Sunday, June 15, 2008

Holy crap-a-noli . . .

So my mother and sister came down to watch the kids so my husband and I could have some "us" time. We decided to go camping down south (Kenai, Soldotna, Homer, etc.). On the Kenai River at a nice fishing hole, a lovely young creature and cub came to chase us out of her fishing hole. It is the most scared I've been in a long time. The pictures are blurry because of the hand shaking. We are standing in the river and can't go much further back because the river is deep and fast. She is on the bank blocking our only escape route. She finally decided she didn't want to deal with us and took off into the bushes. We were stuck in the river for about 45 minutes hoping she would not find us offensive or scary. Mama bears can be quite scary (read: f'ing scary) if they think their young are being threatened. She only did a little threatening, aggressive behavior and that was when she got within 20 feet of us. For most of the encounter she was 25-35 feet away from us.

Yes, that's a gun. At one point, all four of us had drawn our weapons. Shots were fired but only into the air. She didn't really seem to mind much. She came right back.


She's a small sow really but much larger than any of us.


The cub was a cutie. He's in the back.



On another note, my son made these super cute bird houses for his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather for Father's Day. They are mostly orange because that is his favorite color.

I am almost done with the Burda WOF jacket. It just needs cuffs, belt, and lining.

9 comments:

Paula Gardner said...

Holy crap-a-noli is right. When I lived in Alaska, we had a friend who was mauled by a bear in a very similar situation. He survived with minimal injuries, but it was not a good thing.

Keely said...

Wow! Majorly freaky. And to think I don't go camping because of spiders and moths, lol.

Kat said...

Tell me about it! A year or two ago I was coming home with my daughter and talking about hitting deer and bears when driving. Then about how our one neighbor leaves food on her deck after BBQ-ing. We pull up, get out of our car, and stop, scared as heck. There's a bear munching on our garbage about 20 feet away. Didn't know which way to go at first, but ran to the door. Very scary I tell you. We always see Momma Bears with cubs every season. They'll come right on our decks and even peer through sliding glass doors.

The idiots that actually encourage it--unbelievable. It's usually NY and NJ people who think the bears are cute.

We just had two walk through town in the past month. They had to be tranquilized and taken back to the state gamelands.

Elaray said...

Scary! I knew there was a reason I didn't like camping. Nature is awesome, but must be respected.

Dana said...

Wow. I can't believe you were able to take a picture! You are very brave.

My uncle and his family live in Ketchikan and has had more than one close call with mother nature. Yes, you are all very brave!

kasizzle said...

Scary, but very cool, as long as she kept her distance! We had a bear encounter in Gatlinburg, Tn, but it wasn't nearly as scary.

kasizzle said...

P.S. Lucky you to have some quality time with your husband!

Emily said...

Holy crap! That's so scary. My uncle has done a lot of hunting in Alaska, and always tells a crazy story about when he served as a guide on a bear hunting expedition where the only weapons were bows and arrows!!! Insane!

Gorgeous Things said...

How beautiful! And how frickin' scary! I would probably have had a heart attack right there. Thank God everyone (bears included) was okay.