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09/11/2017 12:46PM
There's been a lot of talk lately about what to do if one encounters a bear. In all my years of rambling around the rivers and woods of Arkansas it's never been a question I've been compelled to answer firsthand, and I've often made the observation that I'm long overdue. Well, not any more. We spent last weekend at Richland Creek, a USFS recreation area in the Ozarks. It's a WW paddling destination when we get enough rain, but when we don't it's just a cool place to be, with lots of great trails and swimming holes and plenty of spots to just sit and enjoy a fire.
My GF and I met up with another couple at the established campground Friday night around 10:00. They had a little fire going but it was clear we'd need more wood, so my buddy and I headed out in search of some. When we returned the girls had abandoned the campfire in favor of his 4Runner. The engine was running so we assumed they got cold, but we quickly learned they had chased a bear away (so they thought) with the horn and lights and were staying in the vehicle for protection. The critter had attempted to abscond with a cooler of beer as evidenced by a claw hole in the lid and their eyewitness account of the attempted theft.
They came back to the fire when we returned and told their harrowing tale, after which I asked if they wanted to move. They were adamant that we stay, so stay we did. A couple of hours later I heard a noise at the end of the picnic table where the cooler caper had transpired and sure enough, there he (don't know if was he or she) was. I threw rocks and yelled at him to go away. He slunk back into the woods and sat there watching us but clearly wasn't going anywhere.
We eventually decided to move to another campsite because he appeared to have been habituated to that one in particular. You can probably guess where this is headed. After an enjoyable 45 minutes by the fire at our new campsite we heard him banging around in the campground's one station of non-bear proof trash cans.......which we quickly discovered was close to our new home for the night. He prowled around our campsite several times without ever coming all the way in, and each time I ran him off only to find him minutes later just inside the adjacent apron of trees looking at us as if to say "come on guys, just a marshmallow or something". By that point it was just funny. He wasn't very big; big enough to cause some trouble if he really wanted, but not very big. The campground was completely full, which is unusual, but no one else stirred once despite my yelling and throwing rocks like Earnest T. Bass half the night. He prowled the entire campground but spent most of his time with us. We are a lot of fun, but I speculated he picked us because we were still up and moving around and therefore likely in his mind to leave him some tasty, tasty scraps. Around 1:30 we finally crawled into bed resigned to let him eat us if he really wanted to (he didn't of course).
I was awakened a few times by bear type noises but eventually just went back to sleep. I mean, there was a bear in camp after all. This was not news. The only time I was genuinely concerned was when I thought I heard him molesting my buddy's 4Runner. I shone a light and didn't see him so I finally called it a night for good. The next morning paw prints on his window confirmed the accuracy of my previous night's assessment. He never touched my truck; not sure why since he clearly had an affinity for Toyotas and there were plenty of marshmallows and other treats in there.
The next day we picked another site far from the campground and didn't see Richie (did I tell you we named him Richie?) any more. I called the district office this morning and once they understood what I was telling them they assured me they'd take care of it immediately. Hopefully they'll just relocate the little guy, preferably before the upcoming hunting season begins. Can't see that ending well for Richie. So, there you have it. First bear encounter, y'all!
My GF and I met up with another couple at the established campground Friday night around 10:00. They had a little fire going but it was clear we'd need more wood, so my buddy and I headed out in search of some. When we returned the girls had abandoned the campfire in favor of his 4Runner. The engine was running so we assumed they got cold, but we quickly learned they had chased a bear away (so they thought) with the horn and lights and were staying in the vehicle for protection. The critter had attempted to abscond with a cooler of beer as evidenced by a claw hole in the lid and their eyewitness account of the attempted theft.
They came back to the fire when we returned and told their harrowing tale, after which I asked if they wanted to move. They were adamant that we stay, so stay we did. A couple of hours later I heard a noise at the end of the picnic table where the cooler caper had transpired and sure enough, there he (don't know if was he or she) was. I threw rocks and yelled at him to go away. He slunk back into the woods and sat there watching us but clearly wasn't going anywhere.
We eventually decided to move to another campsite because he appeared to have been habituated to that one in particular. You can probably guess where this is headed. After an enjoyable 45 minutes by the fire at our new campsite we heard him banging around in the campground's one station of non-bear proof trash cans.......which we quickly discovered was close to our new home for the night. He prowled around our campsite several times without ever coming all the way in, and each time I ran him off only to find him minutes later just inside the adjacent apron of trees looking at us as if to say "come on guys, just a marshmallow or something". By that point it was just funny. He wasn't very big; big enough to cause some trouble if he really wanted, but not very big. The campground was completely full, which is unusual, but no one else stirred once despite my yelling and throwing rocks like Earnest T. Bass half the night. He prowled the entire campground but spent most of his time with us. We are a lot of fun, but I speculated he picked us because we were still up and moving around and therefore likely in his mind to leave him some tasty, tasty scraps. Around 1:30 we finally crawled into bed resigned to let him eat us if he really wanted to (he didn't of course).
I was awakened a few times by bear type noises but eventually just went back to sleep. I mean, there was a bear in camp after all. This was not news. The only time I was genuinely concerned was when I thought I heard him molesting my buddy's 4Runner. I shone a light and didn't see him so I finally called it a night for good. The next morning paw prints on his window confirmed the accuracy of my previous night's assessment. He never touched my truck; not sure why since he clearly had an affinity for Toyotas and there were plenty of marshmallows and other treats in there.
The next day we picked another site far from the campground and didn't see Richie (did I tell you we named him Richie?) any more. I called the district office this morning and once they understood what I was telling them they assured me they'd take care of it immediately. Hopefully they'll just relocate the little guy, preferably before the upcoming hunting season begins. Can't see that ending well for Richie. So, there you have it. First bear encounter, y'all!
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