Bears, they ain't all bad.

[polak]

I remember when there was a bear cub walking around our campsite one night.

Put this guy in the dark with a lost cub and mom that is most likely around looking for him and make him sleep in a tent and tell me how he sleeps.

[flamesfever]

I think it's prudent to teach children, and some adults, to have a healthy respect and fear of wild animals...especially bears.

I recall a rig hand, at a nearbye rig, went for a walk along a seismic line and a bear chased him up a rather small poplar tree. He started yelling for the rest of the crew to help him. However, they got there too late, and the bear had eaten his foot off.


I had a geologist, working for me at one time, who on his way to Jasper with his wife and baby daughter, spotted a baby fawn along the highway. They stopped and held their baby up to the fawn, and the fawn got scared and dug it hooves into the babies forehead. They frantically drove to a hospital in Jasper, where luckily the hooves hadn't penetrated the baby's skull, and was alright after a few stitches.

The idea that bears are harmless is ludicrous. Obviously, many people think this to be true the way they act around them sometimes... out taking photos at close range, etc.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

I had a geologist, working for me at one time, who on his way to Jasper with his wife and baby daughter, spotted a baby fawn along the highway. They stopped and held their baby up to the fawn, and the fawn got scared and dug it hooves into the babies forehead. They frantically drove to a hospital in Jasper, where luckily the hooves hadn't penetrated the baby's skull, and was alright after a few stitches.

Lol wut?

Their first instinct after encountering a wild animal was to hold their newborn baby up to it?

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

I watched a TV documentary about this fellow a while ago. IIRC he acted as a mother for orphaned cubs and would take them out teaching them to fish, etc. He would also teach them to avoid older males as they could kill the cubs so I wouldn't say all bears aren't dangerous but he understood which ones and which situations to avoid.

So basically, bears are huge jerks unless they need something from you.

[Royle9]

I'm not so sure whats bad about the Timothy Treadwell documentary? Besides the fact the guy had lost his sense of reality, it was pretty much on point with what you'd expect for a "bear" flick. Probably the only one of its kind (raw & unedited)

At the end of the day the animals are wild and unpredictable no matter what anyone says they all have their own "threshold" between friendly and death. It's just sad when these animals are put down for mauling a stupid tourist who decided it was a good idea to leave their vehicle to peruse a better photo.

I don't know how many times between here and Lake Louise I've seen a tour bus filled with Asian tourists pulled over, all piling off the bus to gawk at a wild bear down in the ditch or at the tree line

[flamesfever]

Originally Posted by blankall

Lol wut?

Their first instinct after encountering a wild animal was to hold their newborn baby up to it?

Yes, a true story. I think some misguided people must associate bears with Yogi Bear, and baby deer with Bambi. The geologist and his wife had recently emigrated from some East European country (I think Hungary), and obvously not used to our wild animals.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Chingas

This movie/documentary is so bad that we used to hype it up and put our friends onto it, just to waste 2 hours of their life.

What's wrong with it?

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

Yes, a true story. I think some misguided people must associate bears with Yogi Bear, and baby deer with Bambi. The geologist and his wife had recently emigrated from some East European country (I think Hungary), and obvously not used to our wild animals.

Wow, that's the dumbest thing I have ever heard someone do.

[GP_Matt]

Our crews run into bears pretty well daily in the summer up here and have never had an incident.

Well that isn't entirely true. A few years ago we had a crew working on a seismic line. They had their equipment in one spot and walked up the line 100 m to look for a pin.A grizzly bear crossed the line in front of them and stopped, stood up and waved its head back and forth smelling them. They froze for a minute and then heard a noise behind them. When they turned around they saw a second grizzly bear dragging their lunch filled backpack into the woods.

[TheGrimm]

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

Our crews run into bears pretty well daily in the summer up here and have never had an incident.

Well that isn't entirely true. A few years ago we had a crew working on a seismic line. They had their equipment in one spot and walked up the line 100 m to look for a pin.A grizzly bear crossed the line in front of them and stopped, stood up and waved its head back and forth smelling them. They froze for a minute and then heard a noise behind them. When they turned around they saw a second grizzly bear dragging their lunch filled backpack into the woods.

HELLO pic-i-nic basket!

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by blankall

So basically, bears are huge jerks unless they need something from you.

Pretty much, I'm just relating what the documentary was about. I wouldn't put myself into that situation.

I once wrote here on CP that I'd shoot a bear if I was armed and the bear attacked and I got endless flack from the animal lovers on here. The argument went that I was invading their territory, so the bear could do whatever it wanted. Cowperson interpreted it as me walking down the main street of Banff with my rifle, looking for prey.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Royle9

It's just sad when these animals are put down for mauling a stupid tourist who decided it was a good idea to leave their vehicle to peruse a better photo.

Doesn't this helps build an evolutionary fear of people into these animals?

I don't think they kill endangered species for this do they?

By the way, I'm not defending the tourists in anyway. I have seen people do some stupid #### before.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by polak

Doesn't this helps build an evolutionary fear of people into these animals?

I don't think they kill endangered species for this do they?

By the way, I'm not defending the tourists in anyway. I have seen people do some stupid #### before.

Not at all.. these animals die because humans are irresponsible and they put themselves in harms way.

Any animal who has mauled/maimed or killed a pet/human is then hunted and "removed" as they now have a taste for humans and will likely view them as food in the future which puts the public at danger. So I suppose yes.. they would do it to any species.

Grizzly Bears might as well be endangered, were losing more and more every year to stupid #### like this. As cliche as it sounds, were invading their space & its our responsibility to make sure we respect that in every way possible.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Not at all.. these animals die because humans are irresponsible and they put themselves in harms way.

Any animal who has mauled/maimed or killed a pet/human is then hunted and "removed" as they now have a taste for humans and will likely view them as food in the future which puts the public at danger. So I suppose yes.. they would do it to any species.

Grizzly Bears might as well be endangered, were losing more and more every year to stupid #### like this. As cliche as it sounds, were invading their space & its our responsibility to make sure we respect that in every way possible.

We have just as much right to the wilderness as they do, so no, we're not invading it. If they come by humans they should be killed. I'd rather a bear die than a human.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Sliver

We have just as much right to the wilderness as they do, so no, we're not invading it. If they come by humans they should be killed. I'd rather a bear die than a human.

While I agree with this in general.

We do need to have some respect for their natural habitiats.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Sliver

We have just as much right to the wilderness as they do, so no, we're not invading it. If they come by humans they should be killed. I'd rather a bear die than a human.

You'd love Europe. They slaughtered all their animals centuries ago.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by habernac

You'd love Europe. They slaughtered all their animals centuries ago.

Originally Posted by Sliver

We have just as much right to the wilderness as they do, so no, we're not invading it. If they come by humans they should be killed. I'd rather a bear die than a human.

[hayduke's dad]

In Red Lake Ontario we just need to teach them to drive so they can use the Tim Horton's Drive Thru



http://www.everycup.ca/mediasearch?q=red+lake+bear


sorry can't get image to load

[GP_Matt]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Not at all.. these animals die because humans are irresponsible and they put themselves in harms way.

Any animal who has mauled/maimed or killed a pet/human is then hunted and "removed" as they now have a taste for humans and will likely view them as food in the future which puts the public at danger. So I suppose yes.. they would do it to any species.

Grizzly Bears might as well be endangered, were losing more and more every year to stupid #### like this. As cliche as it sounds, were invading their space & its our responsibility to make sure we respect that in every way possible.

Removed isn't always a euphemism for killed. Most of the time they just remove them from their habitat near people and send them to some place up north. Chinchaga Wildland Provincial Park is full of bears who have been "removed". Willmore gets their share as well.

[Reaper]

So basically we're turning Chinchaga Wildland Provincial Park into Canada's "Bear Australia."