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I would venture to say that aside from Kracer and myself, NONE of the people posting in this thread have EVER seen a bear in the wild (the Safari Park at Great Adventure doesn't count) and never will.
Many years ago, I saw a black bear--up close and personal--in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It retreated very rapidly when it saw me.
About 2 years ago, while returning from my brother's house in NE PA, I saw a black bear mother and her cub at the side of a well-traveled road in Sussex County. I was in my car at the time, but they were no more than 10 feet away from me when I saw them. They were magnificent-looking creatures, and I was amazed at the deep black color of their fur.
I would venture to say that the color of their fur was almost as deep a black as Teresa Giudice's "naturally black" hair.
Many years ago, I saw a black bear--up close and personal--in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It retreated very rapidly when it saw me.
That's an example of a normal bear encounter. The National Park Service takes bears very seriously and will not hesitate to trap and relocate problem bears that begin to seek campsites, dumpsters, etc...out as food sources. Chances are the bear you saw had rarely, if ever, interacted with a human being. DEP has confirmed that the bear involved in the attack was not tagged, and therefore had never been labeled as a problem bear by DEP/DF&W, but that could also mean that he simply went four years without being "caught."
If people like njkate (sorry to single you out, but you mentioned it) are simply sitting on their porches drinking coffee watching bears rummage through trashcans and pillaging bird feeders and not calling DEP, its entirely possible that this bear had lost it's fear of humans entirely and was under the radar of DEP. This whole mess is simply an example of what happens when politicians, activists, and misinformed people interfere with wildlife conservation and management.
That's an example of a normal bear encounter. The National Park Service takes bears very seriously and will not hesitate to trap and relocate problem bears that begin to seek campsites, dumpsters, etc...out as food sources. Chances are the bear you saw had rarely, if ever, interacted with a human being. DEP has confirmed that the bear involved in the attack was not tagged, and therefore had never been labeled as a problem bear by DEP/DF&W, but that could also mean that he simply went four years without being "caught."
If people like njkate (sorry to single you out, but you mentioned it) are simply sitting on their porches drinking coffee watching bears rummage through trashcans and pillaging bird feeders and not calling DEP, its entirely possible that this bear had lost it's fear of humans entirely and was under the radar of DEP. This whole mess is simply an example of what happens when politicians, activists, and misinformed people interfere with wildlife conservation and management.
Correct. Worse yet are those who feed the bears intentionally. Once bears begin associating people with food, the association will always be there, which greatly increases the risk to people who encounter a bear but have no food. Hopefully people see the connection.
I also find it interesting that this happened where it did. The DWGNRA is full of bears and there are bear encounters there often, as well as the Highlands (Norvin Green, Hewitt, etc) where bear encounters are common, and these land parcels are much larger. I have never been to Apshawa, but I've heard it described by others as being among a pretty populated area ("not very remote" to quote an acquaintance). My point is, I wonder if this was a bear that was already acclimated to human presence in the neighborhoods around the preserve? Was he run off by a larger bear in the neighborhoods and entered the preserve looking for food? I know that there are a lot of 'what ifs' to throw around, but as sad as it is there is also the need, I feel, to explore any circumstances or factors that may have gone into play before the bear's initial encounter with the hikers.
Last edited by NJmmadude; 09-23-2014 at 07:32 AM..
1 death by a bear in forever and you want hikers to carry AKs. makes sense from a gun nut POV I suppose.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Calico696
AKs? A side arm will be just fine, thanks.
Hyperbole is central to the cause. Carrying a "handgun" or a "firearm" doesn't sound sufficiently scary, so terms like "Assault Weapon" and "AK" are used. Never mind the fact that carrying an AK-47 variant or AR-15 while hiking or bowhunting would be utterly ridiculous when the average .45 caliber handgun would be more than adequate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJmmadude
I also find it interesting that this happened where it did. The DWGNRA is full of bears and there are bear encounters there often, as well as the Highlands (Norvin Green, Hewitt, etc) where bear encounters are common, and these land parcels are much larger. I have never been to Apshawa, but I've heard it described by others as being among a pretty populated area ("not very remote" to quote an acquaintance). My point is, I wonder if this was a bear that was already acclimated to human presence in the neighborhoods around the preserve? Was he run off by a larger bear in the neighborhoods and entered the preserve looking for food? I know that there are a lot of 'what ifs' to throw around, but as sad as it is there is also the need, I feel, to explore any circumstances or factors that may have gone into play before the bear's initial encounter with the hikers.
All of that is entirely possible. Most of my experience with bears has been at the DWG-those tend to be very wary of people. The Kittatinny Ridge is isolated and tends to have sufficient mast crop so the bears have less of a need to range far for food. That's not to say however, that there aren't large males that are established in those areas which are running smaller males and females off who then retreat down the mountain to more populated areas like Hampton, Sandyston, Lafayette, etc... Apshawa on the other hand does not look nearly as isolated-I would bet that this is a bear that traipsed through backyards helping himself to bird seed and trash while local residents paid little mind.
Not sure if there is any truth to it, but heard through the grapevine that there might be more to this story. I've heard the word taunting thrown around. If that's true.....
Let's see if any other info come out.
Unlikely. The bear was guarding the body, which suggests he killed for food. If the bear killed for anger, dominance or territory it would have likely just mauled him and then left.
Correct. Worse yet are those who feed the bears intentionally. Once bears begin associating people with food, the association will always be there, which greatly increases the risk to people who encounter a bear but have no food. Hopefully people see the connection.
I also find it interesting that this happened where it did. The DWGNRA is full of bears and there are bear encounters there often, as well as the Highlands (Norvin Green, Hewitt, etc) where bear encounters are common, and these land parcels are much larger. I have never been to Apshawa, but I've heard it described by others as being among a pretty populated area ("not very remote" to quote an acquaintance). My point is, I wonder if this was a bear that was already acclimated to human presence in the neighborhoods around the preserve? Was he run off by a larger bear in the neighborhoods and entered the preserve looking for food? I know that there are a lot of 'what ifs' to throw around, but as sad as it is there is also the need, I feel, to explore any circumstances or factors that may have gone into play before the bear's initial encounter with the hikers.
Apshawa is a little bit more suburban than the others, but not by much. I've encountered bears at Pyramid Mountain and Tourne Park and those are much more suburban. The biggest one I have seen in New Jersey was in Mountain Lakes. I remember being at DWG on the crest of the Mt Tammany and we passed a big male on the way up the blue trail and we began to descend the red trail and ran into a little bear (we did not see Momma) and went back to the top and hung out for a bit before we went down.
Apshawa is a little bit more suburban than the others, but not by much. I've encountered bears at Pyramid Mountain and Tourne Park and those are much more suburban. The biggest one I have seen in New Jersey was in Mountain Lakes. I remember being at DWG on the crest of the Mt Tammany and we passed a big male on the way up the blue trail and we began to descend the red trail and ran into a little bear (we did not see Momma) and went back to the top and hung out for a bit before we went down.
You should've flipped out and shot them with your sidearm. Show em who's boss of the Jersey food chain.
You should've flipped out and shot them with your sidearm. Show em who's boss of the Jersey food chain.
You started out so even keeled with this thread. Why the descent into cheap shots and insults?
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