Bears...

[Sunrise Point]

I woke up at 1:15 AM to some sort of animal sounds right outside the camp. It was an adult (mother?) bear with 3 cubs. She was helping herself to sunflower seed from my birdfeeder. My suet feeder was nowhere to be seen...presumably she tore it down and enjoyed the suet as well. They didn't react to the light when I put the back porch light on and we were able to watch them for 10 minutes before they left. I tried to take pictures from inside the camp but the flash didn't reach and I wasn't going outside to get a better shot!

I didn't refill the feeder before we left because I don't want to encourage this. Does anyone out there have any experience with bears? I have always enjoyed watching creatures come to the bird feeders but this was a little unnerving.

[ITD]

Last summer, they (the bears) carried away 3 of my trash barrels, found 1 a couple hundred feet up the street, found the 2nd about a mile and a half away, never found the third.

[Irish mist]

We are having trouble with bears at my condo assocation because the "neighbors" will not stop filling their bird-feeders even though the association has warned them again and again not to do it. The NH Fish & Game Dept came down and got into shouting matches with these people to stop this behavior........no luck.

The threat of thousands of dollars in fines is not working. Nothing stops them from filling their feeders. Of course when the bears tear off the siding, damage the decks, and ruin the flowers & shrubs guess who is asked to cough up the money for repairs ?
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[RattlesnakeHunter]

We are having trouble with bears at my condo assocation because the "neighbors" will not stop filling their bird-feeders even though the association has warned them again and again not to do it. The NH Fish & Game Dept came down and got into shouting matches with these people to stop this behavior........no luck.

The threat of thousands of dollars in fines is not working. Nothing stops them from filling their feeders. Of course when the bears tear off the siding, damage the decks, and ruin the flowers & shrubs guess who is asked to cough up the money for repairs ?

Why would a bear tear off the siding, damage the decks and ruin the flowers and shrubs?

Don't they know that you were there first and they should go back into the vast wilderness looking for their plethora of food?

Priceless!!!

[Sunrise Point]

Obviously the bears have been here long before me and hopefully will survive long after I'm gone. As I said, it was a little unnerving to see them the other night. We have always been careful to either bring our trash home with us or lock it up securely in the garage. I didn't consider the bird feeders as an enticement for them (my mistake).

[Weirs guy]

SP, my in laws used to have a place in Sanbornton near I-93 and had a similar bird-feeder-bear-buffet issue.

We were sitting on the deck one day (myself, father-in-law and my 2 kids who were about 5 and 2 at the time) when we saw one not 50 yards from us trying to get at the bird feeder. The bear was full grown, standing on its hind legs eating out of the feeder. When it noticed us watching the bear turned sideways and attempted to hide BEHIND the pole holding the feeder up. :eek: The bear ate a little more, then wandered off on its way. It was a little nerve racking.

The solution to the problem was to tie a clothes line between the house and a nearby tree about 10' off the ground and suspend the feeders from that. Seemed to have worked, but then we had to watch out for bear "presents" around the cars.

[parrothead]

My parents woke up one night to a crunching noise. When they flashed a flash light out the window they found a bear chewing on the corner of their hottub cover. Did a pretty good job on it too.

[parrothead]

Don't think the bear can levitate. My guess those large claws could do a pretty good job on the side of a house, a deck, or some flowers.

Why would a bear tear off the siding, damage the decks and ruin the flowers and shrubs?

Don't they know that you were there first and they should go back into the vast wilderness looking for their plethora of food?

Priceless!!!

[Sunrise Point]

Thank you WG...I am going to try and raise the feeder 2 -3 feet next time I go up there. Right now it's hung by a length of nylon twine from a high branch. I will have to use a ladder when it needs to be refilled, but it will be worth it if I can keep feeding the birds. I really enjoy watching the birds and would hate to give up the feeders.

[Sunrise Point]

WG, are you saying that the bears are deliberately using your parking area to make their feelings known???

We call those "Turds of Outrage".

[ike]

Put a pulley on the high branch and use sash cord. Run the sash cord from a hook, through the pulley, down the tree, and wrap the cord around a couple of spikes. When you want to feed the birds, just lower the feeder.

[Sunbeam lodge]

We had three bears on Veasey Shore Road. They were seen there about 3 weeks ago. They must be moving around looking for food.

[LIforrelaxin]

Why would a bear tear off the siding, damage the decks and ruin the flowers and shrubs?

Don't they know that you were there first and they should go back into the vast wilderness looking for their plethora of food?

Priceless!!!

RSH, we all understand your pro wildlife stanse, and that is fine and you are more then welcome to your opinion and to voice it. But don't step onto your soapbox so often it gets old. And here it is not warrented.

No one has said anything more here then that they have had trouble and discussed ideas with how to deal with the bears, so that they and family can stay safe.

I love the wilderness and wildlife more then most people know....but when I wildlife gets into the proximity of humans precautions need to be taken. And if at all possible, which I think the people in this thread are discussing how to make things less inticing to the bears, raising the bird feeder etc. and this is the best way to start. But if the bears keep comming around and find new things to get into steps my need to be taken... Sometimes relocation is the best thing, it keeps the people safe and keeps the bear alive..... My advice to you folks is to work with the Fish and Game officers, they will guide you along the way and have the ability if deemed absolutely neccessary to relocate the bear.

[Rose]

Right now it's hung by a length of nylon twine from a high branch.

We put our feeder on a high branch after we had a bear visit in the night. He just climbed the tree (leaving proof for us to show everyone), then pulled the branch down, nearly breaking it. He left a nice butt print in the mulch as he sat trying to figure out how to get into the feeder.

[Irish mist]

Excuse me RSH for not wanting a bear and her 3 cubs to be walking around the parking lot of a 180 unit condo development. The only thing "priceless" is reading your constant pro-wildlife drum-beat at any price. We only ask that the neighbors don't put out bird-feed at this time of year. This condo BTW is in Laconia, not the woods !
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[RattlesnakeHunter]

Excuse me RSH for not wanting a bear and her 3 cubs to be walking around the parking lot of a 180 unit condo development. The only thing "priceless" is reading your constant pro-wildlife drum-beat at any price. We only ask that the neighbors don't put out bird-feed at this time of year. This condo BTW is in Laconia, not the woods !

Yeah, what was I thinking..."Pro-Wildlife".........

You are right, develop every inch of the world until it is wall to wall people.
Have you ever stopped for a moment and thought about how quickly every bit of forest is being developed? No of course not, you just don't care.

Question, do you know what an Eastern Cottentail Rabbit is?
Where are they? What has happened to all of the rabbits? The Eastern Cottentail is now becoming an endangered species..... it is a rabbit!

I thought rabbits were prolific? We are the ultimate lifeform and devastate the environment as we live our daily lives. How are we pushing this rabbit into extinction? There are too many people, we fragment the habitat and leave little room for other creatures to live.

Who is more important to Man's way of life in the United States A common Honey Bee or 100,000 people?

The Bee!

The Honey Bee is our chief pollinator...take it away and we are in serious trouble.

You were talking about it destroying the condo siding, ripping up a deck and messing up your flowers and bushes. You did not say you were afraid of it walking around in your parking lot. Come to think of it, you should call my friends over at Fish and Game and tell them to come over and kill them so they don't destroy the landscaping.....

Why do you think the bears are there? Could it be that they are running out of habitat? Could it be your "Condo" was once woods or a meadow?

Pro-Wildlife is far better than Pro-Pavement but by far the underdog...

Have it your way, Pave the Universe!

[Irish mist]

Your're a troll. You don't know me from a hole in the wall. You go from thread to thread flaming people, trying to personally insult them, and yap about how terrible man is. The bears are here because people are feeding them. I'm not afarid of them. If you took the time to read my post you would see that I berate my "neighbors" for drawing the bears to the condo with their bird feeders. I don't want the bears relocated, or harmed. I want my neighbors to act in a more careful manner, nothing more, nothing less. I'm not looking to drive all wildlife into the sea. You have a problem with over-population.....call congress ! They let millions of people immigrate here every year, putting pressure on our resources.

Take your irrational, and self-satified out of context arguements elsewhere.......or at least out of my face. I don't need your childish musings.
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[ITD]

Question, do you know what an Eastern Cottentail Rabbit is?
Where are they? What has happened to all of the rabbits? The Eastern Cottentail is now becoming an endangered species..... it is a rabbit!


Have it your way, Pave the Universe!

Cottontail, it's the Eastern Cottontail Rabbit and they are doing fine. In fact they are a non-native species introduced from the Midwest in the first half of the twentieth century.

Maybe you're thinking of the New England Cottontail Rabbit, their numbers are dwindling since the sixties. They like large open areas, like abandoned farms, harder to come by because of REFORESTATION and development. Some heavy logging in NH would probably bring their population right back. (No, I'm not advocating heavy logging)

It took me all of about two minutes to get the correct story on them. I highly recommend that you know what you are talking about before you pontificate, cajole, berate and lecture others, makes me wonder about the accuracy of your statements on your other causes.

And what's with Pave the Universe? Who here has said that ...... except you.

[SAMIAM]

Good post,Irish...."troll"......I love it.Haven't heard that in along time.
Going through rt 301 in Florida a few years ago I came upon a store that sold all kinds of rattlesnake stuff.I bought a cane with a huge stuffed rattlesnake head for a handle....fangs over an inch long.It's send it to RSH to torment him,but I have too much fun teasing my grandchildren with it.Maybe I'll pick him up a nice belt when I go through next year.

[SteveA]

Rattlesnake is a flamer... and hopefully will soon be off this forum

Here are the guidelines: (and Don does a good job of keeping us all in line. That's what make this the best forum around..)

Take Your Agenda Elsewhere

If you are here just to push an agenda you'll have a problem with the moderator. Members are expected to participate in a friendly and helpful way and to respect everyone's views and opinions.

Sad thing is... if you go back to his very first post about Timber Rattlesnakes... he/she got lot's of support, and lot's of information about sightings... Yes a few jokes.. and Yes a few tugs at his agenda... and he found out some people are afraid of snakes.. (like me:) )

Problem is, I suspect that He/She ( not trying to be provocative.. RH has used so many names in his sig.. I'm unsure of gender) isn't going to let anyone have an opinion.. and respect any opinions other than the one He/She holds.

I'm old... What I learned along the way to getting old is that what I think isn't always right.. or even important! :laugh: :laugh:

RH.. will learn it.. but I suspect, not very soon.

I'll make another guess here... it won't be the first, or last message board He/She is thrown off of... :eek:

In the meantime... use the IGNORE feature... if you can't see his posts is he really here? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[Irish mist]

Thanks everyone, especially SteveA. I'm done with him.......I just hate to see a person like this insult people, and mess up the forum. He could always go to Democratic Underground, or some other political forum where he can engage in this type of behavior.
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[Knot Droolin']

Thanks SteveA I must voice my agreement with your post.

It is a good thing we only have "little" :) black bears in the NE. Imagine the problems people have out west with garbage/food left out attracting brown bears...

[WINDinmySOCKIES]

I am a wildlife advocate, but I have social skills too, I hike a lot and WOULD HAVE BEEN happy to have given rattlesnake hunter any input had I seen any activity this summer. However, Its clearly atttention he/she wants and not information. This is why the "ignore" button , although difficult to use, is highly effective.:laugh:
"It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice."

[Major problem]

Bear-skin rugs are nice !!! :laugh:

[Grant]

Wow, what a pile-on.

I'm out.

[jlrm73]

I am sure RH is reading this thread and is pretty proud of himself...yes, use that ignore feature and he won't receive the feedback and reactions that have apparently been enjoyed, judging by the rantings on other threads. I started reading the post by Sunrise with interest, having had a similar experience, only to be aggravated by RH and logging off, pledging not to post again...(didn't last long!!!)
It's a shame that some people have nothing better to do than attack others who have an interest in sharing experiences...sad.

[wildwoodfam]

:rolleye1: I often find it hard to read some of these posts - my god - this is NEW HAMPSHIRE - it is filled with wildlife and for folks to be living here and be so oblivious to what actions and steps should be taken to respect both nature and the wildlife who live here is awesome - not in a good way - but awesome in that you really should know where you are living. Familiarize yourself to the surroundings and learn about the inhabitants of the region. First thing people do when they move into a condo association, neighborhood, etc, is get to know their neighbors - same things goes for the wildlife! Get to know it.

I am not taking sides with Rattlesnake person - I find his posts off putting, but I do think he has validity in some of the things he says - he just has no clue how to present them! Some people are unable to communicate how they feel - maybe that's his schtik!;)

One of the comments made earlier, best serves my point - "when wildlife gets into the proximity of humans, precautions need to be taken." There was a time - not so long ago ( I recall this time and I am only 40 ) that MUCH of lake winnipesaukee's shoreline was relatively natural - sure there were camps, some pretty big ones - but there was still a natural surrounding which provided wildlife and "man" plenty of places to co-exist. MAN has moved in - not vice a versa. Let's be clear on that point. Wildlife has not encroached, man has. Wildlife is only doing what it naturally does - it doesn't know that it isn't suupose to visit your condo or your birdfeeders, it doesn't know that "private community" or "no solicitors" means, stay out!

Bears are coming out of their winter hibernation period - think about that folks - when you wake up in the morning - YOU ARE HUNGRY! They have also increased their family size recently by adding cubs to the den, these cubs are like crying babies and need food - so any food sources in proximity to your homes should be removed in the early to mid spring while these bears forage for food.

I know it is "nice" to watch birds feeding on the feeders - but for a few weeks (especially now that the trees are budding and providing food for the birds) remove the temptation for the bears and allow them the respect they deserve as some of the regions original residents.

We can co-exist, but we all must respect one another.

Again - off the soapbox - happy spring!

[Weirs guy]

Sorry SP, I should have mentioned the beauty of the clothesline, as ike eluded to, is the pulley system. Mount one pully on the side of your house outside a high window and one to a tree at about the same height and you just pull the feeder to you, then push it back. No ladders. Of course, the bear can just climb the tree, but at least they are working for it!

[Sunrise Point]

You mean like an old fashioned clothes-line? I will give it a try.

May as well make them work for it!

Thank you...

Wildwoodfan,

I am getting to know my "neighbors". I share this bit of paradise with beaver, mink, garter snakes, loons, ducks, salamanders, wood frogs (hopefully not Timber Rattlers) and many others. Admittedly, the bears were a little bit of a shock. I can learn to live with them too...where I grew up, there was none of this. I am learning and enjoying.

[LIforrelaxin]

One of the comments made earlier, best serves my point - "when wildlife gets into the proximity of humans, precautions need to be taken." There was a time - not so long ago ( I recall this time and I am only 40 ) that MUCH of lake winnipesaukee's shoreline was relatively natural - sure there were camps, some pretty big ones - but there was still a natural surrounding which provided wildlife and "man" plenty of places to co-exist. MAN has moved in - not vice a versa. Let's be clear on that point. Wildlife has not encroached, man has. Wildlife is only doing what it naturally does - it doesn't know that it isn't supposed to visit your condo or your bird feeders, it doesn't know that "private community" or "no solicitors" means, stay out!Ok so maybe I didn't word myself technically correct here. But to tell you the truth I am less worried about who was where first. My concern always is the safety of both the animal and the human. Which is why I always advocate working with Fish and Game in these situations. As I mention in an earlier post:

"My advice to you folks is to work with the Fish and Game officers, they will guide you along the way and have the ability if deemed absolutely necessary to relocate the bear."

I grew up vacationing in some very wild areas out west, and have lived with snakes, badgers, bears, etc. all around. And well I don't believe in needlessly killing them, occasionally it is necessary to take actions such as relocating them to less populated areas. Of course before things like relocation are resorted to, people need to try work on the issues that are keeping the animals around. But lets face it SAFTY OVERRULES WHO WAS WHERE FIRST EVERY TIME, the last thing I want to hear is that a bear has been hanging around and someones child is playing in their back yard and gets attacked.... Animals and people can co-exist but we have to have some common sense, and my sense tell me that if a bear is in a Condo development in a area like Laconia then is need to be relocated. Lets face it animals by nature want nothing to do with man, and when wild animals are willing to come close to man then we have a safety issue....

Now if someone wants to tell me that an animals rights are more important then the safety of a person, and especially the safety of kids, I welcome the argument.............It is unfortunate that the human race has developed the world to the point we have, but we have, and now we have to deal with the issues that are here..... as unpleasant as they might be.

[ITD]

This also brings up the issue of people who knowingly feed these animals such as bears. They are essentially giving these animals a death sentence. We these people can't figure this out is beyond me.

[LIforrelaxin]

This also brings up the issue of people who knowingly feed these animals such as bears. They are essentially giving these animals a death sentence. We these people can't figure this out is beyond me.

ITD you bring up a good point....And this is actually one of the reason that my first comment in situation like this is to get in touch with the Fish and Game depts. They understand the issues and have all kinds of knowledge to pass on. And they know how to take care of the animals.... As many of you know the Deer Population on Long Island grew out of control and we had major issues, with the health of the vegitation growth and overall health of the deer. Fish and Game officers came out to many meetings that where held to educate people. They discussed all the plans and pro and cons to those plans to anybody willing to listen. And in the end the heard was thined and we now have low level vegitation back and growing well and we have extremely healthy deer. The Fish and Game officers are the Key to humans living in conjunction with wildlife... I am confident that they would work at and help people with bears just like the helped those of us on Long Island with our deer issue

[Sunrise Point]

I found the NH Wildlife website - http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/Wildlife_profiles/profile_black_bear.htm and it had great information.

It looks like the bird feeders are going to be put away until late fall.

Thank you everyone for your comments.

[wildwoodfam]

It looks like the bird feeders are going to be put away until late fall.

QUOTE]

We always pulled our feeders from April until June - then back out in July - then we pull them Labor Day through late October - then back out at Halloween through the winter. The bears tend to be less active and intrusive in the summer - then come back around in the fall as then begin to prepare to head into hibernation.

We had several bears in our area when we lived in Southwestern NH out by Peterborough. They would take apart our neighbors feeders every spring and again in the fall - and were quite present from April through June - evenings mostly - but on rare occassions in the later morning hours (but that was early April when they were coming down from their mountain caves and dens).

I'd say - if you enjoy the feeders - pull them April - May - early June, and again September - October.

Good luck and happy spring!

OH - one last comment - LI - as fellow rez of "the island" - which should have been renamed DEER Island - I have to respectfully disagree that the deer herd was dealt with appropriately. On any given day we still have high numbers of deer dining on our property - we have no vegitation on our 2.5 acres of land because the deer see to it to trimming everything in sight!

We are connected via land bridge - so the deer have all the access they need. Thats always a funny sight - my kids and their friends LOVE watching the deer cross the bridge! Maybe we need a drawbridge that can be lfted whenever the deer start up the road to crossover! Oh wait - nevermind they can swim!!:rolleye2:

[Dave R]

Who is more important to Man's way of life in the United States A common Honey Bee or 100,000 people?

The Bee!

The Honey Bee is our chief pollinator...take it away and we are in serious trouble.



Honey bees, while excellent pollinators (and really interesting creatures), are not even indigenous to North America. They were brought here by Europeans in the 1600s. In NH, there are very few "wild" honey bees. They are very susceptible to mites (and other problems) and require substantial care and management to survive our harsh Winters. Most of the honey bees in NH are the result of professional or hobbyist beekeeping.

It's quite possible that the introduction of honey bees in North America directly or indirectly caused some other species of insect, plant or animal to go extinct.

[LIforrelaxin]

OH - one last comment - LI - as fellow rez of "the island" - which should have been renamed DEER Island - I have to respectfully disagree that the deer herd was dealt with appropriately. On any given day we still have high numbers of deer dining on our property - we have no vegitation on our 2.5 acres of land because the deer see to it to trimming everything in sight!

We are connected via land bridge - so the deer have all the access they need. Thats always a funny sight - my kids and their friends LOVE watching the deer cross the bridge! Maybe we need a drawbridge that can be lfted whenever the deer start up the road to crossover! Oh wait - nevermind they can swim!!:rolleye2:

Wildwood, I didn't mean to implie that the island has fully recovered as it has not... but things are improving, I watched the fall apart through the 80s and 90s as the heard on the island grew, and now have noticed that the recovery has started. 10 years ago there was NO low level vegitation some area's are recovering quicker than others.... the ferns behind my camp for example are flurishing now. It took many years for the problem to develop to the point that it did and it will take just as long for recovery. The most important things is that the deer are healthier now, and the vegitation is comming back. The heard management is working, it is just a process that takes awhile. I just hope that the island residents continue to understand the need for the annual hunt, it was a painfull few years getting people to understand why we needed it, and I would hate to see it stopped because people start objecting to much again......

Now as for your 2.5 acres, is there something in the area that attracts the deer? I am not saying that you or a neighbor is feeding them (alothough this is still a problem on the island), but rather are you by and area where the deer like to bed down for example? My quess would be that there is something in your area of the island that naturally attracts the deer, and those areas will be the last area's of the island to recover..... Luckily even though the road is named Deer Haven, the Deer don't seem to stay around our section of the island consistently ....

[Dave R]

Isn't it legal to shoot nuisance animals? Maybe the deer problem is easier to fix than it seems.

[wildwoodfam]

now THATS a scarey thought!! - Cannot HUNT on the island!! As you stated they are a nuisance animal not a life threatening one. No deer has charged me - although the moms stand their ground when the fawns are around. The population is certainly smaller than it was 10 years ago LI - for sure - but there are still more deer than the island alone should be able to support. Deerhaven - I see deer on your road daily in the summer months! It's one of our favorites for nature walks with the girls - after a morning of boating and swimming of course.

As for my property - there's nothing attracting the deer - other than the normal grass and other vegitation sources - we certainly do NOT feed them - quite the contrary - even my young children know now to bang on the doors and stomp their feet to keep the deer moving along! Still they tend to cut through our land in the morning and then again at dusk. They are no longer even distressed by our dogs - who have become so normalized to the deer presence they dont even bark at them anymore. They are like neighbors! (Well - actually the dogs abrk at some of the neighbors! HA!) Certainly the deer in our lil' herd appear healthier now than they did 10 years ago. So that would go to you point about a better balance.

[ITD]

Too bad rattlesnakes don't eat deer, that would solve two problems easily. :D

[Gavia immer]

Excuse me RSH for not wanting a bear and her 3 cubs to be walking around the parking lot of a 180 unit condo development. This condo BTW is in Laconia, not the woods !

With the arrival of spring, "wild" bears will wander looking for food, sometimes upsetting city people with their presence. But others aren't concerned at all about some other animals that are found at condos!

Irish mist's message came to mind when reading at another site and came upon this "domesticated" animal's photograph.



http://www.dailywriting.net/pitbull.jpg

[wildwoodfam]

That might solve the deer problem for sure - maybe the black bears too - but me thinks that a good swarm of honey bees might be able to take this guy out - not too mention what a rattler could do.:eek:



http://www.dailywriting.net/pitbull.jpg[/QUOTE]

[Dave R]

but me thinks that a good swarm of honey bees might be able to take this guy out -



http://www.dailywriting.net/pitbull.jpg[/QUOTE]

I realize it was written in jest but:

Nope, honey bees are utterly harmless when they swarm. It's not an aggressive behavior, it just looks scary. They are just moving to a new location. If you ever see a swarm, leave it alone, unless you wish to kill them for no reason. They are just resting while scouts look for a new place to live. They'll leave on their own.

[LIforrelaxin]

Still they tend to cut through our land in the morning and then again at dusk. They are no longer even distressed by our dogs - who have become so normalized to the deer presence they dont even bark at them anymore.

Hummm, sounds like your house in unlucky enough to be right on one of the normal wondering paths of the deer. And then to top it off you dogs aren't barking at them. Now I understand your delemia. Other then a fence which I am sure you don't want I am not sure what to tell you to do, other then get the dog pictured above....

On a more serious note if you have plants you would like to save that you can not bring inside, you can get blood meal in the gardening section of Aubochons and sprinkle a little around the plants you don't want taken as a snack. This seems to help to some degree....... Of course my neighbors and I all have dogs that bark and chase the deer (of course none of them would know what to do if they caught the deer, especially the Shi Tzu my mother used to have), so we don't see the deer on our section of the road much at all anymore...

[wildwoodfam]

Thanks for the suggestions - we actually considered a deer fence - one of those chicken wire type fences to run the perimeter - but then realized this would only steer the deer into the neighbors yard - and that didnt make any sense....and wasn't exactly a neighborly thing to do - so we have decided to deal with the deer. They dont create any real issues for us - and we have a friend who uses the deer droppings in her jewelry craft :eek:

We do use the deer repellent - it smells AWFUL - but it has saved us a boat load of money on buying new plantings every summer!

[rander7823]

Just explain to all these anilmals if thye want to stay they have to pay taxes....That should get rid of them quickly

[Sunrise Point]

A friend sent this to me. 1392

[jeffk]

OH, I'm dyin' here. LOL :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[Mee-n-Mac]

And on that theme ....

A Russian scientist and a Czechoslovakian scientist had spent their whole lives studying the majestic grizzly bear. Each year they petitioned their respective governments to allow them to go to Yellowstone to study these wondrous beasts. Finally, their request was granted and they immediately flew to New York and then west to Yellowstone. They reported to the local ranger station and were told that it was the grizzly mating season and it was much too dangerous to go out and study the animals. They pleaded that this was their only chance. Finally the ranger relented. The Russian and the Czech were given cell phones and told to report in each day. For several days they called in, and then nothing was heard from the two scientists. The rangers mounted a search party and found the scientists' camp completely ravaged. There was no sign of the missing men. They then followed the trail of a male and a female bear. They found the female and decided they must kill the animal to find out if she had eaten the scientists, because they feared an international incident. They killed the female and cut open the bear's stomach and, sure enough, found the remains of the Russian. One ranger turned to the other and said, "You know what this means, don't you?" "Of course," the other ranger nodded. "The Czech is in the male." :laugh:

[Sunrise Point]

You hade my day! I'm going to send that along to my friend.

We're heading back this weekend. There were no signs of bears last weekend and hopefully they'll pass us by this weekend too.