The short version: driving back from a day in the country (Oro county, just north of Barrie, Ontario) we turned onto a paved road when suddenly a bear loped out of the bush and right in front of our car.
My wife was driving - she hit the breaks and that bear took off across the road like it had a firecracker up its ass.
We came very close to plowing into it, and god knows what kind of damage hitting a full-sized bear would do to the car. Scared us. Sure as hell scared that bear.
Anyway, it's the first time I've seen a bear that far south. They are getting much more common in southern Ontario - my dad sees them all the time in Oro county.
Well, if he wasn't wearing his rainbow shirt, he would have blended in with the wildlife.
Quote from: PDH on June 27, 2009, 09:42:08 PM
Well, if he wasn't wearing his rainbow shirt, he would have blended in with the wildlife.
I think you mean "blended in with everyday americans."
That's freaky, Malthus. Glad both you all went unharmed.
Yikes, sounds scary. Was Carl in the car with you?
An actual bear?
Languish as skewed me I was expecting a fat hairy gay man. :lol:
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 27, 2009, 10:14:01 PM
Languish as skewed me I was expecting a fat hairy gay man. :lol:
:lol:
Quote from: Malthus on June 27, 2009, 09:30:32 PM
We came very close to plowing into it, and god knows what kind of damage hitting a full-sized bear would do to the car. Scared us. Sure as hell scared that bear.
:lol:
My parents were camping up in Maine one year, and a bear ran out of the woods and plowed into the side of their van, dented the shit out of it.
They and the rest of the traffic stopped, and there was the bear, sitting in the middle of the road with little vans circling his head, damned near knocked the fuck out. Took him about 5 minutes to get his shit straight, and was on his way.
I almost hit a deer about a year ago driving home from an after-work party. Damn vermin :mad:
Princesca's cousin did hit a deer a while back. Once he got home it occurred to him that he could butcher it (he hit it with a glancing blow and only its neck was broken), so he drove back to the accident site but someone else had already collected it. :(
Quote from: jimmy olsen on June 27, 2009, 10:07:32 PM
Yikes, sounds scary. Was Carl in the car with you?
Yup, and his 4 year old cousin. Neither was all that impressed by seeing an actual bear in the wild. They would be if they were a bit older I think.
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 27, 2009, 10:14:01 PM
An actual bear?
Languish as skewed me I was expecting a fat hairy gay man. :lol:
Well, it was fat and hairy all right. Couldn't make a guess as to its orientation. :D
Quote from: CountDeMoney on June 27, 2009, 10:29:20 PM
Quote from: Malthus on June 27, 2009, 09:30:32 PM
We came very close to plowing into it, and god knows what kind of damage hitting a full-sized bear would do to the car. Scared us. Sure as hell scared that bear.
:lol:
My parents were camping up in Maine one year, and a bear ran out of the woods and plowed into the side of their van, dented the shit out of it.
They and the rest of the traffic stopped, and there was the bear, sitting in the middle of the road with little vans circling his head, damned near knocked the fuck out. Took him about 5 minutes to get his shit straight, and was on his way.
:lol:
The fuckers definitely do not always look both ways.
Quote from: Caliga on June 28, 2009, 06:53:43 AM
Princesca's cousin did hit a deer a while back. Once he got home it occurred to him that he could butcher it (he hit it with a glancing blow and only its neck was broken), so he drove back to the accident site but someone else had already collected it. :(
Hyuk hyuk!
Quote from: Malthus on June 27, 2009, 09:30:32 PM
and god knows what kind of damage hitting a full-sized bear would do to the car. Scared us. Sure as hell scared that bear.
More than a deer. Your average black bear is about 3-4 times more massive than a deer, and solidly constructed. The relatively low centre of mass on a bear on the move would work to your advantage, as the engine compartment of your vehicle would absorb a lot of the energy, and cars these days are built to crush the front on impact anyways. Deer, on the other hand, can fall onto the hood and bounce into the compartment. However, it'd be much less dangerous than a moose, who is not only twice as massive, but constructed in such a way as to fall down through your windshield or the roof of the car.
Depending on how you hit it, you'd almost certainly total your car. However, thanks to the safety features of a modern car, you might be able to escape with minor injuries. Of course, it's always hard to tell with car crashes. If you're going to hit an animal, it's best to make it something like a weasel or a mouse.
Quote from: Malthus on June 28, 2009, 09:31:32 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on June 27, 2009, 10:07:32 PM
Yikes, sounds scary. Was Carl in the car with you?
Yup, and his 4 year old cousin. Neither was all that impressed by seeing an actual bear in the wild. They would be if they were a bit older I think.
Friends drove from Calgary to Vancouver and saw, like, close to a dozen bears. And bald eagles.
Quote from: garbon on June 27, 2009, 09:45:48 PM
I think you mean "blended in with everyday americans."
I meant what I said...though it is the same thing, really.
I've almost hit deer. They are plentiful in these parts. Usually dont see bears in the road. Backyards yes. Roads no.
Good thing he didn't give you his Care Bear Stare.
I've hit a deer...in a U-Haul...fun.
Had a friend hit a pig one time, that caused some major damage...I understand hitting a bison is not good...
Quote from: PDH on June 28, 2009, 11:51:43 AM
I've hit a deer...in a U-Haul...fun.
Had a friend hit a pig one time, that caused some major damage...I understand hitting a bison is not good...
And they don't like Spaniards.
QuoteAssociated Press - June 24, 2009 7:55 PM ET
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WYO. (AP) - A 50-year-old woman from Spain was butted and tossed in the air Wednesday by a bull bison in Yellowstone National Park.
Park officials say it happened about 11:25 a.m. as the woman and her husband were using a pay phone at the Canyon visitor area.
Witnesses said two bull bison walked down the road, passing within 20 feet of the couple, who were facing away from the road and did not see the bison. 1 of the bison left the road, walked up behind the woman and butted her into the air.
Other visitors took the injured woman to the front desk at Canyon Lodge. She was then taken by ambulance to the Lake Clinic, where she was treated for minor injuries and released.
Park officials did not identify the woman or say where in Spain she was from.
Nobody much likes Spaniards, what with the whole surrendering to Al Qaeda thing.
True story. When I was living in Cody, to the East of Yellowstone, a tourist thought a picture with a bison would be cool. What do you know, there were some rolling in the dirt! So he walked up to the largest, stood there to get his picture, and then decided that he wanted another with it standing, so he threw rocks at it until it stood...
Then it did the head-turn, horn-dig, toss him by his thigh into the air to teach him that bison don't like that. He was medivaced to Salt Lake, then served with papers for disturbing the wildlife.
I don't know if he was a Spaniard.
Quote from: PDH on June 28, 2009, 01:28:02 PM
True story. When I was living in Cody, to the East of Yellowstone, a tourist thought a picture with a bison would be cool. What do you know, there were some rolling in the dirt! So he walked up to the largest, stood there to get his picture, and then decided that he wanted another with it standing, so he threw rocks at it until it stood...
Then it did the head-turn, horn-dig, toss him by his thigh into the air to teach him that bison don't like that. He was medivaced to Salt Lake, then served with papers for disturbing the wildlife.
I don't know if he was a Spaniard.
HOpefully he was rendered into condition for a Darwin Award to apply. Reminds me of the one with the mother coating her kids hands with honey so a bear would lick them, making for a CUTE pictures.
Quote from: Syt on June 28, 2009, 11:30:07 AM
Quote from: Malthus on June 28, 2009, 09:31:32 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on June 27, 2009, 10:07:32 PM
Yikes, sounds scary. Was Carl in the car with you?
Yup, and his 4 year old cousin. Neither was all that impressed by seeing an actual bear in the wild. They would be if they were a bit older I think.
Friends drove from Calgary to Vancouver and saw, like, close to a dozen bears. And bald eagles.
It all depends on where you are. Bears are normal enough further north (you can go to the town dumb and see as many as you like) but used to be very unusual that far south, so close to Barrie and Toronto.
Quote from: Malthus on June 28, 2009, 01:59:55 PM
(you can go to the town dumb and see as many as you like)
In Edmonton, the town dumb is the city council.
There are lots of cattle sitting on rural roads in Hong Kong. Farmers used to keep cattle to help with the work decades ago. They let the cattle run wild after they no longer need them. So they continue to multiply to this day. They love roads because the surface is warmer.
Quote from: Monoriu on June 28, 2009, 08:49:55 PM
There are lots of cattle sitting on rural roads in Hong Kong. Farmers used to keep cattle to help with the work decades ago. They let the cattle run wild after they no longer need them. So they continue to multiply to this day. They love roads because the surface is warmer.
And there's no natural predators to take care of the cattle, because the Chinamen have eaten all of their penises.
Quote from: Neil on June 28, 2009, 09:06:47 PM
Quote from: Monoriu on June 28, 2009, 08:49:55 PM
There are lots of cattle sitting on rural roads in Hong Kong. Farmers used to keep cattle to help with the work decades ago. They let the cattle run wild after they no longer need them. So they continue to multiply to this day. They love roads because the surface is warmer.
And there's no natural predators to take care of the cattle, because the Chinamen have eaten all of their penises.
Whose penises? The cattle's or the Chinamen's?
Quote from: Monoriu on June 28, 2009, 08:49:55 PM
There are lots of cattle sitting on rural roads in Hong Kong. Farmers used to keep cattle to help with the work decades ago. They let the cattle run wild after they no longer need them. So they continue to multiply to this day. They love roads because the surface is warmer.
Heh...there used to be some "holdouts" in the middle of San Antonio where the owners had cattle and such....they kept them fenced up though, of course. I remember one night fairly soon after high school (so...'99 or so, I guess), the fence on one of these properties was cut somehow, probably some kids, and the cattle wandered out onto the road. After nearly plowing into a group of cows at 50mph in my tiny little MX-3, I ended up having to wait for about 15 minutes for them to move. They just don't care if you honk or yell at them or anything. If they don't want to move, they wont.
The last of these properties that I know of sold only a couple of months ago. Right next to the South Texas Medical Center, these people had cows and horses and shit running around within sight of a couple of major roads (by "within sight," I mean the fence was only separated from the road by a curb), and probably 50 yards from a major highway (IH-10). Now it's been cleared to be another strip mall. <_<
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on June 28, 2009, 01:46:53 PMHOpefully he was rendered into condition for a Darwin Award to apply. Reminds me of the one with the mother coating her kids hands with honey so a bear would lick them, making for a CUTE pictures.
My grandparents used to go to Yellowstone back in the 70s, they used to see parents giving their children food to feed the bears with all time. It really did make for cool pictures. Not as cool as they could have been though.
Quote from: sbr on June 28, 2009, 09:45:55 PM
Quote from: Neil on June 28, 2009, 09:06:47 PM
Quote from: Monoriu on June 28, 2009, 08:49:55 PM
There are lots of cattle sitting on rural roads in Hong Kong. Farmers used to keep cattle to help with the work decades ago. They let the cattle run wild after they no longer need them. So they continue to multiply to this day. They love roads because the surface is warmer.
And there's no natural predators to take care of the cattle, because the Chinamen have eaten all of their penises.
Whose penises? The cattle's or the Chinamen's?
I was thinking the predators. Then again, it could be that Chinamen aren't too choosy about the kinds of penis they'll eat.
Whoah Malthus, so many bears - that's becoming an unbearable situation! Glad you all weren't hurt though; that could have been pretty dangerous.
Quote from: KRonn on June 29, 2009, 07:48:56 AM
Whoah Malthus, so many bears - that's becoming an unbearable situation! Glad you all weren't hurt though; that could have been pretty dangerous.
They are getting more common - we just have to grin and bear it.
Quote from: Malthus on June 29, 2009, 08:33:38 AM
Quote from: KRonn on June 29, 2009, 07:48:56 AM
Whoah Malthus, so many bears - that's becoming an unbearable situation! Glad you all weren't hurt though; that could have been pretty dangerous.
They are getting more common - we just have to grin and bear it.
;)
It a bit early yet for the bears to come down from the local mountains. There are lots of berries up there right now to keep them well away from populated areas. But if you hike up the mountains you will be sure to either see bears or signs that they were recently on the trail.
This weekend my oldest son and I went mountain biking along a river that feeds into the north end of Indian Arm - you can only access the trail by boat. There were tonnes of berries and we passed four separate bears chowing down. This time of year, if they notice at all, they just look to make sure you dont try to take any of their berries.
In Late September and October they start coming down the mountain. If anyone leaves their trash cans out during that time of year they will be sure to find a bear in their yard eating the contents and they can also be sure that they will recieve a very irrate phone call from their neighbours. Once a bear indentifies a place as having food they will come back every day for a week or two and just hang out waiting to see if there will be more.
For the person that was talking about eagles - during salmon spawning season you can take a boat ride up to the area we were mountain biking and see hundreds of bald eagles in a stretch of river that is less then 1km, feasting on the dead and dying salmon. Lots of bears too.
@Malthus, Bears dont worry me much because they are generally smart and agile enough to get out of they way. The thing that really scare me are moose. They seem to have the mentality of a linebacker and look to get hit. Thankfully you have to travel well north of Vancouver before you encounter them.
Quote from: crazy canuck on June 29, 2009, 03:26:02 PM
@Malthus, Bears dont worry me much because they are generally smart and agile enough to get out of they way. The thing that really scare me are moose. They seem to have the mentality of a linebacker and look to get hit. Thankfully you have to travel well north of Vancouver before you encounter them.
What scares me even more are the bison. They have the mentality of a tree stump, a nice dark colour that doesn't show up at all at night, and are absolutely fearless when standing out on the highway. They also weigh a hell of a lot and will do serious damage to your car.
[car salesman]Do you still drive that unsafe Ford Taurus, threatening your child and niece? [/car salesman]
:P
I was curious about the Taurus as well, but decided to see if you'd smell a sale opportunity. :P
Quote from: Tonitrus on June 28, 2009, 12:02:32 PM
Quote from: PDH on June 28, 2009, 11:51:43 AM
I've hit a deer...in a U-Haul...fun.
Had a friend hit a pig one time, that caused some major damage...I understand hitting a bison is not good...
And they don't like Spaniards.
QuoteAssociated Press - June 24, 2009 7:55 PM ET
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WYO. (AP) - A 50-year-old woman from Spain was butted and tossed in the air Wednesday by a bull bison in Yellowstone National Park.
Park officials say it happened about 11:25 a.m. as the woman and her husband were using a pay phone at the Canyon visitor area.
Witnesses said two bull bison walked down the road, passing within 20 feet of the couple, who were facing away from the road and did not see the bison. 1 of the bison left the road, walked up behind the woman and butted her into the air.
Other visitors took the injured woman to the front desk at Canyon Lodge. She was then taken by ambulance to the Lake Clinic, where she was treated for minor injuries and released.
Park officials did not identify the woman or say where in Spain she was from.
How ironic, a Spaniard coming to US to be attacked by a bull.
Quote from: DGuller on June 29, 2009, 04:45:04 PMHow ironic, a Spaniard coming to US to be attacked by a bull.
That's hilarious. Serves the bitch right. The animals
know.