You know your in the country when you see...

[LaurelRidgeDreams]

Two summers ago a good friend of mine ,who lives off of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the mountains of NC, left a just cooked apple pie on her kitchen counter. She went somewhere leaving the front door open, but the screen door was closed. When she came back, a black bear had entered her house by ripping the screen off the door, had eaten most of the pie, sat on the couch, and was wandering around inside. She called for help and it took a while to get the bear out of the house. They had to keep all windows and doors shut for a very long time.

 

[Buckguy20]

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I don't know where you live, but there are some bears is North East Texas.

Oh and don't forget the Baylor Bears!

 

[midget_farms]

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Illinois has had 1 confirmed sighting of a black bear in the last 100 years - it happened in 2010. I hope they make a comeback. We've had several sightings / killings of mountain lions - one on the border with Iowa about 10 years ago & 1 shot & killed by Chicago police IN the city limits.

I think its all good - my encounter was in Wisconson & I learned my lesson. I know they are nothing to worry about - but he was in a dead run right at me! Just give me the chance to make the decision to protect myself or not & I'm OK - going out unarmed leaves the decision up to the bear!

 

[cabincrazyone]

I'm a little surprised to see a couple comments about running from bears. If at first sight the bear has no intention to attack, as soon as you start running it will change its mind because your action is awakening the hunting instinct.

We have quite a few black bears in the country, and some in the city. 99 times out of 100 the bear will see you and avoid you without you even knowing its near.

The animal that gives me the willies is a cougar. There weren't any in Mn for many decades ... but in the last ten years there have been one or two, then more and more and more of them. Things are very different with a cougar. Their first thought when they see you is dinner.

 

[Tala]

I've heard of the black bears trying to come into people's deer stands on hunting mornings on land not far from ours. We always saw their sign on our land, but fortunately never met one up close and personal. We could always tell that they'd been in the berry patch and tearing up downed wood for bugs. Interesting how such a big critter frequently eats such little things.

Now, I'm with cabincrazyone, my "dad" (not my dad, but a close dad friend) saw one on our hunting land one day when he was sitting on his tailgate eating a sandwich!!!!! Fortunately it didn't think dinner, it turned and ran when it noticed him. I thumb my nose at the game and fish that says we don't have them here. They may not be extremely abundant, but I've seen their tracks chasing deer tracks at a state park, not to mention my friend's firsthand seeing one.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

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It must have been a good pie...

 

[cabincrazyone]

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Bears as you know, have a tremendously good sense of smell. I'd be willing to bet that the bear trying to enter the deer stand could smell the Snickers bar or the Slim Jim the hunter was eating (or had been eating an hour ago and the wrapper was still on the floor).

What did the bear sign say .... "THOMAS D. BEAR, Esquire" ..... Sorry ..... :^)

 

[ChickenCanoe]

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This goes double for cougars (aka mountain lion,puma,florida panther,catamount)

 

[cabincrazyone]

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This goes double for cougars (aka mountain lion,puma,florida panther,catamount)

That's right. That's why taking a pistol (at the least) into the woods for self defense is a prudent idea. When encountering a bear you probably won't even need to think about unsnapping the holster flap. When encountering a cougar the decision to shoot or not to shoot needs to be made soon. I mean in seconds, not in minutes.

Several years ago my brother was hiking alone in the rocky wilderness of south eastern California. He sat to rest with his back against one of the few trees around. After resting there about three minutes he had a feeling he was being watched. He stood up and looked around. A cougar was about 50 feet behind him, STALKING HIM. He fired his pistol into the air and the cougar came out of the stalking crouch, looked at him for a moment, turned and trotted away.

 

[Mountain Man Jim]

We pretty much live in the country here and have black bears in the area. Unfortunately, they're pretty elusive; I've only gotten to see one.

Jim