Driving to town the other day, a brownish black bear ran across the road, about 50 yards ahead of the van. It was only half-grown.
Q.t.π had no reaction to the bear whatsoever, and she must have seen it, because she hangs halfway out the window when we drive at low speeds.
Anyway, I was relieved that bears don't fit her 'prey profile.' It is bad enough that she goes crazy when a chipmunk runs across the road ahead of the bike. She did that the other day and got her left forepaw under the front wheel. She screamed, but was not injured. In fact that might be one of the most beneficial experiences she ever had while biking: hurt -- as in 'ouch' -- but not injured. The same principle probably applies to us!
By the way, it is not necessarily dangerous if you have a dog that chases bears. My late kelpie, Coffee Girl, once took off after a black bear on the Uncompahgre Plateau in Colorado. The bear had no cubs, and ran away so fast that Coffee Girl surrendered and returned to me in 5 seconds.
Still, I would rather the dog act indifferent to bears.
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Dinner time, Pops! |
Lately I have had a couple nice conversations with Idaho ATVers (aka, UTV, side-by-side, RZRs). It is enjoyable not to cringe when one comes by, and to see them using their machine simply as transportation.
It helps to visualize them as a type of wildlife that is in fact perfectly adapted to the roads and terrain that they live on.
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