My bear encounter (not for the weak)

[Lise]

Come to think of it, I'm really impressed that the cake even made it to the oven. I probably would've eaten the whole thing in batter form at that point! How're you feeling now that a few days have passed?

[donnambr]

Have you seen the docu of the guy and his GF who were eaten by bears up there? Timothy Treadwell, I believe. I have not seen the film, but have read several articles about him. He actually lived out there in the bear fields 'studying' the bears and thought that they wouldn't hurt him....nuts. There is an actual voice recording of him getting eaten--gross.

The coroner in that docu is my coworker's dad.

CWR - so glad you lived to tell the tale. On another note, the only thing that offends me about your hunting is that you don't live close enough for me to trade you some great vegetables for some venison. Yum, venison.

[RoadRaven]

Saw that Timothy Treadwill - the doco that was released as a feature in the cinema and the 1 hour one made afterwards. That guy certainly loved animals, but he had no respect for them and seemed to lose his grip on reality the further in the filming/time frame (ie, the closer he got to being dead).

DonnaMBR, that coroner acquiited himself well and made sense as he spoke. it was good to have a few people like that in the progs that had their heads screwed on sensibly!

And Chick... how come you were in the woods with a shotgun? Or did you have solids loaded? I would not go somewhere like that without a high calibre rifle... yup, I hunt too, though only deer, possums and rabbits - hunting is about conservation in this little country.

Besides, nothing big and dangerous to be worried about here. The most dangerous thing you'd find in our bush and forests are stags or wild pigs!

[lph]

The most dangerous thing you'd find in our bush and forests are stags or wild pigs!

Read the whole amazing story above but just had to add, when I saw wild pigs mentioned... I don't know if these are the same as your wild pigs, but anywhoo:

Every once in a while conversation at work gets around to animals in the road, more specifically hitting animals, usually moose in this part of the world. And when it does a cycling buddy of mine has the ultimate Animal Hit by Car story. When she was a student in Belgium, a couple she knew sneak-borrowed his parents car one evening while parents were away. They were driving on a dark road through some thick forest when they hit, and killed a large wild pig, making a sizeable dent in the car. They knew parents would be furious, and probably wouldn't even believe that the pig caused the dent, so they decided to put the dead pig in the trunk and take it back as evidence.

Ten minutes later a steady thumping starts from the trunk. Sure enough, pig isn't dead, but alive, injured and pissed off. They stop the car, too scared to carry on, and call a ranger/wildlife guy. As they stand and watch, pig bursts *through* the back seat and starts tearing around the inside of the car. Ranger guy arrives, and decides that the best way to solve the situation is to shoot the pig. From the outside.

The story doesn't tell exactly how the parents reacted when they got their car back.

[chickwhorips]

cheri never thought about submitting the story. maybe i should. woudn't that be great. but the ending should be "i had to survive for all the girls at TE!"

donnambr no deer here, but we do have caribou. even better, but definatly not as smart. they run twards the sound of a gun, not away.

lise i'm doing ok. thanks for asking. i've had to drive out that way a few times for work and i always look at the island to see if the land lord is home. and besides from my (almost) hypothermia incident today where i had to crawl into a gumby suite, life seems good. i'm going back out tomorrow to conquer the bering sea so that doesn't beat me either.

roadraven we weren't in the woods (no trees here, just tundra) but we did have slugs (3 inch 1 3/8 oz), they were in the bag. didn't expect to stand up and see a bear, no time to grab bags because he was headed right for us. just had bird shot on us at that point in time. usually when we are hiking in anywhere we have 3 slugs loaded and 2 more back up.

little tid bit (not to scare just to inform) black bears stalk their prey (including humans) so if ever attacked by a black bear fight like h*ll. grizzly bears don't stalk, so play dead.

[latelatebloomer]

You're standing up to 12-foot grizzlies and conquering the Bering Sea.... Time to re-evaluate my life goals ! (The closest I've gotten to Alaska is bearing a resemblance to Elaine Miles -Marilyn in Northern Exposure.) Chickwhorips, since I don't have a tv, you can be my adventure channel, ok?

[Kitsune06]

OK, Seriously, woman, you HAVE to admit that 3" magnum slugs out of a 20g are close to a 12g with bird shot. The fact that Ron was shooting that over his shoulder FLOORS me. He must have arms of steel.

I think you're putting us on. You *must* be made of steel or something like that. One tough cookie. Geez.

Can I help co-write your biography?

[chickwhorips]

since I don't have a tv, you can be my adventure channel, ok?

as long as you don't mind not seeing any pictures. the camra never seems to be around in this situation. though everyone today had to get a picture of me in a gumby suit so i'm sure i'll get one of those eventually. i must've looked pretty pathetic for everyone to want a picture.

[RoadRaven]

so you were prepared to face the bear with bird shot...

damn glad you got away ok!

lph - that is one funny story - I'd love to know what the parents said when the car was returned!!!

[Bad JuJu]

as long as you don't mind not seeing any pictures. the camra never seems to be around in this situation. though everyone today had to get a picture of me in a gumby suit so i'm sure i'll get one of those eventually. i must've looked pretty pathetic for everyone to want a picture.

Though I haven't commented yet, I found your story riveting, CWR! So glad to hear that you were able to save yourselves, and not have a total meltdown afterwards. But now I have a question--what in the world is a Gumby suit?

[Lise]

Great story, lph. Have you ever seen Tommy Boy? Similar, though less exciting scene! Very funny movie with Chris Farley and David Spade.

CWR, I love that you call the bear the "landlord". Man. Now I'm sitting here at my computer in Chicago, memorizing, "Fight a black bear. Play dead with a grizzley. Fight a black bear..." If this situation comes up anytime in my near future, we'll know the apocalypse is at hand. But you never know! Thank you for that info.

You really do have a most remarkable life. When I pick up your autobiography, years from now, and am reading this story that seems sort of familiar, and you mention TE, I'll cry out, "OMG! It's CWR!"

[weathergal]

Wow, CWR, glad you're okay. Hopefully you're sleeping better by now. I don't think I would have been able to get through an experience like that without having to change my underwear.

[DrBee]

Catching up from a long weekend away from TE...

Wow CWR! That's quite a little adventure you had there! I'm glad to hear you came out of it unscathed.

[chickwhorips]

OK, Seriously, woman, you HAVE to admit that 3" magnum slugs out of a 20g are close to a 12g with bird shot. The fact that Ron was shooting that over his shoulder FLOORS me. He must have arms of steel.

I think you're putting us on. You *must* be made of steel or something like that. One tough cookie. Geez.

Can I help co-write your biography?

actually the 3" slugs are for the 12g they do make 20g slugs, but don't have any. think i'll be investing in some though. ron wasn't shooting over his shoulder. we were both staring right into his BIG fuzzy face, but he still does have arms of steel.

na i'm not made of steel, just hard headed.

your more than welcome to help with the biography. i like the way you write.

[chickwhorips]

a gumby suite is an immersion suit that you can be in the freezing water and still have a chance at surviving. usually carried on ships and us coast guard have them also.

here is my friend ty in the gumby suite he found washed up on the beach. he had a little bit of fun with it that day.