Bear, elk, plenty of deer, it’s the coyotes that are the trouble makers here in Challis. Mostly the bear, wolf and big cats stay out of town. Outside of of town, not so much. Dogs disappear around here if your not careful.
I live near Elmo; I regularly have elk, deer, bear, mountain lion, coyote, bobcat, fox, ringtail, eagle, hawk, falcon, & heron, within my property lines.
(My game cams have seen what I haven't directly- had an eagle land in the driveway for a selfie, one time.)
The local elk herd comes and grazes my upper pasture from time to time; 30+ elk, 100 yards out, but no shot, because no tags, and the road behind..
I've lost barn cats, and chickens, but, strangely enough, I've never lost goats or pigs.
I've had bear go into my pickup truck bed, and eat the goat feed I'd left overnight. My neighbor had to electrify his shed- the bear ripped through the outer wall to get at his chicken feed.
On my morning walk, a few years back, still dark, I was on the blacktop road by the Sierra Pacific patch. Suddenly, out of the darkness, coming right at me, GALLOPING HOOVES- LOTS of them. I froze, foolishly reached for my pistol, and, in the barely visible light, that entire Elk herd ran right past me, and jumped the 5 foot fence onto the SP reserve like it was nothing. Then-they were gone- whole episode, done in a minute.
Let me tell you, THAT ups the pucker factor on your morning constitutional.
Last week, my son and I ran into Mama bear, and her two cubs, while hiking the ravine behind the house. They spotted us first; we saw them leaving.
After a while, you just get used to the idea that you're never alone in these mountains.
There's a sow with three cubs that staked out a territory that includes the camp I'm part owner of. That sow has birthed 6 cubs over the last 6 years. She's BIG. easily 300+ pounds. I've seen her once when she had two cubs a couple years ago. Luckily I was inside when I saw her.
I live in Michigan, and we used to NEVER see black bear, although a few of the people who lived way out, on big farms, would have the occasional bear reported on their land. Now, they are getting pretty close to even the small towns, at times crossing roads that are just outside of the city limits. They have had 3-4 bears hit by cars in my hometown this year. I wrote to our state DNR, telling them that several friends and my son have seen cougars in the lower half of the lower peninsula, and asked why they would not confirm them. They wrote back, saying that unless they had an actual picture, like a trail cam, of one, they could not say that they had a confirmed sighting. I understand why they have that policy, it is mostly political, but it is what it is. For the most part, our DNR has done a good job with our wildlife, bringing the wild turkey back from almost nonexistence to massive flocks in every neighborhood, of medium sized cities. The white tail deer herd is huge, and mostly healthy, with only a few areas of concern of the various diseases that are affecting the deer of many midwest states. Bobcats are still there, they are just nocturnal and shy. Our salmon in Lake Michigan seem to have gotten back to decent levels, I have been fishing in the river, and have hooked into some big fish, with a lot of them seen. I might make it out once more, the later part of this coming week. I agree with you about the dark matter behind me if I came upon a bear in person. The only thing is, I would possibly leave a pile, as I might be frozen in one spot, at least for a moment. We used to feed the bears in a dump in the Upper Peninsula, when I was a kid, with marshmallows. And I have seen just what a bear, even a small one, of maybe 150 pounds, can do to someone's car. Some idiots would try and lure the bears close, so they could take pictures close up. More than once I saw a bear tear off a car's mirror or windshield wiper. Plus scratch the hell out of all the paint on the cars.
I live up in the hills of Eastern Tennessee. There's a bear that keeps coming by the house in the wee hours of the morning. At first, it kept turning over our trash cans, so we moved them into the garage. Now it's taken up the habit of putting its paws on the windows. We have a security system, and every once in awhile the alarm will go off, waking everybody up at 4 am. Then we get a call from the security company that someone has broken a window downstairs. The first time it happened, I thought someone had actually bothered to come up the hill to break in, but the window wasn't broken. Instead there was a paw print on it. It gets pretty tiresome, but the Wildlife people said there wasn't all that much we could do about it.
"shoot, shovel, and shut up" is what the game warden in Montana recommended for dealing with problem wildlife.
It may not be strictly legal, but sometimes there's not a good option. Especially true if you have youngsters, and your dealing with a lion that's taken to hanging around.
WoW! So scary I could bearly watch.
ReplyDeleteAs I get up and grab the Maglite to see if he's out there this morning.
ReplyDeleteIt's a jungle out there.
Bear, elk, plenty of deer, it’s the coyotes that are the trouble makers here in Challis. Mostly the bear, wolf and big cats stay out of town. Outside of of town, not so much. Dogs disappear around here if your not careful.
ReplyDeleteI live near Elmo; I regularly have elk, deer, bear, mountain lion, coyote, bobcat, fox, ringtail, eagle, hawk, falcon, & heron, within my property lines.
ReplyDelete(My game cams have seen what I haven't directly- had an eagle land in the driveway for a selfie, one time.)
The local elk herd comes and grazes my upper pasture from time to time;
30+ elk, 100 yards out, but no shot, because no tags, and the road behind..
I've lost barn cats, and chickens, but, strangely enough, I've never lost goats or pigs.
I've had bear go into my pickup truck bed, and eat the goat feed I'd left overnight. My neighbor had to electrify his shed- the bear ripped through the outer wall to get at his chicken feed.
On my morning walk, a few years back, still dark, I was on the blacktop road by the Sierra Pacific patch. Suddenly, out of the darkness, coming right at me, GALLOPING HOOVES- LOTS of them. I froze, foolishly reached for my pistol, and, in the barely visible light, that entire Elk herd ran right past me, and jumped the 5 foot fence onto the SP reserve like it was nothing.
Then-they were gone- whole episode, done in a minute.
Let me tell you, THAT ups the pucker factor on your morning constitutional.
Last week, my son and I ran into Mama bear, and her two cubs, while hiking the ravine behind the house. They spotted us first;
we saw them leaving.
After a while, you just get used to the idea that you're never alone in these mountains.
There's a sow with three cubs that staked out a territory that includes the camp I'm part owner of. That sow has birthed 6 cubs over the last 6 years. She's BIG. easily 300+ pounds. I've seen her once when she had two cubs a couple years ago. Luckily I was inside when I saw her.
ReplyDeleteNemo
Saw a herd of about three dozen elk on the way home from work last week, and saw possibly the same herd early this morning.
ReplyDeletePROBABLY a streak of DARK matter would be behind me for the bear to slip upon?
ReplyDeleteLOL
ReplyDeleteI live in Michigan, and we used to NEVER see black bear, although a few of the people who lived way out, on big farms, would have the occasional bear reported on their land. Now, they are getting pretty close to even the small towns, at times crossing roads that are just outside of the city limits. They have had 3-4 bears hit by cars in my hometown this year. I wrote to our state DNR, telling them that several friends and my son have seen cougars in the lower half of the lower peninsula, and asked why they would not confirm them.
DeleteThey wrote back, saying that unless they had an actual picture, like a trail cam, of one, they could not say that they had a confirmed sighting. I understand why they have that policy, it is mostly political, but it is what it is. For the most part, our DNR has done a good job with our wildlife, bringing the wild turkey back from almost nonexistence to massive flocks in every neighborhood, of medium sized cities. The white tail deer herd is huge, and mostly healthy, with only a few areas of concern of the various diseases that are affecting the deer of many midwest states.
Bobcats are still there, they are just nocturnal and shy. Our salmon in Lake Michigan seem to have gotten back to decent levels, I have been fishing in the river, and have hooked into some big fish, with a lot of them seen. I might make it out once more, the later part of this coming week.
I agree with you about the dark matter behind me if I came upon a bear in person. The only thing is, I would possibly leave a pile, as I might be frozen in one spot, at least for a moment. We used to feed the bears in a dump in the Upper Peninsula, when I was a kid, with marshmallows. And I have seen just what a bear, even a small one, of maybe 150 pounds, can do to someone's car. Some idiots would try and lure the bears close, so they could take pictures close up. More than once I saw a bear tear off a car's mirror or windshield wiper. Plus scratch the hell out of all the paint on the cars.
pigpen51
Shit, meet pants.
ReplyDeleteThat dog is a big talker after the fact, isn't he?
ReplyDeleteI live up in the hills of Eastern Tennessee. There's a bear that keeps coming by the house in the wee hours of the morning. At first, it kept turning over our trash cans, so we moved them into the garage. Now it's taken up the habit of putting its paws on the windows. We have a security system, and every once in awhile the alarm will go off, waking everybody up at 4 am. Then we get a call from the security company that someone has broken a window downstairs. The first time it happened, I thought someone had actually bothered to come up the hill to break in, but the window wasn't broken. Instead there was a paw print on it. It gets pretty tiresome, but the Wildlife people said there wasn't all that much we could do about it.
ReplyDelete"shoot, shovel, and shut up" is what the game warden in Montana recommended for dealing with problem wildlife.
DeleteIt may not be strictly legal, but sometimes there's not a good option. Especially true if you have youngsters, and your dealing with a lion that's taken to hanging around.