Bears repeating

I’ve been rambling around Alaska this summer. A few mornings ago, not far from Seward, I awoke to nature’s call. As I was waiting for the relief to come from the release of fluid that had so urgently awakened me, a black bear walked out of the brush 20 feet away from me. It gave me a side glance without much consideration and crossed the clearing where I was camped and into the brush on the other side. A few seconds later I hear a car horn blaring and an instant later the bear comes racing back the other direction. I was regretting that I hadn’t managed to get a photo of the bear and started breaking camp. A few minutes later I turned to see the bear crossing the road a hundred yards behind me. That moment drove home something Carl, our forum’s own Walkinman had said about animal habituation to humans, “There aren’t any animals that aren’t habituated to humans.”

Arkoudaphobia is common but of course incredibly irrational; some folks will think incessantly about brutish bruins but give no care about driving 80 MPH to trailheads.

Should be pretty safe from bears, riding his pony on his boat.

Here's a great video of a man fighting off a bear while climbing in Japan;

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxJ-zAgJzt4

The person who posted this seems to have a pretty level-headed response to the whole situation, but I did love this line in his comments:

"I always have a bear bell,but I mute it when descending rocks because it is noisy."

Wow. Terrifying.