Bears in Whites

[DrewKnight]

Just when I was bemoaning the loss of a brazen bear...

A friend came down my driveway last night about 6:30, just in time to watch what she is pretty sure was a small black bear scurrying off my front porch. The old boar is gone, but his legacy lives on intact.

 

[sierra]

Ive had maybe 5 encounters over the years, the only one that required action on my part was on Falling waters trail. I was near the left turn that allows you to leave the brook behind, when I noticed a very big bruin standing in the trail. I yelled at him to no avail, he would not leave, I found a stick and threw it at him and he got the messege and left. In my experience the bears in NH are very tranquil indeed, they are much more aggressive in CO and way more aggressive in the Sierra's.

 

[RickB.]

From a trail in the northern Ossipees. He stood his ground and I had to navigate, off-trail, to get back to the trailhead.

 

[alpino]

In October 2008 I spent a night with my son and my girlfriend at one of the wilderness campsites near Mt Isolation (right near the junction of the Isolation Tr and the Davis Path). Just as we arrived at the campsite something large ran off into the woods. At first I thought it was a hiker bushwacking to the Davis Path but he/she didn't respond when I called out. Then after thinking about it, it didn't make sense that anyone would be bushwacking there since the trail was only 200 feet away. We looked into the woods but couldn't see anything. The woods were extremely thick with lots of fallen trees and low scrub. By the rhythem and sound of the footsteps it was something very large. It was snapping branches as it went along. I suppose it could have been a moose, but I think a moose would have run off faster. I assumed it was a bear, but I didn't tell my girlfriend for fear that she wouldn't sleep that night. When I finally told her what I thought the next day she was a bit upset as she had gone out alone during the night to answer the call of nature.
I have never actually seen a bear on a hike. This is the closest I have ever come.

 

[dentonfabrics]

My buddy is building a house in Jackson and a bear comes calling almost every morning to rifle thru the dumpster. The other day, a couple of "city slickers" came by to lay the carpet down and saw the bears and damn near splatted. My buddy toyed with 'em a bit, telling them that "the bears are in the trees, looking over here for a free lunch so be careful when you go out to your truck". When they finally left, they sprinted the 20 feet from the house to their truck.

 

[gaiagirl]

We see sign often at Tin Mountain's original location in Jackson on the trails, but I also saw many bears this past spring and also near summer's end right in back of my house, which is directly on 113 in Madison and also not far from the homes of friends in Eidellweiss Village at all times of day and night.

I saw my first really close up and personal not 50 feet behind my house in a small patch of woods this past April. It was a cub, though I'm sure mom was not too far away.

Of all the mammals out there in our woods, bears hold my interest especially because I feel I have so many questions about their life histories, biology, physiology, etc.

FYI : Ben Killham, noted bear researcher and author is coming to speak at Tin Mountain Conservation Center in Albany the week before Thanksgiving. I'll post more details as the date gets closer!