Bears can nail you for sure but really the important thing, IMHO, is to remember that all wildlife is just that, wild! It may be cute, but it will bite (or spray, or stick you full of quills, etc) if you take liberties, and it gets to define what entails taking liberties. Bears are big and impressive and I've met a few, including Grizz (pilgrim), out in the woods over the years, fortunately without bad outcomes. Most scared I've been by a wild animal was a bit under 2 years ago when I was coming in from a late night walk and the biggest D**M Raccoon I've ever seen (about the size of a retriever, but more bulky) waddled past me on it's way to the cherry tree for a snack. Morons get themselves gored, if not killed, by Bison every year.
Worst problem is caused, again IMHO, is the people who feed, either on purpose "Because they're so cute" or "They looked so thin." or the ones who can't be bothered to secure their supplies and/or trash. These wonderful idiots get the animals used to hanging around humans and looking to us as a source of food. and then the animal has to be put down because it's become a threat.
And then there are theoretically domesticated animals, for example cattle. Mama bear has got nothing on a 300-500 lb cow (or sow for that matter, pigs can be mean) when it comes to going after anybody who threatens, ITNSHO, their offspring. And Bulls & Boars are bigger and scarier. Watched an idiot (city guy?) who trespassed into a pasture to take pictures of the cute calves (ca 1974) who was most surprised to discover that: a) There was a bull in the same pasture who didn't take kindly to trespassers. and b) Said bull could, and did, come right on through the fence Our Hero had jumped over. Put a nice size dent in the guy's car too, one that was NOT going to buff out![1]
Moral of the stories: Animals are dangerous, treat with caution, do not feed, and for the gods sake, skip the selfie!
Hank
[1] Yes, it was a poorly built/maintained fence, not up to my dad's standard of "Horse high, Bull strong, and Hog Tight."
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2021 10:53AM by hank.
