target
for the angry, panicky bruin.

Either way, I think it pays to exercise caution in bear country. This
guy had loose dogs and was zipping along on a bike where visibility
apparently was not excellent. It doesn't sound really smart, or
really careful, to me. His actions were at best a gamble, and on this
spin, he lost the bet.

Bruce Jensen

  #75  
Old September 18th 07, 04:57 PM posted to alt.mountain-bike,rec.bicycles.soc,rec.backcountry,ca.environment,sci.environment
Mike Vandeman
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Posts: 4,798
Default Black bear attacks mountain biker in Washington State park

On Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:36:17 GMT, "Jeff Strickland"
wrote:


"Ryan Robbins" wrote in message
news:XkGHi.2194$yO2.866@trndny01...

"Jeff Strickland" wrote in message
news:4NBHi.2751$io2.196@trnddc06...
AS IT TURNS OUT, black bears are attacking all sorts of people these
days.


Really? And I take it that you're basing this assumption on a couple of
news reports which, by definition, report things that are unusual. Attacks
by black bears are rare. Fatal attacks are even rarer still. Here in
Maine, we have the largest black bear population east of the Mississippi.
I don't recall ever hearing of even so much as an attack by a black bear
here. I have had four black bear encounters since June, one only 25 feet
from a mother bear and her cub. And every time the bear didn't make any
attempt to attack. On three occasions, the bears took off. On one
occasion, the bear just kept eating nuts, not minding the discharge of my
flash.


You and I are in complete agreement, the nature of black bears is that they
avoid human contact if they can.

My point is that in the west we have had years of drought and the food
supply is diminished, causing the bears to be more agressive than they would
otherwise be. Mike is suggesting that the cause of the agression is the
mountain bike, I am suggtesting that the bike rider simply ended up in the
wrong place at the wrong time,


Yes! The only right place for a mountain biker is on pavement.

and found a hungry bear that was also
defending her cubs.

The drought in the west is not an assumption, by the way.

--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
  #76  
Old September 18th 07, 06:04 PM posted to alt.mountain-bike,rec.bicycles.soc,rec.backcountry,ca.environment,sci.environment
y_p_w
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Posts: 102
Default Black bear attacks mountain biker in Washington State park

On Sep 18, 8:13 am, Puppet_Sock wrote:
On Sep 17, 11:40 am, y_p_w wrote:
[snip]

The people killed by black bears are aberrations.


I think you mean to say that the killing of people
by black bears is an aberration, not that the people
are...


Perhaps a little of both. One would be the aberration where people
are recklessly careless/clueless, and the other would be a bear that
would engage in a predatory attack against a person.

Oh. You were talking about Mickey.


That too. ;-)

  #77  
Old September 18th 07, 06:37 PM posted to alt.mountain-bike,rec.bicycles.soc,rec.backcountry,ca.environment,sci.environment
You
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 32
Default Black bear attacks mountain biker in Washington State park

In article 4NBHi.2751$io2.196@trnddc06,
"Jeff Strickland" wrote:

AS IT TURNS OUT, black bears are attacking all sorts of people these days.
It seems the bears are responding to a shortage in the food chain that has
resulted from several years of drought in the western states.




As it turns out, you have no idea of which you speak.......
  #78  
Old September 18th 07, 06:47 PM posted to alt.mountain-bike,rec.bicycles.soc,rec.backcountry,ca.environment,sci.environment
You
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 32
Default Black bear attacks mountain biker in Washington State park

In article RfSHi.4216$Bm1.2351@trnddc01,
"Jeff Strickland" wrote:

"Ryan Robbins" wrote in message
news:XkGHi.2194$yO2.866@trndny01...

"Jeff Strickland" wrote in message
news:4NBHi.2751$io2.196@trnddc06...
AS IT TURNS OUT, black bears are attacking all sorts of people these
days.


Really? And I take it that you're basing this assumption on a couple of
news reports which, by definition, report things that are unusual. Attacks
by black bears are rare. Fatal attacks are even rarer still. Here in
Maine, we have the largest black bear population east of the Mississippi.
I don't recall ever hearing of even so much as an attack by a black bear
here. I have had four black bear encounters since June, one only 25 feet
from a mother bear and her cub. And every time the bear didn't make any
attempt to attack. On three occasions, the bears took off. On one
occasion, the bear just kept eating nuts, not minding the discharge of my
flash.


You and I are in complete agreement, the nature of black bears is that they
avoid human contact if they can.

My point is that in the west we have had years of drought and the food
supply is diminished, causing the bears to be more agressive than they would
otherwise be. Mike is suggesting that the cause of the agression is the
mountain bike, I am suggtesting that the bike rider simply ended up in the
wrong place at the wrong time, and found a hungry bear that was also
defending her cubs.

The drought in the west is not an assumption, by the way.



Hey Dufus, this happened in Western Washington State, where there ISN'T
a drought, and hasn't been in a number of years. There is plenty of
Bear Chow available, this time of year. The Bike Riders DOGGIE,
precipitated the whole incident, by suprising The bear, in question.
There were NO cubs present during the attack. The only Statement about
Cubs, WAS, that a sow with cubs was seen in the vacinity, earlier, and
this "MAY" have been the same Bear. The actual attcking bear, was never
identified, or it's sex identified, during, or after, the incident.

At least get the FACTS straight, before you make your WildAssed
Assumptions, and presenting them as some sort of opinion, or fact......
  #79  
Old September 18th 07, 11:56 PM posted to alt.mountain-bike,rec.bicycles.soc,rec.backcountry,ca.environment,sci.environment
[email protected]
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Posts: 30
Default Black bear attacks mountain biker in Washington State park

In North America(from a bears point of view)there are only 2 types of
animal bears and bear food.
  #80  
Old September 19th 07, 12:03 AM posted to rec.bicycles.soc,rec.backcountry,ca.environment,sci.environment
G.T.
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Posts: 1,403
Default Black bear attacks mountain biker in Washington State park


wrote in message news:6IYHi.255$A55.129@pd7urf2no...
In North America(from a bears point of view)there are only 2 types of
animal bears and bear food.


More like 3: bears, bear food, and other.

Greg
--
Ticketmaster and Ticketweb suck, but everyone knows that:
http://ticketmastersucks.org
"Ya gotta stop riding the brakes,
ya gotta stop robbing the cradle" - Chris D


 




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