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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bilow who wrote (82356)	7/17/2000 12:17:12 AM
From: Raul Prytog	Respond to of 132070

The story of the prunes is just one of six separate encounters with black bears I had while in the Boy Scouts. In four cases, throwing rocks and banking on pans scared them off immediately...but one time we tree'd two cubs on either side of our camp and Mama Bear was pissed and wouldn't go anywhere. Darkness fell and the 40 or so boys and fathers gathered in silence in a clearing 100 yards away. Just waiting. The cubs climbed down at about 4am. We may have evolved as superlative hunters with great throwing arms, but speaking for myself, it was my hearing that improved that night. -Raul

To: Bilow who wrote (82356)	7/17/2000 12:27:41 AM
From: Step1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Carl <<< On another subject, I bet that that woman athlete actually could have outrun the bear, but that she was caught by surprise. More or less ordinary humans in hunting and gathering societies (with physical skills far, far, far below that of a world class athlete) regularly run down all sorts of animals. Over a long enough distance, (i.e. many miles) the human can outrun anything on land. While a lot of animals can outrace a human for short distances, humans are more efficient at running than any other animal is (at its preferred mode of locomotion). >> Not wanting to start an argument here but let me just relate a personal experience i had once with my father: I was a kid and we were driving on old logging roads with my father (i grew up in Northern Quebec) one day going or coming from somewhere i cannot remember. We sighted this bear about 60 feet in front of us and it just took off, running in the road ahead. My father decided to see how fast it could go and sped behind it. Guess how fast? 38 mph for a fair distance after which it just flew right into the new evergreen regrowth ( i mean , sort of just dove right into the canopy...) Now how fast does a human run? I say , you run, the bear goes after you and catches you without fail UNLESS you run fast enough to reach the right TREE ...you manage to climb it, and it is not too big (so the bear has difficulty climbing since bear hug trees to climb them) yet not too small so the bear cant push it over with its weight. Bears run fast . We have had a few other non threatening encounters i can remember, most times, the bear would just continue doing what it was doing and after a little while would slowly walk away. My father believes each bear has a very unique character and (at least for him, since it still lives around the wilderness where he was born) it pays to get to know the "locals"... Most seem to be pretty mischievious, but i suppose, this opinion of bears is heavily biased by my human upbringing. To a bear, a lodge or bush camp is just a place to find food, porches floors, tables are just "down" as in "the ground", so defecating on them is fine, and other various human belongings, when not containing food, are just toys to be dissected (like my dog does) , whether they be motorcycles, boats or camping equipment. My father`s friend had his motorcycle "dissected" like this while miles away in the bush ( seat ripped to shreds, tires chewed on, battery bitten and leaking on top of a good scrub job of the tank and other painted areas. It wasnt funny then though... FWIW, my father also says that bears cannot run as fast downhill as they can uphill ... Sorry for the long winded comment , but basically i doubt you can outrun a bear who wants to catch you, and it is more likely it is going to want to catch you if you run... So unless you figure you can get somewhere safe in a few seconds (a car or a tree, indoors for example) i think it is better to face it. Therefore , i side with MB and would carry a gun if i thought the locals were unfriendly... I do agree with your comments on our throwing abilities though... All this bearish talks lately, is this subliminal <g>? sg

To: Bilow who wrote (82356)	7/17/2000 1:03:59 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

It is quite unfair to compare a naked human with a bear in a fight. Humans are the essential tool user Not just that but we also have social orginization. Even primitive hunters could take out large dangerous animals with spears and numbers and tactics. On another subject, I bet that that woman athlete actually could have outrun the bear, but that she was caught by surprise. Maybe but I have some doubt about this. I don't know how fast bears are but if the bear is faster over short distances it could catch her before it got tired, if it is faster over long distances it would eventually catch up. If it is slower over both but better at medium distances then she is still in trouble. The bear only has to catch up once. Over a long enough distance, (i.e. many miles) the human can outrun anything on land. I don't think this is true. We can outrun many maybe most animals but hardly anything. I think horses and wolves might be better over long distances. I would not be suprised if there are not other examples. Tim

To: Bilow who wrote (82356)	7/17/2000 1:05:18 PM
From: benwood	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Bilow, I enjoyed your observations about rock throwing. I recall the the first planes used in WWI were for reconnoitering, and enemy planes were tolerated at first (actually, I recall that flyers from enemy countries actual waved at each other initially). But then instinct took over and some guy thought of throwing stuff at the other plane -- big rocks, bricks, etc. That naturally led to the more recent throwing of air-to-air heat-seeking missiles and laser-guided smart bombs.