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syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
I was just up in Moose Pass visiting friends in July. For some odd reason they've lived there for over a decade with nothing but regular doors on their old house (now a rental unchanged) and other misc buildings (other than their chicken coop which is flimsy and tasty so it has an electric fence). They just spent a ton on a nice new house and that too has regular doors. None of their two cars and two trucks have ever been broken into either. I guess USDA rangers don't know anything about bears and somehow they're lucky?


Lower Trail Lake just around the corner from their place

Like everyone else in the area they have bear proof garbage cans.

We also visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center which is a well known animal rescue that has lots of large animals including bears. My cousin's best friend founded and runs it. I guess they don't know anything about bears either.
 
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Kevin

Turbo Monkey
For what its worth, I did a few weeks of volunteer work on a natural reserve/seaturtle hatchery thats run by Syadasty's sister a few years back in Costa Rica and no doors were opened by seaturtles for the entire duration of my stay.

Me and Josh also swam across a river With 8ft crocodiles just to go surfing this one day on our lunch break.

Hope that helps.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
For what its worth, I did a few weeks of volunteer work on a natural reserve/seaturtle hatchery thats run by Syadasty's sister a few years back in Costa Rica and no doors were opened by seaturtles for the entire duration of my stay.

Me and Josh also swam across a river With 8ft crocodiles just to go surfing this one day on our lunch break.

Hope that helps.
But what about that other guy we lost while night kayaking with Oscar?


Oscar doing some sampling

The sea turtle and wildlife medicine conference I helped run there for Central American vets:




Safe substitute for a ladder



Intubation and necropsy demo


 
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kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
It's syadasti trying to boost his bear knowledge cred I think.

I think if it gets high enough, the time space continuum collapses on itself, and events that genuinely occurred in reality actually don't. Because someone told him about grizzlies in alaska or something.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
It's syadasti trying to boost his bear knowledge cred I think.

I think if it gets high enough, the time space continuum collapses on itself, and events that genuinely occurred in reality actually don't. Because someone told him about grizzlies in alaska or something.
I didn't bring up, I haven't spoke to Kevin in months. How much time have you spent work closely with large animals?

I have over a hundred hours logged with large birds of prey like eagles, osprey, hawks, vultures etc and wild canids. I'm not really interested in canids or bears so the only reason I was working with the canids was to fill in. I have vet friends that spend a great deal of time in protected contact with larger animals, even elephants - they'll hurt you even by accident if you're lucky enough.

I also had a house in bear country, we had various encounters with black bears living there (our house was an 1/8 mile from a trailhead). The last year we lived there the state park was closed for a few weeks while they went in and shot bears that were getting a little too friendly with hikers.

It's sensational nonsense to claim a bear/tiger/lion/etc is going to charge your front/back door and break it down - it doesn't happen unless the door is unlocked and they open it. And that's the reality of it.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
Didn't I just tell you that a bear broke down the door to my garage, and it was euthanized?
And I already noted that 5-6 posts prior to yours. They don't break down the doors rapidly, it's a slow process as they break in and it's typically cheap thin garage doors like metal ones. As it's relevant to a tiger or bear, it's not going to be an immediate danger that requires shooting them on the spot.

They might tear open a thin/cheap metal garage door or screen door/window for food, but they'd not knocking down locked regular doors. It doesn't happen.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
Well, the funny thing is that it was a regular old door.
Unlocked or poorly latched/installed doors are certainly problematic but a regular door installed properly with a knob and locked isn't an issue.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
It's sensational nonsense to claim a bear/tiger/lion/etc is going to charge your front/back door and break it down - it doesn't happen unless the door is unlocked and they open it. And that's the reality of it.
Whatever you say boss. You don't live in a area with regular contact with the things.

There's a group here called the bear league that was formed specifically to educate people about how to handle themselves up here because they got tired of bears getting killed by the two state wildlife agencies. Bears get killed after BREAKING INTO HOUSES. Nine times out of ten that's a direct result of some retired biddy feeding the things, getting reported, stopping, and then the bear goes looking. But it's a regular enough occurrence. How grizzlies behave in Alaska doesn't have a whole lot to do with how semi-domesticated black bears in Tahoe behave around neighborhoods that butt right up against their habitat.

And just to be clear I never claimed that bears regularly, unprompted go charging into houses. There are so many of them here that if that were the case this place would be uninhabitable (and a lot more entertaining). But it does happen. I'm really sorry to conflict with everything you think you know about bears, but that's a particular animal that dictates a lot of how people go about their lives here.

Hell I was camping outside Yosemite a few years ago and got woken up to the sound of a sliding door getting ripped off a mini van a few spots over. Can you guess what animal we chased away? (not elephant)
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
Last year we had black bears we saw with our own eyes pass through our neighborhood three times in year (once while my wife was walking our dog), I guess that doesn't count as black bear territory either :rolleyes:

The state park next to our house was closed for weeks that year to shoot black bears for stalking hikers.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Holy shit you're reaching.

Just told my coworker about the absurdity of this conversation. She just reminded me her house got broken into this spring THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR when they were out of town by a not elephant :rofl:

Syadasti: would you like the number so you can speak with her?
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
Holy shit you're reaching.

Just told my coworker about the absurdity of this conversation. She just reminded me her house got broken into this spring THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR when they were out of town by a not elephant :rofl:

Syadasti: would you like the number so you can speak with her?
I agree with your statement that "And just to be clear I never claimed that bears regularly, unprompted go charging into houses."

And in the relevancy to the escaped captive tiger story, neither tiger or bear is an imminent danger that will charge the front/back door of your home to attack you - it will be for food or other odors and it will be a slow process - they will not break down your door like a battering ram or several ton rhinoceros. Animal control has plenty of time to address nuisance animals rather than an untrained police shooting is the point vs sensational nonsense from goldsmiths.

FYI in July the only bear we encountered in AK was a juvenile black bear crossing the road in a park on the ride back from a hike.
 
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Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,137
16,532
Riding the baggage carousel.
For the record: I've never had a raccoon break down a door in my house.
When I was a kid we had one get into the garage. My dad was pretty level headed but holy shit did he get mad because the dog wouldn't shut up all night. Turned out Josey had a reason to be upset. Holy fuck did that stupid raccoon make a mess in the garage.

We also have a fairly active and large group running rampant down in the creek, and occasionally, in the yard.

Based on what this thread has taught me, I believe that makes me an expert in the breeding habits of wallaby's.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
It's also easy to co-exist with bears even in their native habitat. In the summer of 2001 I spent 10 weeks in a tent in the Rockies, mostly in the Tetons and we carried food the on each segment, up to a three week supply without any problems whatsoever.

Like you said woo, people make really stupid mistakes all the time. Things like feeding bears/wildlife with food being left out or accidentally leaving things unlocked/open windows/vents with attractive odors.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
Last year we had black bears we saw with our own eyes pass through our neighborhood three times in year (once while my wife was walking our dog), I guess that doesn't count as black bear territory either :rolleyes:

The state park next to our house was closed for weeks that year to shoot black bears for stalking hikers.

We had hordes of bears in Virginia. They were cute. Ran across the little guys all the time, almost ran into one on my bike. They knock over grills and rip open garbage cans. Naughty little fellers. Didn't think too much of them, was never concerned.

Then I walked up on a black bear hiking in Wyoming. Easily 4 times the size of anything I saw back east. I'd be rather concerned if that fucker came strolling through my neighborhood.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
Then I walked up on a black bear hiking in Wyoming. Easily 4 times the size of anything I saw back east. I'd be rather concerned if that fucker came strolling through my neighborhood.
The majority of black bear records are from the PA and NJ area, not out West. Many of the record black bears are on par with grizzly bears in size.

My friend and I saw this bear in the meadow along with a group of other people about 6 months before it was shot when we were mountain biking in Mahlon Dickerson Preserve. It's one of the biggest black bears ever shot in North America at 829 lbs and I've never seen a black or brown bear that big in person since. The day before that bear was shot a 776-pound black bear was shot in Stokes State Forest not too far away.



http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/newshound/2011/12/two-record-black-bears-taken-new-jersey
 
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kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
^^^^ "ammoland?"

Jesus


Then I walked up on a black bear hiking in Wyoming. Easily 4 times the size of anything I saw back east. I'd be rather concerned if that fucker came strolling through my neighborhood.
You'll have that same experience once you now see a grizzly in person.

I rode up behind two, mom and adolescent bike packing outside of bob marshall wilderness in montana and seriously though it was two horses up ahead at first.

"volkswagon" gets thrown around but those things are bigger than little cars.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
^^^^ "ammoland?"

Jesus




You'll have that same experience once you now see a grizzly in person.

I rode up behind two, mom and adolescent bike packing outside of bob marshall wilderness in montana and seriously though it was two horses up ahead at first.

"volkswagon" gets thrown around but those things are bigger than little cars.

90% confident I could smell one while hiking in Montana, saw fresh footprints. I suspect it was on the same trail and stepped into the woods when it heard us. Didn't sleep very well that night.

I walk my dog on a dirt trail that runs behind the Woodland Park Zoo. Just a bunch of maintenance shacks and access roads on the other side of the fence. Was rather shocked one day to see a grizzly on one of the access roads not 30 yards away. Yeah it was a zoo bear behind 3 fences but I certainly wasn't expecting it. I would have compared it more to a compact crossover SUV.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
I only used ammoland because I couldn't find the original image from local papers without their watermark.

829 lbs is official weight from the state too, not fishing/hunting story. Black bears don't really get much bigger than that but skull measurement would be more useful because seasonal weight can vary a lot. Some other records around that high:

https://bear.org/website/the-nabc/meet-our-bears/teds-page/95-how-big-is-ted.html
 

AngryMetalsmith

Business is good, thanks for asking
Jun 4, 2006
21,075
9,778
I have no idea where I am
And I already noted that 5-6 posts prior to yours. They don't break down the doors rapidly, it's a slow process as they break in and it's typically cheap thin garage doors like metal ones. As it's relevant to a tiger or bear, it's not going to be an immediate danger that requires shooting them on the spot.
What fucking difference does it make if a bear "break(s) down the doors rapidly" or takes his sweet time about ? It's still a predator entering your home.

I agree with your statement that "And just to be clear I never claimed that bears regularly, unprompted go charging into houses."

And in the relevancy to the escaped captive tiger story, neither tiger or bear is an imminent danger that will charge the front/back door of your home to attack you - it will be for food or other odors and it will be a slow process - they will not break down your door like a battering ram or several ton rhinoceros. Animal control has plenty of time to address nuisance animals rather than an untrained police shooting is the point vs sensational nonsense from goldsmiths.

FYI in July the only bear we encountered in AK was a juvenile black bear crossing the road in a park on the ride back from a hike.
You know, maybe it is unlikely that a fully grown escaped tiger would break in the back door of a house, for whatever reason. But why take that chance ? I appreciate the work you and others do for the conservation of endangered species. But in no way does the endangered animal have more value than a human life. It would have been wildly irresponsible for those cops to have waited. It sucks that the tiger, through no fault of it's own, died.

And as far as sensationalism goes, this one is one you brother. The master of internet research has refused to look at the facts and yet vehemently defends his position based on semantics. So not like you, feeling ok ?
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
But in no way does the endangered animal have more value than a human life. It would have been wildly irresponsible for those cops to have waited. It sucks that the tiger, through no fault of it's own, died.
Again, a dog is property, not a human being threatened. Just because you or other people think they're like a family member doesn't change the written law. That's also why cops can shoot your dog just because they feel like it with no repercussions.