So took a drive with my lady on Friday night up towards Eagle River Nature Center. About 2 miles short we saw the international sign of wildlife; cars parked on the side of the road with people milling about taking pictures with their cell phones.

Parked at the end of the line, walked up over the guardrail and looked down into the ditch and it’s a sow Brown Bear with 3 cubs.

HOLY SHIT!

This is a little too close for a sow with cubs. After the initial Fruit of the Loom spoilage, I suggested to my lady that we calmly back away and get back in the Jeep. From there we could see down in the ditch mama and cubs were making their way slowly up the hill towards the guardrail. Most people had enough sense to get back in their vehicles and most slowly drove off.

Except for the one SUV that wasn’t quite over on the shoulder partially blocking the road with mom, dad and 3 daughters, pointing giggling and taking pictures.

Here’s how ridiculous the scene was; mom and one daughter standing right at the guardrail, another daughter standing up through the the sunroof of their SUV taking flash photography, and dad with their barely older than a toddler daughter with her up on his shoulders standing in the middle of the road. All this with mama bear less than 20 yards away.

At this point my lady yelled, “You’re about to be food!” Dad yells back, “There’s a guardrail between us.” WTF, do you actually think that guardrail acts like a zoo enclure?

This was the point that I decided I’d seen enough nature for one night and started to pull away. One problem, dad’s still standing in the middle of the road with his daughter on his shoulders. I can’t drive around him, there’s not enough room so I yell, “GET THE FUCK BACK IN YOU VEHICLE!”

That just earned me a dirty look and he stepped around the front of his vehicle so I could pass. We went up to the Nature Center, turned around to go home a few minutes later and everyone including the bears had cleared out. Shit like this just really pisses me off. Lucky enough to live in a place like Alaska where I can see things like brown bears in the wild. Unfortunate enough to share it with fuckwits who have no respect and no idea how to behave around wildlife.

And for those who say pics or it didn’t happen, shot my lady got from inside the Jeep of mom with one of the cubs with a 600mm lens.

Mama is giving some side-eye in that shot. No sudden moves!

Need this thread, and its title, to be randomly updated - like the foggy thread.

This one happened about 5 years ago...

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicag...ing-federal-charges/

At least bears are slow cumbersome creatures.

People are so stupid. It’s the adults that annoy me on the face of it, it’s the adults putting the kids in danger that bugs me.

quote:

Originally posted by Redleg06:
This one happened about 5 years ago...

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicag...ing-federal-charges/

Yeah, but look at her. She could easily outrun that mama griz.

My wifes's first cousin's husband was killed by a brown bear.

https://www.latimes.com/archiv...fg-bear31-story.html

Bears do not live on pick-a-nick baskets alone. They need to supplement with the occasional tourist. BTW, sandals and shorts? Just curious.

Beautiful bear and cub!

Yeah, people are stupid and Charlie Darwin was right.

Costa Rica with the Family years ago, beautiful country, great wildlife. We were at one nature preserve- guides with some pretty good spotting scopes, amazing amount of wildlife.
Anyway, there's a gringo off by himself and his camera in one hand, and a small stick and an eyelash viper on the other end of the stick.
Not that the lil' nope-rope would kill him, but his hand / arm would never be the same.


Yellowstone: I've seen a few people get within 10-15 feet of those cute furry cows they had out there. Totally oblivious of how fast those big, muscular things are and how far they can launch a 150lb person.

But at least your people had a guard rail protecting them!

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:
…Unfortunate enough to share it with fuckwits who have no respect and no idea how to behave around wildlife...

Doc,

As you know, can’t fix stupid! However, momma nature has a way to make a Happy Meal out of it! Saw an article earlier today about a Black Bear encounter in California. A couple trying to “save” their pooch the idiots let out for it’s morning constitutional without first checking for wildlife, tried to fight off a 70 lb cub with a water bottle and the non bladed side of a hatchet…sadly the cub was euthanized for being a…checks notes…bear?

Come on Comet…


Godspeed and Good Hunting, Always

I have a great deal respect for the Alaskan Brown Bear. A lot of folks think that lighter coat means it's a Winnie the Pooh bear. It is NOT. It is a Grizzly Bear in a different color. Mean that the Sow's are meaner than hell for protecting her cubs and that includes taking on a full grown Male. It's also a documented fact that in a sprint they can hit between 35 and 40 mph.

quote:

BTW, sandals and shorts? Just curious.

Summer can be quite warm in the Anchorage area.

I never knew that about guardrails.

quote:

"There’s a guardrail between us.”

That's possibly the most ignorant thing I've ever heard...enough that I'm kinda disappointed that he didn't get the opportunity to realize just how ignorant it was.

If you are able to catch it on streaming or cable, see if you can find a show called:
I Was Prey.
Its all about people being ate by various wildlife. The most interesting part for me was how these people (including trained experienced professionals) go into remote areas full of dangerous animals and do so not only alone but unarmed.
One particular story was set in Ontario where some dude from a city built a remote cabin. His dog confronted a bear outside the cabin and was promptly killed. Dude retreats into the cabin only to have the bear climb through a window and proceed to shred him. He manages to escape the cabin and run down a road with the bear in pursuit. Dude was saved when someone in a truck stopped to help him.
I would watch many of the episodes and I would find myself shouting at the TV "Bring a gun, stupid"!
Quite an entertaining show!

Lots of video's of idiots getting to close to wildlife and regretting it. For some reason people are to stupid to realize wild animals are dangerous, they see you as a threat or a meal and act accordingly.

I recall my Dive master informing us on our open water check dive, “Gentlemen, you are now entering the food chain, you are not the biggest, you are not the baddest, and you are definitely not the fastest”. Words to live by.

quote:

I Was Prey

Season 3 Episode 12, free on several services Roku Chanell, Plex, Philo has a free period before subscription.

ROKU Channel - Free

Kayaked down my favorite Florida spring run yesterday and saw 10 gators. One at least 10+ feet long and thicccc.

The park lady at the check in had looked at me after we’d chatted a couple minutes and said “you look like you have common sense, I don’t think I have to tell you not to feed the wildlife or any of my usual line”.

No ma’am lol…momma didn’t raise a moron.

Met a young woman on a stand up paddle board a little ways down the river…