The most dangerous critter in the lower 48???

[TDC]

Below is an interesting video of a sow Black Bear who it appears had her front leg blown off by a poorly placed bullet from a hunter. She has an injury that's more common than many people realize.

The thing that make her so dangerous is that she has a very young cub. She also knows she can't climb a tree for her own natural protection. Bear are usually very timid animals but when a physical injury like this happens they become overly aggressive as compensation for basic survival.

A female in this condition is capable of totally unprovoked attacks, even though she may not sense her cubs are in danger. Her "fight or flight" instinct loses its more common flight option, and to her, a "fight" decision becomes her only option. Her "flight" choice instead becomes an ambush and attack attitude just like her bigger cousins, the Grizzlies and the Browns. She becomes a very, very dangerous animal to hunters or anyone else out in the woods.

Many years ago, I watched a large boar that it was later determined had a badly deformed front foot. It was obviously unable to climb a tree and it quickly killed three world class bear hunting hounds within just a few seconds. The hounds ran head long into this bear, fully expecting it to run and quickly tree somewhere like so many others they had chased before had done. The bear stood his ground in a large brush patch, and before the bear could be killed, he had quickly dispatched the three dogs like they were fleas on his back....

Don't ever diminish the threat of our lowly little black bears. They are unbelievably fast, tremendously powerful, and they can easily dispatch any human as quickly as they did those hound dogs if they wanted to. If they weren't so timid normally their potential threat to us would mean a heck of a lot fewer hunters would venture out into the woods every year..

This post is intended to be a "heads-up" for hunters here. It doesn't have a cast boolits component so if mods don't think it's appropriate please delete it..

Hope this video will work.... don't forget to press the start arrow at the top of the opening page. Takes a while to download-- please be patient..

http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/tdcorp/ours.flv

[BruceB]

"Don't ever diminish the threat of our lowly little black bears. "


AMEN, Amen and amen. Plus, some of them aren't all that "little".

[wallenba]

One tough Canadian!! Kills Black bear with a STICK! http://www.bugbog.com/travel-videos/bear-attack-canada.html There have been some unprovoked black bear attacks in Michigan too.

[Lead Fred]

The most dangerous critter in the lower 48???

Thats easy, The globalist Liberal, lots of them, and they are never in season so they breed like mad cows

[longhorn]

Probably bear is the correct answer, but there are so few in Texas that the ornery range bull takes spot #1 here. Three reasons: our mindset (it's just a "cow"), their unpredictability, and our general hesitancy to punch big holes in several thousand dollars worth of hamburger on the hoof. Just last year I played hide-and-seek in deadly earnest with a Hereford that wasn't impressed with either the camera or the .22 revolver I was carrying. I was watching for snakes and camera angles and carelessly got way too close. A dry-mouthed few minutes; just the most recent in 45 years' worth of unpleasant encounters.

[TDC]

Ya know.... I guess I've gotta agree.. Our liberal/Progressive/socialists are unquestionably the nastiest and most unpredictable non-indiginous animals we have, right up there with the range bull.;-)

I was raised on a cattle ranch so I should have known that.... I once watched a big Angus range bull actually lift an old Dodge pickup up on its side when the pickup got in the way of an exit path the bull knew well. We'd used the Pickup as a temporary corral gate and it didn't work so well...:smile:

His front hooves actually sank into the ground about 8 inches as he lifted the truck with his head. When it was on its side he just nonchalantly walked around it like it was no big deal... I'd really hate to see the damage a big Texas Longhorn could do with those horns if he really wanted to.

Speaking of killing a bear with a stick? Anybody want to try it up close and personal with a spear? Here's a picture I took of a hunting buddy of mine taken a couple of decades ago. Bear were hunted 24/7 and were in the same "vermin" category as coyotes and bobcats, with no tags or special regulations needing to be followed. Yep, that's a spear in his hand. I blocked out his face because I didn't have his permission to put it on the net.... times have changed..

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/tdcorp/Spear-bear2.jpg

[DLCTEX]

I've had a lot more scary encounters with hogs than bears. Some of them have a nasty attitude. When SE Oklahoma had free range (64-65 for me) there were hundreds of hogs in the woods. We visited an old cowboy in the backwoods once that was riding a greenbroke horse due to his good horse getting it's legs cut up by a hog he surprised in the woods. He started off on the horse and it began crowhopping with him and I saw his Colt 45 fall, but he was busy and didn't notice. I called him back and handed him the gun. He visibly blanched and thanked me profusely, stating "I'd rather go in those woods without my pants than my gun". I fully understood the sentiment.

[caillouetr9981]

Truly, the Most Dangerous Critter in the Lower 48 is the same as it is everywheres else - a lawyer that is a politician (try to name a politician that isn't a lawyer)!

The second-most dangerous critters are the petite blondes (who are so short that they can hardly see over the steering wheel) driving their GMC Suburbans like bats out of Hell - particularly, in parking lots!

[303Guy]

I don't know so much about your parts (I have heard rumours 'though), but in my parts, the majority of hunter injuries and deaths are by little cammo looking critters that drink beer and carry guns! (Beer, not bear!)[smilie=1:

[RugerFan]

...a sow Black Bear who it appears had her front leg blown off by a poorly placed bullet from a hunter.


Do you know this for certain or are you assuming? If you don't know this as fact, please don't arbitrarily place blame on a hunter. There certainly are other possibilities for the deformity. We don't need to give the antis any help.

Neat video though. Interesting how the bear learned to walk upright so well.

[2shot]

I don't know so much about your parts (I have heard rumours 'though), but in my parts, the majority of hunter injuries and deaths are by little cammo looking critters that drink beer and carry guns! (Beer, not bear!)[smilie=1:

+1 on that!

Critters don't worry me, some other hunters do, beer drinking or not.

[KCSO]

Anyone remember Sasha Siemel?? Killed jaguar and bor with a spear and wrote in Outdoor Life. Any animal can kill you if you don't respect it. I would guess nation wide more people are killed by cows than any other animal in the whole USA.

Most dangerous animal anywhere...man?

[Dale53]

Other than man, the most dangerous critter in the lower 48 is a Jersey Bull. They are relatively small, extremely quick (can spin on a dime) and aggressive. They have killed more farmers than all of the other bulls put together.

However, Black Bears are NOT to be trifled with. Years ago, I hunted a couple of years with a Canadian bear guide. He was also a trapper so was in the bush year 'round. He stated that 19X20 bears would leave you alone. The 20th would try to take you. He also stated that if they decided to "take you" that they were awfully good at it. He stated that the real problem was that they were emotionally unstable. Out of each group of 20, there would be one that was extremely dangerous - but that day to day, "which one" would change. Anyone of them, small or large, had the capacity to hurt you on his "bad day".

I was never afraid of them as I was always armed. But their ability to stalk is second to none. They can do 30 miles per hour on the second step.

The most dangerous black bear is a National Park bear. He has learned to "make a living" off of humans (stupid humans that feed him) and has lost his fear of humans. THAT is a dangerous animal...

FWIW
Dale53

[GabbyM]

I'd have to say mean dogs owned by stupid people who made them that way.

[TDC]

It looks like there is a lot of consensus here that any domestic or wild animal can be extremely dangerous in the right circumstance. I completely agree with Dale53 that there is no wild animal more dangerous than one that has become familiar with humans through frequent contact.

I've hunted truly wild black bear for 35-40 years. I was traveling through Yellowstone a few years ago on a trip to Minnesota. We came around a bend on a paved park road and noticed a crowd of people taking pictures of something by a trash receptacle. We parked on the side of the road with the other cars and got out of our car to see what the apparent interest was. In the middle of a circle of about 25 people was a mature boar black bear that appeared to be about 400 lbs eating some garbage from the can.

The bear looked agitated. My experience with black bears gave me some indication of this wild bears attitude at that moment. When the hair on the back of their neck stands up and their ears lay back they are very pi$$ed and one step away from an attack. This bear was at that stage and I yelled at people to get back in their cars. No one listened. In fact, several people kept trying to feed the bear without seeming to realize the bear was surrounded and had no clear escape route. A very, very dangerous situation with an obviously fearless black bear. One person actually reached out in an attempt to pet the bear!! A very quick way to lose your life or at least an arm...

As people kept clicking away with their cameras, we got back in our car and drove away. Little kids were in the mix of people and I didn't want to stick around to see what might happen.

Any contact with almost any animal, either wild or domestic, can quickly turn into a life threatening experience. Bears, bulls, pigs, cats, wild dogs, gators, even swans are just a few of the animals that can show us how truly defenseless and vulnerable we wimpy unarmed humans can be against a vicious attack. When other ignorant and no-common-sense humans are included in the list of those critters who can kill us... well.... the world can be a very dangerous place if we aren't aware.

I'll bet there are some really hair raising stories about animal contacts from other members of this board.... Wild pigs are one nasty animal I don't have much experience with..

JMHO...

[Dale53]

The ignorance of some people around wild animals is astonishing. No one would think of crowding a german shepherd or pit bull and yet they will try to pet a 400 lb wild bear. Unbelievable!

Feral dogs are another class of animal that can be extremely dangerous. Many years ago, the Pine Barrens got a bad reputation for people just simply disappearing without a trace. After several years and a number of people disappearing, an investigation was done. Feral dogs in packs had attacked people. Feral dogs eat EVERYTHING, even the skulls leaving NOTHING. After the dogs were eliminated, the Pine Barrens pretty much returned to a large, quiet, woods. I haven't heard anything of it in the past few years so I don't know the present status.

I tend to carry a gun whenever I am out in the woods. My grandfather was attacked by feral dogs but to their misfortune, he had a .22 Bankers Special in his pocket. After he took out the Alpha male and a couple of others, the rest ran off. This was on his own farm. A couple of friends were attacked by feral dogs. Fortunately, they also had their guns along. Feral dogs can be in and around a big city, too. It just pays to be on your guard ALL of the time.

Dale53

[jlchucker]

Truly, the Most Dangerous Critter in the Lower 48 is the same as it is everywheres else - a lawyer that is a politician (try to name a politician that isn't a lawyer)!

The second-most dangerous critters are the petite blondes (who are so short that they can hardly see over the steering wheel) driving their GMC Suburbans like bats out of Hell - particularly, in parking lots!

I agree with the most dangerous. The second, though, I question. IMO the second is the liberal socialist pig who supports the lawyer that is a politician to the end. The petite blondes have to be admired for their driving skills because most never seem to hit anything--even when they are whaling a 5-speed car into a parking space while shifting gears and talking on a cell phone at the same time.

[Tony65x55]

Truly, the Most Dangerous Critter in the Lower 48 is the same as it is everywheres else - a lawyer that is a politician (try to name a politician that isn't a lawyer)!


Thing is, they taste like **** and look really stupid on a meat pole. Cleaning them is easy though...no guts!