I shot a bear

[Toni Marie]

My trip to the wildlife safari in Ashland Nebraska. Here are few bear shots from the trip. I got lucky with these shots I think.


1)

2)

3)

 

[Dmitri]

Wonderful pictures!

You know tho, picture #2 is the reason so many people get eaten by bears... I just want to go ruffle his fur! :lmao:

 

[Bifurcator]

The American Brown Bear. So cute... I hear they make great pets too! I had a wild one about that same size decide he wanted to be my pal when I was 7 or so. We played for about an hour together till my Dad saw. That was the end of that!

Nice pictures! Thanks!

 

[Dmitri]

The American Brown Bear. So cute... I hear they make great pets too! I had a wild one about that same size decide he wanted to be my pal when I was 7 or so. We played for about an hour together till my Dad saw. That was the end of that!

:stun: What?? Is that true?? Do tell!

 

[Bifurcator]

Yeah, we were up camping somewhere in northern-central California... Impossible altitudes. There were still patches of snow in June and I later came to learn that smell belonged to altitudes of 7,000 and over. The rocky back roads I remember from that trip it's a surprise to me that there were other campers but there were a few - 6 or 7 families as I remember it. A bear about that size or slightly bigger (shoulder was slightly higher than a '35 ford pick-up's front hood)

came into the camp and sat there in the middle of what I guess you could call a road. (like the answer to the riddle: Where does an 800 pound gorilla sit?). For some reason I had no fear. I just knew he wanted to play and meet people - somehow I knew he liked people. So stupid me when he came near, I just walked right up to him, petted him, grabbed him, ran around in circles... you know, all the silly stuff a 7-year old does... well, a goofy 7yo I'm old and this is before 7yo's felt the need to act all grown up. Anyway, he was rolling on his back, laying down, showing me the bottoms of his paws, and clowning around. His voice was deep bro! He grumbled several times - it gave me pause! Some parents saw all this going on and came over with their little ones to feed him - from a distance! (maybe 10 meters was the closest.) He sat up and begged for the food. Someone threw him some grapes and he played with them. Raising them over his head then dropping them onto his head, then repeating. All of that went on for about an hour I guess. It was over 30 min. for sure. I guess someone went and told my Dad cuz he came a running. I knew my dad was scared of the bear, scared for me, and needed me to be too. So I left the bear. The bear followed for a bit but soon detected he wasn't welcome so he sat there in the boulder pitted dirt road playing with the grapes, laying on his back, trying to put potato-chips into his mouth, and generally putting on a show for the people. He seemed to love the attention. Then some total nut job (looked like a typical Wyoming red-neck in his early 30's) got in his pickup, aimed it at the bear, and from 50 to 75 yards away floored the gas and came hauling down the road with his horn a blazing - to try and "scare away" the bear. I remember thinking that the truck looked awfully small charging that bear - and this was before there were any Japanese cars in the USA so it weren't no Toyota! Anyway the bear bolted for about 15 meters into the ICE COLD stream adjacent the road we had played on and that the truck had barreled down. He sat in that cold COLD river for about 40 min. playing with the water and picking up rocks trying to get back his audience. He looked just like a drunk fat man taking a bath - care-free and happy as a pig. But the turkey in the truck was yelling at people telling them to stay clear. What a cheese-dip! And that is how it ended. The bear was ignored and eventually wandered off back into the forest. He wasn't trying to be quiet about it either. You could hear him knocking stuff (over the sound of the rushing river) for several minutes after he had disappeared from sight. I guessed at the time like a kid throwing stuff when he doesn't get his way.

 

[Dmitri]

First I want to say thank god it didn't end with the bear being shot. I kept expecting that part, but it had a happy ending for all :mrgreen: But that's some story man. Too bad none of them other people liked to take photos or you'd have a heckuva souvineer!

 

[Senor Hound]

Its my experience, ToniMarie, there is no such thing as luck when it comes to these sorts of things. You took good shots because you are good. You may not feel you're consistent, but you're still good. Give yourself credit, girl!

And Bifurcator... That is one of THE coolest stories I've ever heard. You were able to captivate people in a photography thread with a story, and that's pretty impressive. I'm sure it was truly a life experience.

The last one is my favorite. Its close-up, but you can still see his ears. Also the background has some good blur, and his eyes seem more intense in that photo than the others.

My only complaint about the photos is looking at them is frustrating cause they make you want to go pet them like you would a puppydog, or maybe kiss her on her snout. But that's no dog! Why do we humans have such an obsession with furry animals?

 

[poppy67]

Lovely shots..sharp and detailed and he is so so cute!

 

[TCimages]

NICE WORK! I love bears rarely see them in the wild where I hike though.

 

[Toni Marie]

Wow, thanks for the great comments. I really think this is one of my best pictures. Bifurcator what a awsome story I loved it.

 

[kundalini]

Great shots Toni.

...fat man taking a bath...

Anytime I hear or see similar phrasing, it always reminds me of [video=youtube;V5JTEPffAj0]http://youtube.com/watch?v=V5JTEPffAj0"]this[/video]. Good story. The things we used to do.

 

[Bifurcator]

Hehehe, yeah, I like Little Feat... For the longest time I thought their name was "Little Feet".