[Mamzelle]

Open bear season and offer bounties!!

I am so NOT sentimental about bears.

[budwiesest]

Wildlife biologists would not recommend sticking a grizzly with a pitchfork...

"I agree."....Patrick J. Buchannon

[ozzymandus]

But wait! The anti-everything econuts are telling me the bears are going extinct! They would never lie, would they??

[TLI]

Some who have been hiking, running and mountain biking in the park and the adjacent Chugach State Park for decades say they see more bears and more bear sign than ever before.

But, but, uhh, global warming, right? They just put polars on the endangered species list, right? Wadda bout that photo of the drowning bear?

Wadda ya mean there are twice as many polar bears as there were in 1970?

[mamelukesabre]

I did not know black bear lived in alaska. I thought black and brown bear territories did not overlap. Black bear in the south, brown in the north.

I guess you learn something new everyday.

[tcostell]

Who would have thought Alaska and New Jersey would have something in common.

The only difference is that our state government is going to wait until they're scooping kids out of carriages before they implement a rational bear management policy.

Right now, hunting is forbidden and the government wants to focus on birth control, but according to the state biologists, they're having trouble teaching the bears to put the condoms on.

[andyandval]

[WildcatClan]

Teach them to run an oil rig and send them to ANWR.

[RightWhale]

Have a small pitchfork. Perhaps an upgrade to a long-handle pitchfork would be prudent.

[Cheetahcat]

I heard Bear roast is very good sounds like there is an overabundance of good food running around.

[maine-iac7]

Wildlife biologists would not recommend sticking a grizzly with a pitchfork...

Make a good bumper sticker...

[Dominnae]

We're a lot more dangerous to bears (in the lower 48) than they are to us. Reason being -- we (hyoomans) have an environment that's a lot more appealing to them than their own. Food, water, and other amenities.

It's true - "A fed bear is a dead bear."

When wildlife officers find a nuisance bear young enough to be "negatively conditioned" to stay away from people, trapping and releasing them elsewhere amidst pelting with paintballs or rubber slugs, noise, lights and other scary things, they may have saved the bears' life if it makes a big enough impression.

Where I live we have a 60% summer resident spike from NYC and Albany (I'm in the Berkshires, western MA) and what I see a lot on the job are "summer people" who think feeding wildlife is a kind thing to do. Sigh.

When the bears show up to raid the garbage cans or cat/dog food left out on the deck, everyone stands at the sliding glass doors with their noses pressed up against it, going "Ohhh" and "Ahhh"... and guaranteeing a death sentence for the animals who become less and less wary of people.

And just cause I like this pic --

[CommerceComet]

Black bears are fairly easily intimidated.

Okay but what happens if your particular black bear hasn't gotten the message? While not as big as a grizzly nor as heavily armed, a black bear is perfectly capable of inflicting enough damage on you to keep a team of emergency-room surgeons busy patching you up. Fatalities in black bear attacks are not unknown.

Personally, I would treat ANY bear with a lot of respect.

[Night Hides Not]

Not posted yet...one of my favorite jokes:

Bear Advisory

The Forest Service has issued a BEAR WARNING in the national forests for this summer. They're urging everyone to protect themselves by wearing bells and carrying pepper spray.

Campers should be alert for signs of fresh bear activity, and they should be able to tell the difference between Black Bear dung and Grizzy Bear dung.

Black Bear dung is rather small and round. Sometimes you can see fruit seeds and/or squirrel fur in it.

Grizzly Bear dung has bells in it, and smells like pepper spray!