Seen in Print

[Roy]

And nowadays we truck bulls to visit cows for romance possibilities.

Does that make the peregrinating bovine a call bull?

Or we have a brave man wearing a long glove cutting down on the chance factor. Cost is in the tens-of-thousands, per grunt. Go figger.

No, I'll pass on that opportunity, thank you.

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

All this talk about animals reminds me of an interview I saw of Jacques Cousteau right after the movie Jaws came out.

He said in all his time on the sea he had only seen maybe 3 or 4 Great Whites (implying that attacks by them on humans were rare?).

But then he says...But you can never tell what a shark is going to do

A guy I know that was in the Air Force said when he was stationed in Alaska he borrowed a bicycle from someone to go photo shooting.

He said he was standing in the middle of a road when a baby moose stepped out of the brush.

As he started taking photos he heard some noise, turned out to be mama moose.

He returned to the base with the bike in pieces, he used it as a shield until he could get away, picking up the pieces to show his buddy.

[webenda]

In 28, why can't you have steak? Can you have steak, in 29?

Declaring that the bull may not be eaten amplifies the principle that it is not OK for animals to kill humans.
No steak in 29 either, an animal that kills a human may not be eaten.

Just love cherrypicking the Old Testament for gems.........in 28 it's the bull's fault. Yup, that makes sense. Ever try stoning a bull? Bet that's not all that easy....

In 29, do you stone the owner, too? At the same time, maybe holding the bull?

No steak......nothing but a waste........

Yes, in the second case the bull's owner gets stoned also. Stoning was a common execution method among the Hebrew.

It still is among some Islamics.

[webenda]

I thought this site was about model trains? Oh well, I don't have any model train photos or stories today, so bears it will be.
Curious bears photo:
...

Thank you for that video link, Wayne. And I'll be pouring over that "BearSmart" video.

Regarding model train (layout) photos, when was the last time you saw any here, other than by me with what have likely been repeats ?

I'll fix that right now!

Seen in print in the Savanna Morning News, September 13, 2012.

Roger with Layout.jpg (68.93 KiB) Viewed 2346 times

[rogruth]

Major stuff is still the same.
Many details added, little things.
I have less hair.

[Roy]

And George is preparing his new place for a new layout.

[Roy]

Bear pool party: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuniwyO3LG0

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Just to add a little more to the conversation about bears...A video of a bear attack that happened recently that was posted on the internet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsCqmotxyME

HONDO, I have to say again, Thank you for that VERY, VERY definitive film of a bear attack. It has made my decision for me. Here's what I noted and learned: (Guys, you don't even have to bother to read this; I just have to unload this rant.)

The considerable (IMHO) distance between the photographer and the bear was remarkable and stunning. How far away was that black dot that became a bear - 100yds? A 1/2 mile? YEEgods, I couldn't even see it at first, for several seconds. But the bear sure deliberately and without the slightest hesitation closed that distance real fast, faster than I could have turned-heel and gotten back to my car.
It didn't matter what subtlety among all the well-intentioned advice that victim had invoked, the bear was going to keep coming at him. It didn't matter if the guy realized - impossible to discern there - where any bear-favorite berry bush or cuddle of cubs were, totally unknowable on that vast landscape between the bear and the soon-to-be victim, no lying still in a ball, or doing a little dance, playing a harmonica, , rattling a rattle, praying a few beads of a Rosary, or pulling out a tuba to play a few bars of oom-pah-pah, no amount of standing tall/big, or being sheepish or respectful, mattered onedambit - the bear didn't give a good dump. It just intended harm. Period.
That entire landscape was very like the one of my vacation-sites, except for the large amount of deceased trees, which makes the landscape I had intended exploring again all the more full of potential danger. Too many places for the bear to be having a lovely day until it detects my smelly hole and decides to be unforgiving and in the mood for a snack of ol' whiteman.

Conclusions?
Fuk Nature. The closest I want to get , now, would be a stroll through the produce section of my local market. Or for some moments of pointed recreation, I will go to my local butcher to watch him cut up a few animals.
If I want to see more of "nature," I'll watch it through the car windows, but if I am going to be that isolated from a real experience, I might as well watch it on TV.
The next closest place I'll go for a real whiff of the real thing is I'll go to a county fair to inspect the bovine rumps lined up there for marvel and wonder.

You cured me, HONDO. Yup. Total cure-ness. Strollinging my potbellied fatass into a forest which is well-populated by bear that enjoy being unpleasant and selfish of the terrain is just too dumbassed to go ahead with. Case closed.

P.S. In fact, I'm not even sure I'm going to continue to be, in future, so patient and nice to the geese, wild turkeys, squirrels, rabbits and deer that cross my path, any further; maybe, I'll aim for them.

Goodbye, Forest. I can now see why we left you in the first place.

[HONDO74]

With bears on the rise, states hope to limit human conflicts
https://www.yahoo.com/news/bears-rise-s ... 43926.html

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Northern New England's growing black bear population has awoken, and it's coming for your garbage.

A year after a spring and summer marked by a high number of nuisance bear complaints, wildlife officials are encouraging people and bears to try to keep their distance from each other this time around. Conflicts between bears and humans are common in the months of May, June and July, when the bears have awoken from slumber and are in need of food that can be more easily acquired from people's trash, yards and gardens than from the wild.

Last year's total of 719 complaints of nuisance bears was the second highest in Maine since 2007, and there had been 34 by mid-May this year. The bear population has grown from about 30,000 in the early part of the decade to about 36,000 now, increasing the possibility of conflicts.

[rogruth]

WQW, Murph. That's makes big changes in your plans doesn't it?
What will you do now? There isn't anything that takes the place of a walk in the woods.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

WQW, Murph. That's makes big changes in your plans doesn't it?
What will you do now? There isn't anything that takes the place of a walk in the woods.

Intelligent question. I have to think about it all much further. Thanks for the reply, Roger.
P.S. It was nice to see that file photo Wayne provided of you at your layout.
P.P.S. And Thanks a bunch for that reply containing all those statistics. That helped afford an even more informed perspective on the question of romps or drives in the forests.

It would seem, judging from the several bear links available in this part of the thread, that short of having these ideal weapons, a hike in the forest is inadvisable for this old-coot:
1. Bazooka
2. WWii-style flame=thrower (but that would endanger the forest itself.)
3. Experienced hunter as companion and guard.

Yet, the more I think about it, being so required to be ever-alert to lurking bears, what is the point of such a stroll? Where is the peace? Is there even one peaceful moment. The whole thing is shaping up to feel like a dangerous walk through the nearest homey-hoodie neighborhood , which would be equally fraught with potential, inevitable danger (we just had another shooting a day ago in nearby Hellhole, USA.
I am coming to the conclusion that every American should be able to carry a holstered gun, against the danger lurking at malls and downtowns, as well as in the forests...I'm very serious.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

There isn't anything that takes the place of a walk in the woods.

Murph, I have 35 acres of woods you can wander in. Might have to put you to work cutting a few trees as an admission price,

[MurphOnMillerAve]

There isn't anything that takes the place of a walk in the woods.

Murph, I have 35 acres of woods you can wander in. Might have to put you to work cutting a few trees as an admission price,

Exercising by cutting down trees has been consigned to my memory vault, of times from my adolescence when my friends and I used to do that ahead of the contractors building our suburb .

The invitation is tempting, though, but would I have to bring my own food, too - not an uninviting proposition, however.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

There isn't anything that takes the place of a walk in the woods.

Murph, I have 35 acres of woods you can wander in. Might have to put you to work cutting a few trees as an admission price,

Exercising by cutting down trees has been consigned to my memory vault, of times from my adolescence when my friends and I used to do that ahead of the contractors building our suburb .

I'll get the Amish lads to give us a hand; just cutting a trailer load of lags to age a bit until the Fall.

The invitation is tempting, though, but would I have to bring my own food, too - not an uninviting proposition, however.

Hope to have running water inside soon!

[webenda]

...but would I have to bring my own food...

Good idea, the bears will love you.
Reference: https://youtu.be/fBnGe9HDGBI
Fast forward to 3:19 where the bear manages to hook the window, break the glass and get to the food.

The bear that charged Richard Wesley, knocking him down, was doing a bear thing, bluffing. I say that because it did not maul or kill Wesley.

Regardless, Mr. Wesley was advised to eliminate the bear (Exodus 21:28) which he did.
Reference: https://youtu.be/k9SyLWEnZJg

We have black bears in the mountains around Tucson. I had one bear contact in the Catalina mountains while hiking. I froze and the bear ignored me, going on about its business in the woods. Bear charges are common, bear attacks rare. So rare, the last one in Tucson was 21 years ago.
Reference: http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue2/1996/0 ... ed-killed/

And consider this, if a bear does kill you, the bear will be hunted down and eliminated. Your sacrifice will make the woods safe again for other hikers.

What happened to your attitude on not giving way to dogs? Dogs attack and kill humans far more often than bears.
Reference: http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statis ... s-2016.php

I still say you are your own worst enemy. Now you are letting fear of bears stop you from enjoying a tranquil hike in the woods.
“Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself”--FDR