Black Bear

[Mike T]

I was out sunday not seeing much so as I was walking back to my car I spot a bird that I couldn't tell what it was so I cross the road to get a better look. I waited a minute or so to see if it would come out of the bush it vanished into when out pops a bear head (pic 1). I thought it saw me because it dropped out of site into the tall grass but I didn't move. Up it came again (pic 2) it had to stand up to look over the grass. The amazing thing was when it went back down on all fours I couldn't see any grass moving to get a clue where it was going. It came out into the open ( pic 3 ) then crossed the road. I thought it would just continue up into the next field but it started to walk toward where my car was parked , it had about 50 feet to get to the car I had about 15 so I went to the car fast. I wasn't taking any chance and thought I'd be safer in my car, it still came toward the car a bit more than either saw me or smelled me ( pic 4) and turned and went back to where it came from. I've been told that the tags on this bears ears mean it has been in trouble twice before.

Mike

[CaraRose]

Oh, my... he's a beauty, Mike. Great shots!

[Loupey]

Nice images and great story, Mike!

I'm constantly amazed at how stealthy non-humans are.

I've been told that the tags on this bears ears mean it has been in trouble twice before.

And I thought it meant he has two garage door openers.

[CaraRose]

And I thought it meant he has two garage door openers.

You mean that isn't just the in fashion piercing style that's in for black bears this summer?

[Frog]

How close to civilization were you, Mike? If he's been tagged twice and gets in trouble again, he'll probably be put down.
When they catch bears around here, they take them remote and when releasing them, shoot them with bean bags, set off firecrackers, and what not to try to make the bear afraid of humans so he won't get in trouble again. A month of so ago there was one spotted in Seattle in a classy residential neighborhood right at the edge of downtown.
And I've spent a lot of time in the forests and have yet to see a wild bear though I've been close judging by sign I've seen.
Nice shots by the way.

[CaraRose]

I've seen bears only twice, both times in Yellowstone. One was at Tower Falls (if you haven't been, that's the one that's so crowded they built a huge parking lot and gift store at the top of the trail). The bear literally parted a huge crowd of people. He came down the mountain side, walked between the crowd that was backing away from him in all directions, ducked under the railing, and continued on his way.

The other was the next year, by Roosevelt lodge. Just a young bear eating some grass. Rangers had to keep guard since people run towards the bears with cameras in Yellowstone.

I know there's a population of black bears in the Ozarks and Ouachitas. My grandma lives in Hot Springs Village in AR, and there's been several incidents with bears needing to be removed from the village over the last 5 years or so.

We don't have any in IL... although we also weren't supposed to have any cougars here either until one was shot in Chicago a year or two ago.

[WesternGuy]

mike, it is my experience that the implication of ear tags differ depending on where you are. In some parks, the tags simply means that the bear has been fitted with a radio-collar so that its activities can be traced. Here in our Rocky Mountain parks, bears that run into people too often, are anesthitized (sp) and transported to a remote area of the park, far, far away from human activities. Unfortunately if they return, they are often put down, because they are deemed to be a danger to human life. (So sad, because often we create the conditions that make them a danger)

WesternGuy

[paulnj]

Mikle that bear appears to be in the 150-200lb range at best and is very well a young male looking for a home territory. The tags are not familiar to me, as most are orange and numbered in northern NJ. That could be a bear they are studying to see where it ends up and has obviously been relocated before.

They do not kill too many bears in NJ unless they do major damage multiple times or chase / attack humans. This one would have ran like the wind had you screamed at it.

A FED BEAR IS A DEAD BEAR :mad2: