Take Care, Bear.

[greenlake]

I always remember some Canadian relations of ours coming over years ago when I was a kid and telling us that they carried tin cans full of stones with them when they were out walking in the mountains to scare off the bears.

In Colombia, it's hippos you have to worry about....

BBC News - Pablo Escobar?s hippos: A growing problem

[Gittins Gal]

Bear Falls Through Skylight At Boy's Birthday Party, Eats All The Cupcakes

Uninvited guest.

Sounds like it got offed though.

Black bears, I believe, are the more aggressive.

I always remember some Canadian relations of ours coming over years ago when I was a kid and telling us that they carried tin cans full of stones with them when they were out walking in the mountains to scare off the bears.

I always took that story for granted but a few years later I was thinking about that and I thought there's no way a big old grizzly bear's gonna be scared off by someone rattling a tin can. I must have remembered it wrong - as one so often does with childhood memories.

But then I was speaking to somebody at work who had been on holiday in Canada and he was saying that people do carry such things to protect against bear attacks. Not necessarily a tin can full of stones but something one can rattle to make a noise. But, it's not to frighten them off - it's to let them know you are approaching so that they don't get startled when you suddenly chance upon one - that, apparently, is when things get scary.

[barrydidit]

Bear Falls Through Skylight At Boy's Birthday Party, Eats All The Cupcakes

Uninvited guest.

Sounds like it got offed though.

I blame the parents. They should have left a pic-a-nic basket unattended in the car. I believe that's the traditional source of bear food.

[zeitghost]

Bear Falls Through Skylight At Boy's Birthday Party, Eats All The Cupcakes

Uninvited guest.

Sounds like it got offed though.