If you’re in the mountains
Bears have killed two family dogs in mountain residential areas, and wildlife officials warn more attacks could be coming.
They say recent cold weather has hurt the bears’ food supply, and that development is creeping into undeveloped land where bears live.
In Asheville this past Sunday night, a mother black bear killed a dog that had been let out in the back yard around 11:00 p.m. The bear had cubs nearby.
Developers are starting to build on mountain land about a mile away, so bears are looking for food from different sources.
Hungry bears are not to be trifled with. Of course, packing in parks is illegal but that’s looking to change.
May 8th, 2007 at 10:09 am
Park and national forest restrictions are a reason I don’t hike/camp much in TN. I hope they can be gotten rid of.
May 8th, 2007 at 11:17 am
A good friend of mine is from Alaska. She said that going out in the wild there unarmed isn’t even a thought. It’s like getting in your car and not wearing a seatbelt as you fly down the highway.
Why should the wild parts of the lower 48 be any different?
It’s no surprise that we’re coming into contact with predators more often, as suburbia spreads westward (and eastward from the left coast), we’re going to get closer to where the wild things are. People have this romantic idea that wild animals aren’t supposed to be…well,…wild.
May 8th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Anybody dumb enough to go unarmed in wilderness country, no matter the law, deserves to be eaten by dumb (but not as dumb) animals.
May 8th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Thats a really stupid fucking comment. I have hiked for over 15 years all over the Smokey Mtns and haven’t been “eaten” by a bear or assaulted by some fucking nutjob while in the Park. What an asinine comment…
May 9th, 2007 at 12:06 am
Justin, as a friend of mine used to say “If you got luck, shit will do for brains.”
You have been lucky. If you ever do meet up with a bear, convince him how asinine I am, if you have time, before he eats you.
Sorry you feel so insulted,but I have no patience with self-inflicted stupidity.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:45 am
SA, Justin is our part of our resident liberal counter balance. It’s all part of the circle of life. I always welcome Justin’s comments. He always makes my case better than I can. Of course where he blogs in progressiveville there is no counter balance. Only the sound of echoes of agreement.
No way I would ever be unprepared in the wilderness regardless of the law. Bears don’t care about the law. I would never wish any wild animal harm, but going into back country without the proper equipment is just foolish.
May 9th, 2007 at 8:54 am
justin is pretty far from liberal. he’s an angry former conservative.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:37 am
I was thinking of JustinB. The “What an asinine comment…” threw me. Wrong Justin.