My neighbors here in Indiana told me bears are everywhere in TN.... (Knoxville: parent)

[hoosier07]

Hello jimj (I think you're a park ranger, right ?) I never said I would like to touch a bear or stay besides it or 1 feet from it and that they're sooo cute....people like to add their own drama to the original post. Your comments about tourist and hospitals were not funny at all.

Sorry to disapoint you but I'm not stupid and I know what a bear is.

What I said was the following: My neighbors were visiting Sevierville and saw a bear 10 feet from them and it was an interesting experience. They did not touch the bear, or posed for pictures, etc. They were in a hotel lobby by the way.

Please don't treat everybody on this forum as they are idiots....BTW, everybody here seems to be very well educated.

[hoosier07]

bbkaren, that's really nice of you to share your experience, that's the kind of experience I was mentioning. By the way, where do you live in TN to have such a variety of wild life ?

[jimj]

Originally Posted by hoosier07

Hello jimj (I think you're a park ranger, right ?) I never said I would like to touch a bear or stay besides it or 1 feet from it and that they're sooo cute....people like to add their own drama to the original post. Your comments about tourist and hospitals were not funny at all.

Sorry to disapoint you but I'm not stupid and I know what a bear is.

What I said was the following: My neighbors were visiting Sevierville and saw a bear 10 feet from them and it was an interesting experience. They did not touch the bear, or posed for pictures, etc. They were in a hotel lobby by the way.

Please don't treat everybody on this forum as they are idiots....BTW, everybody here seems to be very well educated.

Hoosier,
Never ment to insinuate that you were stupid, just remembered the last time we were driving through smoky mountain park, came around a corner and darned near slammed into a car that was stopped. It seems that some people saw a couple of cubs down the hill, stopped in the road, got out and treed the cubs. Caused a huge traffic jam with everyone else doing the same and trying to climb down the hill to get a better picture. Now, we live here and you wouldn't believe the stupid things people (tourists) do when they see wildlife, some get pretty torn up when they get mauled etc by bear, moose et al. Actually, I am not a park ranger just someone who lives by the park and sees what happens when well meaning people who are interested get caught up with the wildlife. As for the part about the hospital, there are various variations of that printed on t-shirts here, like please ski out of bounds, the ski patrol needs the work, the hospital is empty, you get the drift. No insult intended.....

[bbkaren]

Originally Posted by hoosier07

bbkaren, that's really nice of you to share your experience, that's the kind of experience I was mentioning. By the way, where do you live in TN to have such a variety of wild life ?

LOL I live in New Jersey...

But headed to TN ASAP!

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Songbird42

I don't think all Floridians are idiots.......and your comments are why I decided that TN was not for me.

Oh lighten up. I'm a native Floridian myself, my family roots in Florida go back to the 1850s, and my family cemetery is still in Florida (Pinellas County). I don't think all Floridians are idiots, and no one in the Tennessee forum has ever said that. I first heard the term "Floridiot" in North Carolina and thought it was hysterical. My parents and their Florida cousins all call each other Floridiots and laugh about it. There's no need to be hyper sensitive about something as ridiculous as that.

[beachbyrd]

Interesting this is in the news now....

Photographer Mauled by Yellowstone Bear

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) - A man whose face was severely mauled by a grizzly in Yellowstone National Park is a photographer and author of books about grizzlies who also had been attacked in 1993...

[beachbyrd]

Oh, and JMT I take no offense to the Floridiots references...I laugh at them. Jon and I cannot wait to move out of here! I am not sure if I can be referred to as one, as I have only been here in FL for 3 1/2 very long years!

Here is a great example of a Floridiot that happened to me yesterday....I was at the Publix about to get a number at the deli. I was right in front of the numbers and just needed to move my cart so I was not in anyone's way. When I finished, getting my cart moved, I turned to get the number and a woman rushed over and grabbed a number before I could, to ensure she got served one minute before me. This was despite how obvious it was that I was there first. You are right it is not everyone, but a lot of people seem to have that kind of mentality. Really, I was in no hurry, if she had stopped and said, "Were you first?", I would have told here to go ahead.....

Anyway, back to the bears....sorry for the off topic aside......I was just frustrated by that!

[Shenandoah]

That's happened to me here, in Pa. Unfortunately, that's the entitlement attitude. Those Floridiots must be very migratory! But, up here, they're 'Snowbirds'. When they're down there, they must morph into 'Floridiots'.

blessings, Shen

[Shenandoah]

My experience wtih bears has been the same as bbkaren's. Rattle the garbage cans, make noise. They'll run off.

blessings, Shen

[bbkaren]

"...is a photographer and author of books about grizzlies who also had been attacked in 1993...."

Oh great, who's been attacking the bears?