Since I started this whole bears on the trail thing, let me clarify my concern. I have not seen a bear on that trail for over 20 years. I know they are there, as I see their tracks, and their feces. It has never bothered me in any way, in fact it makes me smile inside knowing we can enjoy an area like this, and share it with wildlife. What does bother me is the fact that the first bear I saw did not retreat when yelled at, instead headed toward us. When I saw a second, larger bear within the same mile two days later that seemed unafraid of humans, it concerns me. I asked for information on other's experiences. I am not an advocate of depredation in principle unless a particular animal becomes too aggressive. What I won't do is wait until some lady with a baby gets hurt because I knew about it and did/said nothing. This area of the trail is heavily used, and close to homes. I think the one person who pointed out last year's fires have changed the habitat/territory is on to something.
We just need to be on the alert for the potential of danger, not keep our heads in the sand. 20 years ago, I ran into a harmless bear on August 25th eating blackberries in the same general area. My horse spun out, I came off, and was left face to face with a confused bear. Fortunately my horse went about 20 feet away and waited for me to come up to him. I was hurt pretty bad, alone, and in a remote area. I had to hike out as I could not climb back on my horse (separated a suture in my pelvis). When I did get back to civilization, I handed the reins to a passerby I had flagged down, and promptly passed out from the pain/exhaustion/adrenalin..?
Memories of that incident still haunt me. That is one reason I don't often ride alone. I do plan on contacting the State Park Ranger just to make them aware, and discuss options with them. My hope is that these bears have just found their way into the area/been pushed by limited territories, or whatever..and are just now being encountered due to more of us out there with the nice weather. I do hope they get the message and stay away from the well traveled trails. There are thousands of acres of habitat for them in that canyon..I just don't care to have them face down my horse! If you have never seen these trails, many are on the side of a steep canyon. Getting dumped can mean death.
Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway. ~ John Wayne
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> Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:37:49 -0600 > From: margetts@xxxxxxxxxxxx > To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [RC] Responsible Stewardship > > Barbara, Sorry to have upset you by agreeing with and adding my own > input about human impact, but your last post made me even more > opinionated about peoples underestimation of our impact on our > environment. I personally was one of 28 biologists that did three > different 20 day trips down the Colorado River on scientific research > expeditions to determine suitable habitat for the reintroduction of the > Native North American River Otter that had historically been in the > Grand Canyon prior their extirpation due to trapping by MAN, pollution > of the river water quality from MAN, the building by MAN of the Glenn > Canyon Dam that altered the depth, silt factor, turbidity, and water > temperature of the river, and the introduction of non-native aggressive > trout species by the park service in order to attract more tourists and > anglers to raft down, and fish on the river. Those trout have now > brought the native species of Humpback Chub and other species to the > endangered list. Every year thousands of people raft down the river, > camp, hike, pee, fish, etc., let alone, as you yourself acknowledge, the > invasion of the introduction of tamarisk that's now choking out other > vegetation. And the waiting list for permits is over five years long for > every expedition. NO ONE can tell me that man has not impacted that > native habitat. So to get back to relating this to the "problem and > solution to bears on the trail" topic, I still believe that the most > responsible reaction that we, as major wilderness trail users, can take > is to choose NOT to over-react and create a problem when there really > isn't much of one out there. I'm sure the percentage rate of riders and > horses that have been attacked and killed by bears while riding on the > Tevis trail is rather....Uh...low. And even if someone is dumped if > their horse spooks by seeing one, it probably isn't as high as those who > would do the same when seeing a biker. And I wouldn't suggest tracking, > tranquilizing and relocating a mountain biker either, (though I know > some equestrians would like to.) Melissa Margetts > > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > > Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. > Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp > Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp > > Ride Long and Ride Safe!! > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >
