[thechat] I wish I had a cat...

[Luther, Ron]

Syed Zeeshan Haider shared a neat weird link.


Hi Syed!


Cute story!

But I didn't think you had much trouble with black bears in your 
neck of the woods!

;-)


I had an issue with a black bear once ... I was on a very small 
motorbike. (50cc.) I was smaller then.  And I just happened 
to end up on the wrong end of a dead end road. (Things like 
that happen when you are out exploring.) A dead end road no 
one knew I was on. (Hey, it's not like you file a flight 
plan when you're a kid, right?) ... Anyway, it turned out 
that this particular dead end road was located within about 
a mile or two of the local garbage dump.  (It was a pretty 
rural area.  There was no garbage collection service. You 
hauled your own garbage to the local dump. It was a place 
where the bears gathered.)

It was a single track dirt road, so it wasn't very wide. I'm 
coming back and I come around a curve and see something in 
the middle of the road.  Something that wasn't in the middle 
of the road when I was heading the other way.  So I stop.  
I stop about ten feet away from a black bear.  A black bear 
sitting in the middle of the road blocking my path.  Not the 
biggest black bear in the world.  But not a cub either.  
Probably a yearling.  So we are probably each tipping the 
scales at a little over 100 pounds and sitting there staring 
at each other.

Now bears don't have very good eyes.  So he is squinting at 
me and sniffing and trying to figure out what the heck is 
making all this dang noise.  My little Honda had a horn, see.  
So I'm sitting there on my little motorbike, this little 
fat kid, honking my little horn at this bear who is blocking 
my way. Beep. Beeeeeeep.  

<aside /> Ever wonder how parents and grandparents get grey hair?

Anyway, he soon got tired of my guff and sauntered off into 
the forest.  Bears are really good at sauntering.  They have 
the hips for it.



RonL.

Fortunately for me American black bears are pretty mellow.  
Don't try this at home with an Asiatic Spectacled Bear!  Ouch!