Bear Siting In Harriamn State Park

[woodstrider]

Bear Siting In Harriman State Park

This past Saturday I was exploring one of the old wagon roads in HSP and I was lucky enough to have a bear walk by while I was taking a break. He was only about 50 feet away when we saw each other. As he just stood still and looked at me I decided to hurry him away with a toot on my whistle (now I know why I've carried the thing all these years). He ran off- not too quickly.

I felt priviledged to have seen, and been seen, by this animal.

 

[Grumpy]

Cool story. It's a pretty sure thing that those of us who traipse around in bear country have been seen by far more bears than we've managed to see.

G.

 

[jjmcgo]

Hey, you from Jersey?

I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was a tagged bear from New Jersey. Last year, a much-needed bear hunt was canceled by the highly political EPA director over the recommendation of NJ Fish and Game.
This year, there are bears popping up all over New Jersey, including one that walked through Monmouth Park racetrack en route to jumping off a pier into the Atlantic Ocean. They haven't had a bear there for probably 200 years.
Now, it turns out there has been an unannounced policy change. That bear was subdued and relocated to the Assunpink Wildlife Refuge which is on the south-east side of the New Jersey Turnpike. If they are relocating bears there, soon there will be bears throughout the Pinelands and basically all of New Jersey will be having bear confrontations. The mayor of the nearest town was outraged by the unannounced placing of a bear in a small wooded area in the Trenton suburbs.
The bears emanate from Stokes State Forest. I think everyone here knows why bears leave home, small horny boy bears get chased away by the bigger guys. There are simply too many bears to contain them in the northwest corner of New Jersey.
But this impacts the neighborning states of New York and Pennsylvania, neither of which were contacted by New Jersey for input on whether we want bears in our suburban trash. Where I live is certainly not an "intrusion into bear country" but NJ bears have been spotted within 10 miles of my house.
I hate politicians.

 

[woodstrider]

Bear

I got a really good look- almost too good- no tags( they put the tag on an ear). But I did think it was a male. I was once approached by a bear on the AT in NJ(High Point), and that bear had two tags, one red one yellow. Those tags are pretty big.

 

[rup]

Hsp

On which trail in HSP did you see the bear?? I'd like to know. I bop in there every once in a while, but all I've seen there is a deer which scared the crap out of me when it bolted from behind a blueberry bush ~10' from me.