05 December 2013

Still Awake: No Hibernation for This Bear

At least one restless grizzly bear continues to roam the Anchorage Hillside, looking for an easy meal and surprising some residents who assumed bears are hibernating for the winter.

After sightings in the Upper DeArmoun Road area in recent weeks, one family had a close encounter early Wednesday when the bear raided a trash bag left outside their home on Jeanne Road, off Upper DeArmoun Road.

"It's just hungry," said Michael Mac Donald, who spotted the bear about 2 a.m. Wednesday. "It had our turkey carcass that was in the trash. It was looking for leftovers."

Mac Donald said he had seen the same bear while walking his family's dog, a yellow Labrador named Riley, about two weeks earlier. It was dark, the bear was on a hill, and Mac Donald did not see it until shining his headlamp at the hill.

"There's two eye shines coming back right at me," he said. "It rose on its hind legs and the eye shine went up, probably, a good three feet above me."

He's apparently a young one, and one witness said he's not very large (300 pounds, maybe). But still ... not a good idea to tangle with a brown bear, regardless of size.

Read the rest here.

12 comments:

ProudHillbilly said...

300 lbs seems large enough to me...

Rev. Paul said...

PH, that would be a reasonably-large black bear, but it's pretty small for a brownie. Must be a young'un. :)

PioneerPreppy said...

I thought it was common for bears to wake up and wander around some in Winter? I just don't want em wandering around here :)

I see you are actually warmer up there today than we are down here for a change.

Rev. Paul said...

Preppy, that's correct; not unusual for a few of them to settle down for hibernation later than others, too.

Yeah, we're warming up for a few days; then the bottom's supposed to drop out again in a week or so.

threecollie said...

No bears here....yet...and thankfully, hopefully, none of that brand ever! Maybe his alarm clock has a snooze alarm. lol

Teresa said...

I'll be really happy if I never have to tangle with a bear, large or small. :)

Rev. Paul said...

threecollie, bears would make a mess of a dairy farm (in every way imaginable). I hope you never see one.

Teresa, you're living a very sheltered life! ;^)

Sandy Livesay said...

Rev. Paul,

The bears are looking for food. When we continue to build across this land we end up chasing them out of their own residential surroundings.

We would have them come up to the house and camp all the time. If hungry enough, they can come through walls.

Rev. Paul said...

Understood, Sandy. Thanks.

Old NFO said...

Big enough... I'd be going the OTHER direction! And digging out the .44!!!

Chickenmom said...

Our black bear hunt starts on Monday. We have so many here.

Rev. Paul said...

I hear you, NFO - me, too!

Chickenmom, the blackies are usually the problem here in town, as they tend to dig through trash cans, knock over BBQ grills, etc. The brown bears generally stay away from people; that's why this story was in the "unusual" category.