Archive for the 'Animals' Category

With all the focus on two-legged threats recently, don’t forget about the four-legged kind.

Jennifer Stokya was visiting her mother in Arbor Vitae, north west of Fort Frances, when she was confronted by a bear in her backyard during a garbage run. Stokya said she lives in B.C. and just came down to visit her mother and help her with house chores.

“I stepped on the door step with full hands and fighting with trying to close the door behind me, I turned my back without looking up,” Stokya said. “Suddenly there was a loud hissing noise and a large paw whizzed past my head and it was a bear on his hind legs swiping at me.”

Stokya said she was trying to keep her dog, Dexter, from getting out the door. Although Stokya said Dexter is professionally trained to be off leash, he had been acting strange for several days and randomly growling at trees.

“Little did we know,” Stokya chuckled. “His swipe missed me and hit the garbage bag. He actually had me cornered, but thankfully the door hadn’t yet closed all the way, and Dexter pushed his way through the door and leapt into the air at the bear and successfully chased the bear up a tree about 20 feet away.”

Stokya said even while being chased by Dexter, the bear still managed to grab the garbage bag and a random loose coffee pod that had fallen out before running up the tree.

This is the season when bear sightings are most common. They are looking for food to add an extra layer of warmth before hibernating in the winter.

After calling the Ministry of Natural Resources, Stokya said they advised her to watch for the bear to come down and make noises to scare it away and make it feel unwelcome. However, the same bear came back wandering around the yard again.

“My mom spotted him first,” Stokya said. “She yelled and made noise and it didn’t even look at her. I came out and started yelling too and it at least momentarily stopped and looked at me and sniffed the air a little, recognizing me I guess. It wasn’t until my dog started growling and barking that the bear slowly ran off. I haven’t seen the bear since, but occasionally can smell that he is in the area.”

Stokya said a neighbour stopped by to warn them that he had spotted the bear behind the house when he he was driving by, so it’s still around.

“The next day the bear was back. But definitely not scared of us. I haven’t seen the bear, but definitely randomly could smell him so knew he was close by,” Stokya said.

“I was pretty shaken up for quite some time after, thinking of the close call, and how the whole situation would have been a lot different if I didn’t have my dog with me.”

Dexter’s treat for rescuing Stokya was steak for supper.

Who’s the good boy?  Dexter is the good boy.  That’s right.

Dexter is actually quite fortunate to have been a sole dog chasing a bear and to not only get away unscathed, but win the standoff.

More than one dog would have been even better.  If I lived in this neck of the woods, I’d carry a large bore handgun every step outside (and most of the time indoors).

But given enough of them, there isn’t an animal in North America who won’t run from a pack of dogs.  Even large predators will eventually give way to African dog packs.  In large enough numbers, they are an apex predator.

And our best friend.  At least, Dexter was.

Dean Weingarten.

On 29 July, 2020, Daniel Schilling went to clear trail about a mile from his cabin in Alaska. His dog returned home without him. His wife was very concerned. Searchers found his body, killed by a bear, where he was working. An empty can of bear spray, with the safety off, which had been discharged at the site, was also found.

[ … ]

How much of his decision to take bear spray, and not a revolver, was made because of the claims of bear spray effectiveness?

Prior: Black Bear Kills Unarmed Woman In Unprovoked Attack; Bear Spray Fails, Gun Works.

Don’t listen to the “experts.”  Dean is an expert you can listen to.  And listen to your common sense, sometimes no so common among men.

Carry bear spray if you want.  I don’t choose to.  But always carry a large bore handgun, and keep it within reach.  If it’s in your backpack, you won’t have time to get it.  If it’s near your encampment, you won’t have time to go back and get it.

The same thing goes for big cats, feral hogs and coyotes.

Dean Weingarten at Ammoland.

The father said he was talking to her when he heard a gurgling noise, and was no longer able to communicate with her. Nine minutes later, his son-in-law, Stephanie’s husband, Curtis Blais, called him and told him of the attack. Curtis had tried bear spray, but it did not work, so he got a gun and shot and killed the bear. From cbc.ca:

After waiting two minutes, Esquirol disconnected and called back. No one answered. Seven minutes later, he got a call from his daughter’s husband, Curtis Blais, who had been in the cabin’s kitchen about 30 metres away.

“Curtis called advising me that a bear attacked her, that he sprayed the bear with pepper spray, and the bear got more angry.”

Esquirol said his son-in-law told him he got a gun and shot the bear twice before it went down.

“So by that time, Stephanie had no pulse. He gave her mouth to mouth, but she was injured beyond the point of recovery.”

[ … ]

The bear was not starving. Its stomach was full of blueberries. From foxnews.com:

He said a conservation officer told him the bear was unprovoked in the attack and that the bear wasn’t hungry. It had a stomach full of blueberries.

We do not know how much time was consumed by complying with the Canadian government laws on firearms and ammunition storage.

Free men don’t follow unrighteous laws when those laws put themselves or their loved ones at risk.

When in bear country, always have a large bore firearm within reach.  Or be at increased and unnecessary risk.  The choice is yours.

And no, bear spray isn’t a large bore firearm.

News from Colorado. (via Insty)

Wolves and the rapid urbanization and exploding population of Colorado could test all of us to our limits. Ranchers already deal with a more crowded world on a daily basis, moving cattle on public roads and sharing trails with bikers and hikers. Nothing will hold back the tide of people moving to the Western Slope or the recreationalists escaping the Front Range.

Adding wolves to this crowded landscape could harm elk and deer populations. Mule deer have been declining since the 1970s. There have been serious declines in the elk cow/calf ratio in Southwestern Colorado, concerning Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Wolves prey on elk. As such, wolf reintroduction should not take place until studies, specific to western Colorado, can assess if deer and elk can survive the combined threats of wolves and humans, prior to a vote on reintroduction.

We have learned to coexist with bears, mountain lions, and coyotes, but even with coexistence strategies, wolves will be more challenging. Over time, wolves may colonize the entire state affecting many ranchers. Wolves could push us to the breaking point. As ranchers sell out, songbirds, raptors, and small mammals lose their homes. There is less local agriculture and important wildlife corridors are lost, further stressing elk and deer.

I have absolutely no intention of “coexisting with bears, mountain lions or coyotes.”  I will not learn to do anything of the sort.

When dealing with the awful reflexive tendency of cops to shoot dogs in SWAT raids and other times (e.g., a dog barks at them), I’ve said some pretty direct things to both cops and the survival community.

If you are a law enforcement officer and know nothing about animals, are frightened all of the time around them, and cannot assert yourself at the proper time and in the proper way, there are options for you.  You can volunteer your time at local farms, ranches and dog breeders, and you can purchase and raise your own dogs.  You need to become accustomed to being around cattle, horses, goats, dogs and other such animals.  If you choose to ignore this gap in your training and life experiences, and you choose to run around frightened of everything that moves, but you relinquish your badge and gun, then who am I to infringe on your rights?  Do as you wish, and leave me out of it.

But if you choose to be that kind of person, where you ignore gaps in your knowledge and experience base, but you continue to carry a badge and gun, I think you’re a panty waist.  You are an irresponsible person who should feel bad about themselves, and you’re dangerous to those of us around you, and especially dangerous to animals.  You’re unqualified to have your job, and you are basically a liability to the community.

[ … ]

Now a note to survivalists.  You might spend time, money and energy on being prepared to survive in the wilderness, or perhaps being tactically competent.  But if your planning, education and preparation doesn’t include a moderate knowledge of and mastery over animals, then your preparations are incomplete and your calculus is faulty.  There are animals out there who truly can harm you, such as (in the West) brown bear, cougar and moose, and (in the East) black bear if they’re badly hungry, or feral hogs.

I’m not telling people to do something I’ve never done myself.

I have fallen off, been thrown off, bitten, run over, kicked, and just about anything that can happen on or around a horse.  I have ridden horses all day long, and I do mean all … day … long, and gotten on to do it again the next day.  And the next day.  And the next day.  I have fed them, herded them, doctored them, and assisted them to mate.  If you’ve never witnessed horses mating first hand (and I’m not talking about watching the Discovery Channel), it can be a violent affair.  I’ve ridden with saddles and then also (in my much younger years) bareback over mountain tops along narrow trails while running the herd).  The hardest ride was bareback and (on a dare) without a bridle, only the halter.

From the age of fourteen and beyond into my early twenties, I worked weekends and summers at a Christian camp above Marietta, South Carolina named Awanita Valley (and Awanita Ranch in Traveler’s Rest).  We trained and trail rode horses, fed them and cared for them, hiked the trails and cleared them of snakes and yellow jacket nests (have you ever been on a horse when it came up on a yellow jacket nest?).

When we weren’t doing that, we were cutting wood, hauling supplies, digging ditches, and baling hay.  My boys did the same thing, and Daniel later (before the Marine Corps) worked for Joey Macrae in Anderson, South Carolina, an extraordinary professional horseman, breaking and training horses.  I have ridden in the rain, blazing sun, and snow.  I have seen my son Joshua and his horse buried up to his thighs in snow, and watched him ride the horse up from sinking in the drift and stay on him while keeping the horse and him safe.

Why is all (or any) of this important?  Because as I tried to convey in my earlier post, it is critical to have an understanding and mastery over animals [if you care about your life] …

The same thing goes for preening, smart ass little girls who get talked into doing something stupid.  Like this girl (courtesy of reader Ned in Horses in Austin).

A woke elite rich white girl tries to spook a cop’s horse from behind and… #AllLivesMatter #fearwomen pic.twitter.com/hCnqMhzZ1I

— Darrick Wilkins (@DarrickWilkins) July 2, 2020

So listen to me girl.  Let me explain something to you.

You survive around large farm animals like horses not because they love you or just like being around you, but because you make a deal with them.  Here is the deal: the horse will not kill you, and in return, you covenant to take care of the horse.  And you have to mean it – a horse knows if you’re lying.

You learn the horse’s language, from directional signals to foot pressure to voice commands to neck reining.  You learn the “warp and woof” of how the horse thinks.  You must learn what your voice inflections, timbre, volume and frequency do to the horse and how s/he will interpret them.  The horse will know if you’re unsure of yourself and don’t know what you’re doing, and despite what you’ve been told by your idiot college professors, there is no non-binary for horses.

Mares can be handled, geldings are a little more difficult, and studs are very hard to tame and usually dangerous.  Oh, and walking up behind a horse and surprising it will inevitably lead to a kick, and that in the superlative for running up to the horse.  To the horse, you are a threat and s/he will treat you as such.

A horse can stomp you, bite you, throw you off, run over you, and (here’s the worst part), kick you.  When a horse decides to kick, if the horse lands a hoof on your forehead, you’re likely going to end up dead or with severe and permanent brain injury.

That kick was merely a warning, and it was glancing at best.  You’re very fortunate to be able to stagger away from that with minor injuries.  So here’s a suggestion.  Drop out of college, it’s probably not doing you any good anyway, and it’s running up a mountain of debt you can never pay off.

Go volunteer at a local farm or ranch, and get some real like experience working for a living and learning to handle animals.  And don’t ever do anything like that again.

Then again, if you actually learn to work, you may not want to be out among those idiot protesters anyway.

Bear news from Colorado.

Chernosky realized that the bear was now between him and the cell phone in his room, so he couldn’t call for help. But he knew he had to try to coax the bear toward the door where it had walked in unannounced (yes, bears can actually open doors and cars).

Chernosky said he calmly talked to the bear, ushering it away from the stairs to where his kids were sleeping. According to the National Park Service (NPS), once a bear has noticed you, it’s important to talk to it so the bear can identify you as a human. Remember, humans are not their typical food choice. You should also make yourself look as large as possible, and back away sideways.

This method worked for Chernosky—initially. “The bear slowly backed away and opened the garage door. It went into the garage and the door shut behind it. I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the problem was solved,” he says. After waiting a few minutes, Chernosky cautiously opened the door to the garage and hit the button to open the garage door so the bear could go outside.

“The garage door spooked it, and it ran back toward where I was standing. I ran down the hall and hid in the corner, and it came back inside,” he continues. “I couldn’t see it because it was so dark, so I came back to the hallway to look, and when I came around, I realized it was standing right in front of me. It was a total shock to the both of us.”

The 400-pound black bear instantly hit Chernosky in the head so hard that it spun him around in a full circle. “It felt like a brick smacking you in the side of the head and instantly tore the skin off my forehead, my right eye, and sliced my ear in half. I was bleeding immediately and crawled back behind the counter thinking, ‘This thing’s about to have me for lunch,'” he says.

I guess the thing I don’t get is this.  Why would you hear someone or something trashing your home, and go out to meet that someone or something without a gun?

Tennessee.

SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is investigating after a man was reportedly attacked by a bear on an island on South Holston Lake.

TWRA spokesperson Matthew Cameron told News Channel 11 on Tuesday that officers were investigating after a man reported being dragged from a hammock while camping on the island.

TWRA reports that victim Matt Marvin was camping at an “undeveloped campsite” across from the 421 Access Area.

Marvin was asleep in a hammock early Sunday morning when he woke up to a bear biting his foot.

Marvin told investigators he defended himself by shooting at the bear.

Later Sunday evening, TWRA says that Marvin reported the incident to Washington County, Virginia 911 and told TWRA about the encounter on Monday.

TWRA reports that Marvin gave them a photo of the injury, which showed “a small wound to the heel of his foot.”

A dead or injured bear was not found at the campsite, nor did investigators find any sign of one.

TWRA reports human food was left behind at the campsite, and a warning of bear activity has been left in the area.

Connecticut.

A man who was walking three dogs on a trail in Simsbury was attacked by a black bear Sunday morning.

The incident happened at approximately 7:30 a.m. in the McLean Game Refuge off Firetown Road, police said.

Police said the attack happened about 20 minutes into the Eddy Loop Trail.

The man was walking three dogs on the trail when a bear came out and bit one of the dogs, according to Sergeant Brad Chase. The man tried to intervene and help the dog when he himself was bitten in the leg.

The man sought medical attention and is doing fine, police said.

The police department said they are working with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection who is handling the bear aspect of the incident.

One of the three, Lucy, a golden retriever who weighs about 50 pounds ran away when the incident happened. Simsbury police announced Monday morning that Lucy was found safe at the McClean Game Refuge.

At least the Tennessee camper had a pistol.  I don’t even think that’s allowed in Connecticut.  The first article recommends cooking far away from your camp site.  That’s hard in most instances, but it’s a good practice to elevate food in a tree, and camp with a dog, or multiple dogs.

News from North Carolina.

A 17-year-old was out collecting wood near his home in Hillsborough when he bent down to pick up a branch and a snake bit him on his left hand.

He knew almost immediately that it was a copperhead.

“He knows his snakes; he went to herpetology camp,” said Amy Carabetta, whose son Ian was bitten.

“I was scared,” she said. “His hand started to swell almost immediately.

Carabetta called 911 for an ambulance.

“My hand was really hard to move while I was in the hospital,” Ian said. “It surprisingly wasn’t painful.”

Carabetta was especially scared for her son because he wants to be a carpenter and his left hand is his dominant hand

“It was pretty scary the first night he was in the hospital,” Carabetta said. “I handed him a bottle, and he couldn’t unscrew it with his left hand.”

Ian got the treatment he needed, but when the bill came in the mail a few weeks later, Carabetta was shocked.

“I immediately got it out, put it on the hood of the car and took a picture of it and sent it to my husband,” she said. She then posted it on Facebook.

The bill totaled more than $225,000.

Ian’s hand healed completely, and his father’s insurance helped bring the family’s cost down to $175, Carabetta said.

“I don’t know if it would’ve happened that way if we hadn’t have had the treatment,” she said.

“The patient received 12 vials of antivenom, which cost about $200,000, including the hospital’s markup,” Duke Health officials said in an emailed statement to The News & Observer. “The patient’s insurance paid roughly half of the total amount billed based on its contract with Duke, which provides for a substantial discount. Duke has assumed the remaining balance, and the patient’s total out-of-pocket obligation is $175.”

I happen to know a little about this because I did some research when my Heidi-girl, the best dog ever in history, got bitten by a Copperhead.

The antivenom is made usually south of the border in Mexico.  They make it by injecting a select bovine population with venom, and extracting the antibodies over time to formulate the antivenom for humans.  By the way, this can cause stray bovine proteins to enter the human bloodstream if you have to be injected, and that itself can cause problems.

This antivenom is biological material and has to be refrigerated.  The cost when I looked into it was on the order of $10,000 – $12,000 per vial, or treatment, and the cost of recovery depends on how many vials you need.  Apparently the cost has gone up, and there is also a markup at the hospital (probably for simply investing the capital to have it in stock along with the shelf life of the material).

I don’t know how to advise, except to wear boots and watch your six if you’re going to be out and about in the summer and early fall.  This is one reason I don’t prefer to go hiking and backpacking in the summer.

News from Alaska.

Well, I don’t think he did everything right.  I’d be carrying a large bore handgun.

I have written the AP reporter who authored this report and asked her what weapon was used and what caliber.

She wrote back immediately and stated that she didn’t know, but gave me the contact information of the plant.  I have contacted them with these same questions.

If I get a response I’ll let you know.  Both I and Dean Weingarten would be very interested in that information.

News from Canada.

Francis Levasseur is happy to be alive and well after being chased and charged by a predacious black bear in the remote community of Hills, B.C., in the West Kootenay’s Slocan Valley.

He was out for a jog on a secluded trail during the Victoria Day long weekend, when he noticed the bear crossing the trail about 100 metres away. Levasseur stopped and, after waiting a while, noticed the bear didn’t seem to be bothered by his presence, so he continued on his way.

But then the bear started approaching him, Levasseur said.

“The bear came back on the trail and then he looked at me and started walking toward me,” Levasseur told CBC’s Bob Keating.

“I’ve had a lot of encounters with bears and I never had that kind of behaviour from a bear.”

Levasseur said at no point did he run toward or away from the bear because he didn’t want the animal to view him as prey, and added that he wasn’t carrying any food.

Levasseur started yelling, making loud noises and waving his hands in the air, even using a large stick, to try to look big.

Then, from 100 metres away, the bear charged at Levasseur.

“I thought well, I have to do something. I’m going to get killed,” he said.

He turned, saw a tree, and instinctively began to climb it.

The bear tried to climb another tree nearby, so Levasseur continued to scream and shook the tree in an attempt to scare it off. It seemed to work — the bear walked away. Fifteen minutes later, Levasseur figured it was safe to come down.

However, the bear came running back, chasing Levasseur up the tree about six metres from the ground.

The bear left and then came back every 10 minutes for two hours.

“It was really, really awful,” Levasseur said. “I thought I would die from the worst kind of death you can possibly have — being ripped apart by a bear. Not fun.”

[ … ]

According to the Valhalla Wilderness Society, predatory black bear attacks on humans are extremely rare.

“Extremely rare.”  Remember that.

So this guy would have had time to grab a weapon.  Can I say it, dear reader?

If I could give one piece of advice, it would be to carry a large bore handgun while in the bush.