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Bear Country
- Thread starter 0037ksm
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2011
- Messages
- 16,397
I worry a lot! I have an automatic light on my shop and a porch light on the house but no light in between. That's where I keep my trash cans of course! The other day I forgot my flashlight, it gets really dark in this valley too... I ran into a can! It scared the fool out of me and what if there was a bear there!
It would be really dangerous to step out of the shop between a mother and her cubs. So far this year I have seen a few deer right outside the shop.
We have had to keep trash indoors so far this year, if anything is outside the bear will come and ransack it. I have seen a bear break the chains on a chained down can. I'm currently considering building something for my trash. I can't take it the 2 miles to the curb either because of a law they just made concerning the bear problem!
I might have to be like Bob Loveless and grind with a pistol on my side! Or at least some bear spray.
We have a documented mountain lion mother and family on my property as well. My neighbor directly below my property sees her all the time, they have a pond and she goes beaver hunting a lot there. My place is 10 acres but it is a half day hike to the high edge of my property because it is a mountain! At the top is a cliff where the mountain lion lives. The forest service wrote an article in the local paper about it because they were having problems, they were going to shoot her but found out she was with a litter, lol now we have a bunch of mountain lions! I see the occasional bobcat and lynx but have never seen a mountain lion on this property so far.
I once watched a coyote stalk a deer from my living room, it was very wild to see. The coyote was at a near crawl the whole time... right on the ground.
We have ermine and all sorts of odd mountain rodents, interesting birds and other wildlife as well.
The worst constant danger is the squirrels! They gnaw branches off the trees and toss them at me. A solid green pine cone can weigh a pound, that hurts from 100 feet up. My poor cat can't go anywhere with harassment!
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2010
- Messages
- 8,721
Man I'm glad I don't have that constant threat in my back yard. We just deal with coon, possum, stray cats, and bums going through the trash and carrying diseases. Last summer I was getting ready one morning and looked out my dining room window (which faces my neighbor and my driveway runs along th side of my house all the way to the back yard) and saw some ragged looking bum going through my recycling can. I walked into my room, got my pistol and just walked up to my window which was only 3 feet from this guy, tapped on the glass with the barrel and watched him high tail it outta there like a scolded dog!
I grew up spending my summers in gold country which is loaded with rattlers, cougars (4 legs and two!), ferral pigs and ferral dogs. Pigs and dogs were the biggest concern but th deer during th rut actually caused more injuries than anything.
-Xander
I grew up spending my summers in gold country which is loaded with rattlers, cougars (4 legs and two!), ferral pigs and ferral dogs. Pigs and dogs were the biggest concern but th deer during th rut actually caused more injuries than anything.
-Xander
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2007
- Messages
- 367
We live on top of a plateau about 20 miles east of Seattle right on the edge of the Cascades. There's a whole town up here, schools, neighborhoods, golf courses, two pretty good sized lakes. The town believes in setting aside as much undeveloped space as possible and the trails up here eventually connect with the heart of the Cascades. All you have to do is follow one of the trails down the eastern side of the plateau. cross hwy 202 and there isn't much then on till you hit Idaho.
Of course, with all that there's a lot of wildlife. Two summers ago, our neighbor had a bear in her backyard. Last summer a mtn lion was seen drinking at the pond behind our house. It's not uncommon to see a photo in the weekly newspaper of a bobcat sunning himself in the middle of someone's driveway. Deer are everywhere, they're like dogs roaming the neighborhoods. They do a census every year of lions and bears. Last count there were 12 bear and two confirmed lions up here.
Coyotes are a problem. There's a pack that makes a circuit of their territory about every 3 months or so. I've heard them in the trees behind the house just beyond the fence when we lay in bed at night. Needless to say, there are no cats in the neighborhood and people watch their foo foo dogs with caution. I know one guy that lost one of his dogs to a coyote. He let both dogs out back at night and a coyote jumped his back fence. The male dog, a Chihuahua, of course charged it. Talk about a snatch and run! They found his remains the next day behind their property.
Knock on wood, I haven't actually seen bear or lion on our hikes. Sam (our 65 lb. Doodle) and I were walking in the woods last summer. He usually runs ahead of me, waits for me to catch up, then runs ahead again. I was daydreaming and suddenly noticed, no Sam. I look around and he's about 100 feet behind me just standing and staring off into the woods. I call him. He won't budge. I call him again. He still won't budge. He's just staring at a spot in the woods off to my right side. I'm slow but not totally stupid. We turned around and went back the way we came, not running but moving quite briskly. I know it wasn't deer because he just thinks they're big dogs and ignores them.
Living in DFW TX for many years I got in the habit of carrying a .45. I quit carrying when we moved up here because living on the plateau is like living in a Leave it to Beaver episode, only Ward drives an AMG Mercedes and June is a hot soccer mom in a Porsche Cayenne. I may have to get in the habit again.
Of course, with all that there's a lot of wildlife. Two summers ago, our neighbor had a bear in her backyard. Last summer a mtn lion was seen drinking at the pond behind our house. It's not uncommon to see a photo in the weekly newspaper of a bobcat sunning himself in the middle of someone's driveway. Deer are everywhere, they're like dogs roaming the neighborhoods. They do a census every year of lions and bears. Last count there were 12 bear and two confirmed lions up here.
Coyotes are a problem. There's a pack that makes a circuit of their territory about every 3 months or so. I've heard them in the trees behind the house just beyond the fence when we lay in bed at night. Needless to say, there are no cats in the neighborhood and people watch their foo foo dogs with caution. I know one guy that lost one of his dogs to a coyote. He let both dogs out back at night and a coyote jumped his back fence. The male dog, a Chihuahua, of course charged it. Talk about a snatch and run! They found his remains the next day behind their property.
Knock on wood, I haven't actually seen bear or lion on our hikes. Sam (our 65 lb. Doodle) and I were walking in the woods last summer. He usually runs ahead of me, waits for me to catch up, then runs ahead again. I was daydreaming and suddenly noticed, no Sam. I look around and he's about 100 feet behind me just standing and staring off into the woods. I call him. He won't budge. I call him again. He still won't budge. He's just staring at a spot in the woods off to my right side. I'm slow but not totally stupid. We turned around and went back the way we came, not running but moving quite briskly. I know it wasn't deer because he just thinks they're big dogs and ignores them.
Living in DFW TX for many years I got in the habit of carrying a .45. I quit carrying when we moved up here because living on the plateau is like living in a Leave it to Beaver episode, only Ward drives an AMG Mercedes and June is a hot soccer mom in a Porsche Cayenne. I may have to get in the habit again.
Believe it or not, here in the North East (New England, New York and New Jersey) we are being confronted more by bears and of late Massachusetts and Upstate New York has finally admitted Mountain Lions (Catamount) are becoming more prevalent, Connecticut D.E.P. still denies their existence in the State.
Let's be careful out there!!!
Let's be careful out there!!!
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2009
- Messages
- 2,849
Bears we have seen in town.The under Sheriff lost a dog to a coyote in town and have seen wolves in town.We have a 6 foot privacy fence around our yard but I go out with the dogs when they are let out.Daniel I highly recommend carrying a handgun.Around the house and town I just grab one of my Glocck 40 calibers.With a wolf I want as many rounds as I can pull the trigger.For woods bumming it is usually my 454 with 300 grain hollow points.That will kill any creature on this planet,two or four legged!
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2011
- Messages
- 16,397
Dewd- Just use common sense... and good Karma.Yull be attacked by a whacko person first instead of any wild animal.
That's the truth!
Bears can be sketchy though, I always run them off and once tried to run a mother off with her cubs nearby. I'm glad I was near my door. Once in college my landlord was having a party and came by my place at midnight... I could hear him yelling at me from outside. I went outside and he was yelling "don't go outside, there's a bear on your porch!" of course I can't understand him, him and his buddy are in a Ferrari and I'm just staring at the cool car! I think the bear jumped off the porch!
Yeah people in my yard would be a lot scarier than bears! Good point on the deers in rut. It seems they will go at you, I have had them try to intimidate me.
I even have turkeys, they can be scary, lmao! My cat thought he was going to get one and it wound up chasing him! The cat eventually found a ladder to climb!
Sounds like a cool place to live! Great stories too.
I grew up 100 miles south of DFW, I hear you on the gun! I have had guns pulled on me for all kinds of stuff back home, once over a gas pump. Had people try to carjack me twice.
My area is pretty laid back, almost no crime at all. Even the "gangsters" down south of me in NM are polite and probably harmless. Back home you'd better not mess around! One local kid told me he was from the ghetto of Durango, CO, I almost spit my latte out!
(just kidding about the latte, I'm a mocha man myself 
) I hear you! It seems these drier years push the animals closer to us. Last year we had a bumper berry crop and I never even saw a bear. This year they went for the trash straight out of hibernation!
Good advice! I think I'm going to put a motion sensor light on my trash area. I have a game camera I want to set up for fun too, I want a picture of the mountain lion!
I know a guy who lives in bear country and
He keeps a 12 Ga shotgun with 1 Oz slugs
And rubber slugs he says if the rubber slugs
Dont make the bears leave then he uses the
1 Oz lead slugs ! Two to three rubber slugs
The rest lead ! Says he never had to use it
But he rather have it and not need it then
Need it and not have it !
Frank
He keeps a 12 Ga shotgun with 1 Oz slugs
And rubber slugs he says if the rubber slugs
Dont make the bears leave then he uses the
1 Oz lead slugs ! Two to three rubber slugs
The rest lead ! Says he never had to use it
But he rather have it and not need it then
Need it and not have it !
Frank