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

[chickortreat]

If I see a bear in my yard, I'll have a rug in front of the woodstove for the next winter.

 

[Spookwriter]

Times like that, I'm sure there would be a hundred thougths in my head...

Thinking of my wife always...is she a really really good wife?

....IT ISN'T THE BEAR YOU NEED TO OUTRUN...




***Think what a cool story you would have..."a bear ate my last wife"..

( just kidding, but I'm sure for most married folks, there's been days when
we would gladly feed our wife/husband to the bears. Now, where I live we don't
have anything meaner that a groundhog....telling people a groundhog ate my wife
just doesn't have the same kick to it))

 

[Ema]

Quote:
ROFLMAO!!!!


Lots of bears where I am at...they are always around spring summer and fall and use my land to pass through all the time. they walk up my driveway, around the side of the house where the dog pen and chicken run is and keep on going to the berry bushes that are planted on the back 40 of my land. they never bother my dogs, or us if we are int he front yard, and they never bother with out chickens. I guess too much work for a meal, lol....Running though while its first instinct is a bad idea. as you may already know. Bblack bear will avoid confrontations if at all possible unless they are protecting their cubs or their meal.

When we first bought this farm the agent was showing us the house and we looked out the back window and there was a mama bear and 2 cubs. Mama was laying down while the cubs were playing. they were maybe 50 feet from the barn. I love watching bears, well all animals in general.

 

[lighthawk]

Quote:
Trust me you wouldn't like it. I tanned a bear hide a few years ago and swore I would never do it again. What a stinkin' mess. Bear grease melts at body temperature and fleshing that hide was a nightmare. Nonetheless I perservered and it hangs on my wall now. Like I said ... never again.

 

[midget_farms]

Quote:
Trust me you wouldn't like it. I tanned a bear hide a few years ago and swore I would never do it again. What a stinkin' mess. Bear grease melts at body temperature and fleshing that hide was a nightmare. Nonetheless I perservered and it hangs on my wall now. Like I said ... never again.

I would just pay for it. But then I've never known how to tan a hide.

In any case - The bear that charged me was probalby just frolicking & I happend to be on the path he was playing on. Once I understood I was human he high tailed it.

Have you guys seen this video?

http://www.wimp.com/curiousbear/

That hunter was way cooler than I was in the woods - but like you say a black bear really doesn't want to mess with you - if they do its by accident.

 

[CMV]

Your poor wife!

The first time I came face to face with a bear was in my own yard. I had been doing chores all morning, so I was making a lot of noise. I never expected to walk around the corner of my house and literally come nose to nose with a bear. I screamed, turned, and ran. He screamed, turned, and ran. End of meeting.

 

[Miss Lydia]

We have alot of Blk bears in western N.C. they mind their own business, isn't it great to be able to look out your window and see a bear, wouldn't want to change it for nothing. I looked at that video, the guy must have been out of sight or that bear needed glasses.

 

[wood&feathers]

Lighthawk - how did you degrease the hide? Yes bears are greasy, but so are raccon and beaver, both prime furs. Dish soap, borax, Coleman fuel, lots of different things folks use to degrease. I like borax because if I use it while I'm fleshing the dry powder gives traction on the slime.

OP - you really need to work on your family's response to seeing a bear. RUNNING is the wrong response to any predator encounter, even a growling dog!

We see bears all the time when visiting my inlaws in Va., and they are moving in around us here in Ky. My kids and I have seen them many times. I take my youngest by the hand to calm her, and talk in a low voice, sometimes to the kids, sometimes to the bear. We keep bear pepper spray handy when camping or hiking. Dogs are a double edged sword - bears hate them and dogs can actually get them riled. Some folks will say bears seek them out to confront if the dog is in their territory (I dunno).

 

[lighthawk]

wood&feathers :

Lighthawk - how did you degrease the hide? Yes bears are greasy, but so are raccon and beaver, both prime furs. Dish soap, borax, Coleman fuel, lots of different things folks use to degrease. I like borax because if I use it while I'm fleshing the dry powder gives traction on the slime).

I didn't. Hence the mess. That was my first experience with a bear hide. I had tanned quite a few deer hides prior and never had any problem fleshing them so I just assumed the bear would flesh the same as they did. Wrong. As I have gotten older I pretty much quit tanning anything as it is extremely time consuming and I now have other priorities. That bear hangs on the wall and one is enough for me.
My family had property in northern Minnesota (leech lake) years ago and we always checked out the windows all around the house before we stepped outside. There were constantly bears around. Usually we could just open the window and yell at them and they would high-tail it out of there. They were a lot of fun to watch. You could always see a couple around the community dumpster but they would scatter as soon as a vehicle pulled in the drive.​

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Some states have lots of bears. Black bears are native to Missouri but just now making a comeback after being wiped out.

"You know you're in the country when you see"
A fox, a coyote, an owl, assorted hawks, a turkey, a turtle, 3 snakes, lizards, frogs, and toads all in my yard IN THE SAME DAY.
But I live in the suburbs of St. Louis, MO. Just a little raw land and woods around me. I took lots of pictures that day