I believe the only animal that understands pointing is the dog and we bred that into them. Even apes don’t get the concept.
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cloak and dagger requested
bear your soul if the’re on your feet
In that situation, my only hope would be that bears don’t like urine-soaked food.
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Huh. I’ve never considered the fear of being attacked by an animal on its home turf as unreasonable. I figure that’s the lesson. Those who ignore it and get attacked brought that on themselves. If wild animals break into your house, that’s another story. This is why I stay out of the forests or woods, don’t swim in the ocean, etc… There are other ways to see those places that don’t involve encroaching or risking life and limb.
Yet those delicious humans keep putting themselves on the menu…
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Cars make great protective shelters, and they can move! Fast! Hotel rooms also make good shelters (plus they have tv’s). Just don’t spread peanut butter on the door or leave a package of hot dogs strung across the threshold. I have found it safest to go where most Darwin award winners don’t.
But it you drive a Subaru, ALL BETS ARE OFF:
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They had signs with Bob Ross’ face telling them to treat them as Happy Little Friends.
I wish my uncle had thought of that. It would have spared my cousins and me several minutes of monkey-induced terror. He decided to stop and look at the animals during a drive through the Safari at Great Adventure in NJ. After they had jumped all over the vehicle, he didn’t want to injure them by driving off. The rest of us wanted to leave before the monkeys figured out how to get inside. I’m glad the park shut that nonsense down years ago. 
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You seem to have had some harrowing experiences with The Wild Kingdom. Want to talk about it? Write to me at MarlinPerkins@MutualofOmaha.com.
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Yeah, I watched those as a kid, too. Gah - stop triggering me! Gotta find a safe space and… wait, I’m indoors. The only animal to worry about is a geriatric feline who’s way too tired to attack me (I hope). 
Never turn your back on a cat. They don’t age well, attitudinally.
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That’s not what I meant. Fearing bear attacks is unreasonable on the basis of how rare it actually happens, like shark attacks in the ocean. Statistically speaking, driving a car is more dangerous than hiking in grizzly country. Have you sworn off driving as well?
Unlike you, I have chosen not to let that kind of fear prevent me from enjoying life to its’ fullest, and for me that includes wilderness trips and the tranquility and peace that brings. I am at my happiest deep in the bush, and am well aware of the risks that are involved thanks.
And what exactly are these “other ways” of which you speak? A fly-over? “Encroaching”? I don’t carry a gun. I pack out everything I pack in; often I carry other people’s garbage out. I only use dead wood for fuel (If I have a fire at all, which is rare). I know how to dispose of human waste safely and responsibly. I don’t appreciate your condescending tone. Being a couch referee is the easiest thing there is. The world is full of them.
I live in wild fucking kingdom. When I find bear turds next to my front steps, I’m careful with hauling garbage out for collection. (Today went okay.) Relatives two miles away snap bears and pumas on their porch cam. Bear and puma attacks are rare here because we’re awful damn careful.
Nearing any large wild animal is pretty dumb.
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- Is it because Subaru owners are more outdoorsy than other car owners, and therefore more likely to encounter bears on their fun outdoor adventures? Or is that what Subaru wants us to think?
In the PNW, there are times when I show up at the trailhead/lake/cross-country ski parking lot, and there are only Subarus Sometimes there will be a token Volvo or pickup truck, but the only place you’re more likely to encounter a Subaru is at an REI parking lot.
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I’m in western WA. Sometimes the grocery store lot is all subarus.
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My bad. I took your comments…
…at face value. Clearly, we don’t enjoy nature the same way. Though I joke about it, fear isn’t my main motivation for keeping my distance.
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No worries. Look I’m no Grizzly Adams or anything. I have a great deal of respect for wild critters, bears included. People being careless and stupid around wild animals really pisses me off. I don’t support commercial whale watching even; that I consider needless “encroachment”. My motivations for seeking wilderness experiences are personal and perhaps quasi-spiritual; certainly contemplative and meditative. In this digital world of instant gratification, my opinion is most people could do with more of it, not less. Where I live in Canada that’s going to mean bear country. Peace.
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We Subaru owners are overwhelmingly appetizing to our ursine brothers and sisters. The Subaru/bear nexus:
Note the idiot standing right next to it. The car is a Honda, which is uncharacteristic.
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Yes, it was in the GSMNP (Cade’s Cove) and all us locals are pissed because if mama had given the idiot what he deserved, then mama would have been put down.
In the GSMNP wildlife (all wildlife) has the right of way. You’re in their yard. No, do not feed the wildlife. Don’t even pick the wild flowers. Look with your eyes, not your hands.
You are free (and encouraged) to pick up any trash you find though.
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Yeah. If the road crossing is the concern, just provide crossing guard duties.
The actions are dumb, but maybe his expression is just a sad case of resting dumbass face.
