What is your weather like ... today

[j.w]

Glad you got lucky and it can be very hard to find spots in a park w/o reservations sometimes but thankfully if you can't find anything you are small enough to just pull in and park somewhere out of the way. We've pulled down dirt roads and just slept for the night when traveling and then wake up and journey onward. You gotta have a way to keep cool down there. Are there many bugs flying around down there this time of year?

 

[addy1]

Are there many bugs flying around down there this time of year?

No a few gnats, not too bad, no mosquitoes, no flies, I think the almost constant wind from the bay and ocean keeps them away. And it might be off season for them.

 

[Mike in Vermont]

She catches the moles and brings them into the garage alive and lets them go. They then hide under the fridge and all over and I have to hunt for where the scratching noises are coming from and take them for a long walk and let them go.
View attachment 77302

We also have moles. Our rat terrier loves to catch and kill them.

 

[j.w]

On my snowy walk today I came upon some tracks near the tree farm I walk through by some apple trees. They showed 5 toes up front and a big roundy like pad. There were several all heading to and from the apple trees. So I looked on the net to see if I could find the same kind of prints and these are exactly what they looked like. Says they are North American Black Bear. I was looking over my shoulder the whole rest of the way home.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Beautiful 48°F today! Snow was melting and the sun felt warm.

It's funny, though. 48° would've felt terrible about two months ago.

 

[sissy]

58 degrees and got a lot done today and still lots more to do .Going to sisters tomorrow for dinner and the family get together that are around here .

 

[MitchM]

On my snowy walk today I came upon some tracks near the tree farm I walk through by some apple trees. They showed 5 toes up front and a big roundy like pad. There were several all heading to and from the apple trees. So I looked on the net to see if I could find the same kind of prints and these are exactly what they looked like. Says they are North American Black Bear. I was looking over my shoulder the whole rest of the way home.

Cool!

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[j.w]

 

[addy1]

A neighbor saw a black bear in our neighborhood, once, never saw it again. If one shows up they sometimes live trap them and move they out further from people.

Neat finding the print jw. They will stay away from you if you don't get between them and their cub. When I did a 2 month post graduation trip up the west coast into canada, back down through yellowstone and other parks,(7000 miles) I was told to make noise they will go away. If you see a cub walk away. Keep all food stuff in the car, dog in the car.

I slept in my 1973 Datsun station wagon with my dog, hitting koa's and state parks. Or just stopping where ever anything looked neat.

 

[sissy]

43 degrees at 10 am and high is supposed to be in the high 60's .Going to put wreath on mom and dads grave today and sister in PA is going to put wreath on my mom and dads and brothers grave and nephew and niece are going to put 1 on Margie's grave in NJ .Day of remembering lost loved ones

 

[Mike in Vermont]

A neighbor saw a black bear in our neighborhood, once, never saw it again. If one shows up they sometimes live trap them and move they out further from people.

Neat finding the print jw. They will stay away from you if you don't get between them and their cub. When I did a 2 month post graduation trip up the west coast into canada, back down through yellowstone and other parks,(7000 miles) I was told to make noise they will go away. If you see a cub walk away. Keep all food stuff in the car, dog in the car.

I slept in my 1973 Datsun station wagon with my dog, hitting koa's and state parks. Or just stopping where ever anything looked neat.

When we was at Yellowstone, I purchased a can of bear spray for $50 There were 3 rangers outside. They said if a grizzly charges you wait until he gets real close, they spray him. He will stop dead in his tracks. I consider myself pretty brave but, I was just trying to imagine doing this. I asked how many times they saw this happen. None of them did.
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So, I wanted to check out a pond about 3 or 4 miles back in the woods. We met two guys on the trail. The first one had the pin all pulled and both of his hands were on the can, in the center of his chest. I had all I could do to keep from laughing, until my wife and I got out of sight. Thankfully, we didn't see any bears. There was no fish in the pond either.

 

[MitchM]

You can tell if you see black bear scat, it will be full with miscellaneous berry seeds.
You can tell if you see grizzly scat, it will be full with empty cans of bear spray and "bear bells"

Seriously though, educate yourself regards to what territory you are exploring!

We regularly carry bear spray when walking around our own property, but bear spray does have an expiry date!
There was a very good study done in Alaska that demonstrated where bear spray was effective in over 90% of recorded bear encounters.

 

[Mike in Vermont]

I have no doubt it works. I'm just trying to imagine being in that position.

 

[MitchM]

When I'm out, I'm constantly visualizing what it would be like.
Not much more I can do. I'm not going to search out a bear to try it out.

 

[j.w]

Well I have never seen one around here so was in the no fear cloud mode of anything like that being around here and not really afraid of seeing one but was a real surprise to get to see the tracks. Today I'm bringing my camera to take pix of the real prints I saw. The one I posted above was from the internet just to show what looked like what I saw. We saw a mom and her cub while out biking over in N.E Washington one Summer and neighbors there said they were regular visitors there. They were being fed by some people in the homes there which is a very bad idea which I heard they found out in a bad way. Now they have to try and teach the idiots not to do that and teach the bears to learn there is no more food for them there and to stay away. I'd rather have bears than mountain lions roaming around and I am for sure never going walking outside at night anymore!