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

[hoosier07]

Yep, they did. Scared my wife

They mentioned last time they were in Sevierville a bear was 10 ft. from them, searching food near a hotel (poor thing).

I would really like to see a bear this close They're beautiful.

Is this true ? How many of you that live in TN saw a bear (I mean not in the Zoo, please) this close ?

I'm just in the mood to start a different forum topic this morning.

[hiknapster]

Bears are everywhere in Tennessee. That is true. Well, they are not exactly running through downtown Knoxville! But you know what I mean. We see new reports about them a lot.

http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=45336

But they aren't eating people, either.

I live out in the country and I haven't seen one. The trick is not to leave trash or pet food out.

Here's one in west Knoxville.

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_ne...548911,00.html

[mbmouse]

I would not say "everywhere" by any means. The closer you get to the mountains, the more likely you are to see one, but usually in the distance. I know every time we go to or through the mountains (which is A LOT!) we look for bears. In the past 11 years, we have seen one in or near the mountains. LOL!!
However while taking prom pictures of my step son 2 years ago in the front yard in our subdivision neighborhood, a young bear came walking up the road, we were FLOORED! No, not usual and he/she just went off into the woods, never to be seen or heard from again.

[hoosier07]

Wow, the articles are interesting...thanks for sharing.

[sliverbox]

My advice to people about bears is to avoid them if you can help it. For one thing,exposure to people is bad for them. The more comfortable they are around people, the more they are likely to roam into residential areas, towns, etc etc. 'problem bears' are often moved to more remote areas, and in worse case scenarios, especially if they start causing harm, they are shot.

lastly- they're dangerous animals. A 'smaller' 250 pound black bear can kill a person pretty easily, if not cause serious injury.They have, and when people act stupid, will probably do so again. They can easily break into your car too. Totally unpredictable animals. If you happen to come across one on the trail, give the bear LOTS of room and slowly back away. I cannot stress how important this is.

Every year when I was growing up, there was a story of idiots from Florida or somewhere coming in and taking pictures... 3 feet away from a Bear. Some of the better stories included a family that put jam all over their kid's face and let the bear lick it off.

PLEASE... stay away from the bears.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by sliverbox

My advice to people about bears is to avoid them if you can help it. For one thing,exposure to people is bad for them. The more comfortable they are around people, the more they are likely to roam into residential areas, towns, etc etc. 'problem bears' are often moved to more remote areas, and in worse case scenarios, especially if they start causing harm, they are shot.

lastly- they're dangerous animals. A 'smaller' 250 pound black bear can kill a person pretty easily, if not cause serious injury.They have, and when people act stupid, will probably do so again. They can easily break into your car too. Totally unpredictable animals. If you happen to come across one on the trail, give the bear LOTS of room and slowly back away. I cannot stress how important this is.

Every year when I was growing up, there was a story of idiots from Florida or somewhere coming in and taking pictures... 3 feet away from a Bear. Some of the better stories included a family that put jam all over their kid's face and let the bear lick it off.

PLEASE... stay away from the bears.

While we're on the subject of Floridiots and bears, I remember a few years ago some do-gooder Florida tourist was in the Smoky Mountains and was absolutely appalled that a little bear cub was attacking a helpless deer. So the tourist did what any do-gooder idiot would do, he ran up, picked up the bear cub, and threw it to the ground to save the helpless deer. Of course, the deer was already dead. And that Floridiot had better get on his knees and thank God that the bear cub's mama wasn't anywhere in sight. Park rangers arrested the tourist, who of course could not understand what he did wrong.

[Git2know]

I would worry more about getting hit by a tourist not paying attention to their driving than having serious trouble with bears. That happens way more often. An incident with a bear however always makes for NEWS.
Barry

[Songbird42]

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

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Git2know

I would worry more about getting hit by a tourist not paying attention to their driving than having serious trouble with bears. That happens way more often. An incident with a bear however always makes for NEWS.
Barry

From someone who lives outside Glacier Park and sees bears all of the time, we really want tourists to get as close to them as they can! We need to keep the hospital staff busy as well as the other emergency workers. Really, carry those stupid sticks with bells, it lets the bears know where dinner is! On a serious note, to the posters here who "really love to see a bear up close,they are soooo cute" trust me, the farther you are away from the bear the better for both of you. If you get attacked, you lose but the bear loses as well. If the bear attacks you it will most likely be killed even if you live through it and that is not fair to the bear! Bears are not cute little puppies but a large, deadly wild animal that are great viewed from a distance and not disturbed and one that can cover a large distance VERY,VERY FAST so outrunning them is not possible. Looking to relocate to the Knoxville area soon and am glad to hear that the local wild life is alive and well.

[bbkaren]

We see bears here constantly. People get hysterical one way or the other (either "we need to hunt them to control their numbers...they're going to kill somebody!" or "They were here first, save the bears at all costs!") You gotta love New Jersey.

We keep our trash and pet food locked up and the bears pass through our yard almost every day. We stay out of their way and if one comes in the yard while we're there, we make a bunch of noise while going into the house until they're past. No big deal.

We also have coyote, foxes, deer, and sundry other wild animals. Good grief, if you're not careful, a woodchuck can lump you up something wicked.

The bears are of no consequence whatsoever in my mind. I wish all the hysteria about them would pass already.