A scary morning

[red60]

Every morning I try to get up early and take Gage and then Chloe for a walk. We usually go up to the corner, which is a mile from my house and then turn around and come back home. This morning on the way back to my house, with Gage, I looked up and saw something black a short distance to the side of the road ahead. I was hoping that it was a stump or something, but I really knew already what it was. I clapped my hands and it moved and sure enough it was a bear. It didn't see me for awhile and I stood there trying to figure out what to do. If I turned around and went the other direction I would have to walk almost 5 more miles to get back to my house. I could have called my daughter to come & get me as I was less than 1/2 mile away, but silly me forgot my cell phone this morning. I keep clapping until it saw me and it went across to the other side of the road.

Now that made it even worse because I STILL had to walk past where I saw him leave the road & NOW i couldn't see him. He was in an area which had been clear cut a few years ago and they have since replanted it in pine so it is brushy and dense. It took me a while to get up enough courage to go on and go past there, but I did.

I was so so proud of Gage though, he was such a good boy. His ears pricked up when he saw the bear, but he didn't bark or pull on the leash or anything. I don't know if the bear would have been annoyed if he barked at it, but his barking would have certainly made me much more nervous than I already was & I was trying to be very calm.

That's my favorite way to go to walk though. It's shady and somewhat secluded. Now I'm going to have to go another route for awhile unless my husband is home to go with me. I don't think I can get up the courage for awhile to go that way by myself. :smt009

 

[ll1]

: A scary morning

wow that would be a scary experience, glad to see you made your way around alright :smt103

 

[pmeek]

: A scary morning

:smt006 Oh My! What a fright that must have been. Sounds like you handled it well. So happy to hear that everything turned out ok.

 

[greensthings]

: A scary morning

If you walk that area quite a bit, here are some bear facts you might want to know!
http://www.centerforwildlifeinformation.org/BeBearAware/BearEncounters/bearencounters.html

http://www.bebearawaresw.org/

http://www.3bears.net/yosemite/beare/

 

[pdm]

: A scary morning

Wow I know I would have turned around and went the other way and went fast too!

 

[red60]

: A scary morning

Yes, I have lived here since '87 and I walk that way all the time. I've seen one on that road only once before, but that was years ago and my husband was with me. I was never afraid of black bears before, although I had a healthy respect for them. However, I watched a program on the National Geographic channel a few years ago on predatory "black" bears & it terrified me.

I use to walk on further from our house down into a bit of national forest land. There is a trail, it might have been an old logging trail that's really nice for hikes, however about 6 years ago I found bear tracks on the trail so I no longer go there except for when my husband is with me.

We've also seen a bear about 6 miles from our house in another secluded area where I like to hike. It's near some small waterfalls. We were there once and heard it "thumping" I could quite litterally imagine it jumping up and them down on it's front paws warning us to stay away. I spied it just moments later moving deep into the woods.

If my husband isn't busy this weekend I'm going to get him to go with me on my walks. But, after I have come home and got my wits back I've decided that I just can't quit avoiding areas where there might be bears. This is the best place for me to walk as it is so shady & I try to stay out of the sun after having a bit of skin cancer a few years ago. So I'll be going off on my own again next week, but I won't forget my cell phone this time.

That is unless I see a cougar. That will have be house bound for life. LOL There is one that lives somewhere around here although I have never seen it. One of our neighbors sees it quite often at his pond catching frogs. The cougar catching frogs that is... not our neighbor. :smt001

 

[Wolfie]

: A scary morning

Red, I am so glad everything ended well. I too would be scared out of my mind. You handled it great. Glad you and Gage are safe!

 

[lidarkside]

: A scary morning

I used to live in Pennsylvania. I'm just so used to seeing them around all the time, it didn't worry me. I'd be out in the yard working, and they would just walk by me. The only time I would use caution is when the mother bear brought her newborns around every spring. Then I would keep my distance, because mother bears become aggressive if they think their cubs are in danger.