Bears- experiences and stratgeies

[swjohnsey]

Make sure you pee on your tent.

[maybe clem]

This is good advice for grizzly country, but it is almost unheard of for startled black bears to attack. It's in their nature to run away first and ask questions later.

I nearly collided with black bears in the A.T. twice. Once a cub ran into the trail out of tall brush about three feet in front of me. I was walking at a good clip and nearly stepped on the cub, who took one look at me and bolted into the brush on the other side, calling for mom, who emerged moments later and also looked at me but decided to run after her cub. The second time I came around a bend and nearly bumped into a large adult bear. A startled bear can react in any way. I was fortunate they chose flight instead of fight.

I'm not suggesting anyone wear those dumb bells, just don't walk in silence all day.

[hoppy from GA]

I like to sing "Country Roads" by John Denver when walking through berry patches in the spring. Of course, my singing would probably scare humans, too!

[shelb]

When hiking with my boys, I saw fewer bears due to the constant chatter of my teens!

[perdidochas]

Again, coexisting can be defined differently by different people. I CHOOSE to define COEXISTING as HONORING and RESPECTING ALL BEINGS, including bears! That definition is shared by a GREAT MANY others who chose to COEXIST or have bumper stickers like this. It does not necessarily mean I need to sleep in a bear's den or feed bears or wrestle with them. I don't need to pick up venomous snakes in order to prove that I can coexist with them either. I don't have to think of bears as my personal pets or cute huggable stuffed animals either. I HONOR and RESPECT their lives in my own way by CHOOSING to understand how my human behavior affects bear behavior. I CHOOSE to adjust my human behavior when around bears - Black, Brown, Polar, Kodiak, Panda, etc

Can you see that distinction by seeing the relationship that indigenous cultures such as the North American Native Indians shared with nature and generally with one another? Even when they took the life of an animal they generally still HONORED and RESPECTED the life of that animal. They often even did this when confronting other Indian warring tribes. We are losing much of that HONOR and RESPECT for nature and all beings when we JUST THINK AND BEHAVE IN A LIMITED HUMAN CENTRIC WAY. Ask yourself, WHERE DOES THAT LIMITED HUMAN CENTRIC THINKING EVENTUALLY LEAD?

Here are some quotes by someone who knows the answers. Seattle Washington is named after him. CAREFULLY read and please CONSIDER the first three quotes in relation to humans and bears.

Quotes by Chief Seattle:

“What is man without the beasts If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.”

"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”
“... the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony and man all belong to the same family.... The White Man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers.”

“We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on.”

“Whatever befalls the earth befalls the son of the earth."

"... the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.”

“There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect's wings. But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand. The clatter only seems to insult the ears."

“How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.”

These quotes, and their contained wisdom, bring tears to my eyes and an ache to my heart, in light of some human behavior. I can start changing limiting human behavior by starting with my own behavior! How about you?

Chief Seattle's speech was not given. It was made up in the 1970s for a movie.

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/seattle.asp

[treesloth]

Chief Seattle's speech was not given. It was made up in the 1970s for a movie.

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/seattle.asp

Are these words less significant to you as a result? Just curious.

[The Old Chief]

Are these words less significant to you as a result? Just curious.

These words were written by a professional screenwriter for a 1971 or 1972 movie entitled Home. I assume that the movie was made to make money and to take advantage of a lot of the theories of that day that the Earth was doomed and devastation was just a few years away. So these words, written by a paid professional are not very significant to me. Here are some of those predictions from the 1970 Earth Day:
http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/jon...earth-day-1970

[Dogwood]

NO, NO, NO that was NOT A SPEECH I posted but many different quotes that had been accumulated and credited to Chief Seattle over MANY YEARS BY MANY DIFFERENT SOURCES!

[Dogwood]

Make sure you pee on your tent.

Well, that didn't work for Pi when he peed on the canvas boat cover. The Bengal Tiger(Richard Johnson) peed on Pi!

[Dogwood]

I took those quotes, mostly individually, from many different websites and amassed them for your viewing pleasure. I would hope, NO MATTER who said them, some insight would be gained! THAT IS THE BIG PICTURE!

[perdidochas]

Are these words less significant to you as a result? Just curious.

Yes. They are simply 1970s pop ecology.

[WingedMonkey]

These words were written by a professional screenwriter for a 1971 or 1972 movie entitled Home. I assume that the movie was made to make money and to take advantage of a lot of the theories of that day that the Earth was doomed and devastation was just a few years away. So these words, written by a paid professional are not very significant to me. Here are some of those predictions from the 1970 Earth Day:
http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/jon...earth-day-1970

If we had stayed on the path we were on in the '70's, a lot of that might have come true. I know that even here in Florida we have reversed many of out largest blunders (at great cost). Some change was necessary.

But really? We are going to discuss the environment and a Koch brothers founded organization press blog at the same time?

That's great science too.

[The Old Chief]

If we had stayed on the path we were on in the '70's, a lot of that might have come true. I know that even here in Florida we have reversed many of out largest blunders (at great cost). Some change was necessary.

But really? We are going to discuss the environment and a Koch brothers founded organization press blog at the same time?

That's great science too.

Gee, I don't really know a whole lot about the Koch brothers, but this same material is readily available from many, many websites, including Wikipedia. Sorry, I didn't choose the right one for you. Doesn't change the fact that the quotes from Chief Seattle were made up by a paid professional writer. They might be great quotes but then again, if he was paid by somebody like the Koch brothers who knows?

[The Old Chief]

I took those quotes, mostly individually, from many different websites and amassed them for your viewing pleasure. I would hope, NO MATTER who said them, some insight would be gained! THAT IS THE BIG PICTURE!

Most people, including me, don't give much credence to anything that is presented falsely. None of those quotes can be attributed to the Chief. There's only one speech credited to him from which any quotes could be pulled and those quotes simply aren't there. I might have something important to say someday, but when I do I won't attribute it to someone who's been dead for over a 100 years.

http://www.synaptic.bc.ca/ejournal/muhisind.htm

[Dogwood]

Most people, including me, don't give much credence to anything that is presented falsely. None of those quotes can be attributed to the Chief. There's only one speech credited to him from which any quotes could be pulled and those quotes simply aren't there. I might have something important to say someday, but when I do I won't attribute it to someone who's been dead for over a 100 years.

http://www.synaptic.bc.ca/ejournal/muhisind.htm

Are you telling me that Jesus really didn't say all those things accredited to him because their written in red?

[Dogwood]

Yes. They are simply 1970s pop ecology.

AGAIN, you miss the BIG picture! The way you describe these quotes, NO MATTER WHO SAID THEM, you miss the pts there in contained! All you are concerned with is debating their origin. I didn't know 1970's pop ecology, EVEN IF that's what you believe these quotes are, could be so insignificant. You make it sound like these ideas aren't credible but then again you don't embrace much less understand these ideas. The ideas contained in these quotes accredited to Chief Seattle were and are shared by many people including poets, philosophers, statesman, adventurers, environmentalists, Presidents, world leaders, peoples of other cultures, etc. I guess all the other people I have quoted here on WB that shared similar ideas, and many others who I could additionally quote, should also be dismissed because you don't share these ideas or even wish to attempt to understand them?

[The Old Chief]

Are you telling me that Jesus really didn't say all those things accredited to him because their written in red?

This is not the forum for religious debate. You should be ashamed of yourself for trying to use this tactic to strengthen a weak arguement. In just about any situation I know of when you present something as fact (like Chief Seattle's quotes) and they are proven to be fabrications written by someone else you've lost the debate.

[The Old Chief]

AGAIN, you miss the BIG picture! The way you describe these quotes, NO MATTER WHO SAID THEM, you miss the pts there in contained! All you are concerned with is debating their origin. I didn't know 1970's pop ecology, EVEN IF that's what you believe these quotes are, could be so insignificant. You make it sound like these ideas aren't credible but then again you don't embrace much less understand these ideas. The ideas contained in these quotes accredited to Chief Seattle were and are shared by many people including poets, philosophers, statesman, adventurers, environmentalists, Presidents, world leaders, peoples of other cultures, etc. I guess all the other people I have quoted here on WB that shared similar ideas, and many others who I could additionally quote, should also be dismissed because you don't share these ideas or even wish to attempt to understand them?

These quotes, falsely accredited to Chief Seattle, are also not shared by many people including poets, philosophers, statesmen, adventurers, environmentalists, Presidents, world leaders, peoples of others cultures, etc. People disagree about these things every day, and will do so long after I'm gone.

[perdidochas]

AGAIN, you miss the BIG picture! The way you describe these quotes, NO MATTER WHO SAID THEM, you miss the pts there in contained! All you are concerned with is debating their origin. I didn't know 1970's pop ecology, EVEN IF that's what you believe these quotes are, could be so insignificant. You make it sound like these ideas aren't credible but then again you don't embrace much less understand these ideas. The ideas contained in these quotes accredited to Chief Seattle were and are shared by many people including poets, philosophers, statesman, adventurers, environmentalists, Presidents, world leaders, peoples of other cultures, etc. I guess all the other people I have quoted here on WB that shared similar ideas, and many others who I could additionally quote, should also be dismissed because you don't share these ideas or even wish to attempt to understand them?

I don't like fraud. It does take away from the ideas. I'm also firmly for the idea of private property, which some quotes rail against.

[Dogwood]

"Lighten up Francis." The Old Chief, NOT about religion AT ALL. Please, DO NOT misquote me or twist what I stated! I said NOTHING to this effect: "these quotes, falsely accredited to Chief Seattle, are also not shared by many people including poets, philosophers, statesmen, adventurers, environmentalists, Presidents, world leaders, peoples of others cultures, etc." I said, "*The ideas contained in these quotes* accredited to Chief Seattle were and are shared by many people including poets,....."

Pedidochas, I don't like fraud either. Many quotes are credited to individuals that have not been positively verified. THAT DOES NOT HAVE TO TAKE AWAY FROM THE POSSIBLE INSIGHT IN THE QUOTE THOUGH! Don't you get that? Treesloth and Winged Monkey seem to be able to do that! Can't you give ANY credence to the CONTENT in these quotes IF it is as you say - you are interested in the ideas and the content? If those are not Chief Seattle's quotes, I will not debate that. This is not the high school debate club. I was not hanging on Chief Seattle's every word when he was alive.

This is a bear strategies and experiences thread started in the STRAIGHT FORWARD forum. PLEASE, let's primarily focus on that! I was sharing the idea that things can be connected in ways we as humans do not fully understand. Indeed, it is a belief, that some may define as religious in nature - that ALL LIFE, including a bear's life, has VALUE, even outside of immediate human desires and needs! None the less, this belief CAN BE RELEVANT to the thread topic! *The point I was making is what we do as humans, or how we behave as humans, impacts BEAR BEHAVIOR AND HENCE BEAR/HUMAN ENCOUNTERS!* Things are more connected than humans sometimes currently recognize! These ideas(beliefs) are shared by a great many people!