No surprises there.

A dog is a dog, is a dog, is a dog, and while any dog species can mate with another dog species. A wolf is more likely to eat a coyote than have sex with it. But wild things are by their nature, wild, and I'm sure the dog/coyote/wolf will be around long after mankind has, well,....

I can now add one more thing onto my, "list of things I have in common with wolves." :D

ETA: Although, in my case, both options are highly unlikely at this time.

Wellllll...there are some women I have met that if one of them was the last woman on the planet and I was the last man, they would be in the stew pot and I'd be attempting to establish conjugal relations with some coyote. ;)

And so it goes...

Richard :munchin

Hence my addition at the bottom of the post, and adding a new definition for, "coyote ugly." ;)

Never thought of it that way. Interesting, WD. :cool:

India?
 

The bear stuff is very interesting, but they have large carnivora lions, tigers, leopards etc, as well as elephants, buffalo and other large herbivores in India. I was pretty much read all the Jim Corbett books as a kid, and they often mention Indian bears?

That would be the Himalayan Black Bear.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayan_Black_Bear

I am no expert on bears. That said, I do sell some less-lethal products to the Bear Management folks with a couple of National Parks and in the course of business have of course talked about bears with them.

FWIW, I have been told that you are best off staying on the horse than dismounting when you have a bear as a threat. What reading I have done has supported that. The thinking is that you are perceived as a very big predator when on a horse-the horses mass makes you seem like a much bigger threat than the bear really wants to take on.

The folks I talk to say your odds of actually being attacked are much lower when on horseback. You may get bluff charged, but most likely will not get attacked.

The least-legal product I'm gonna cavort with on bear turf is a Ruger Blackhawk .44 Mag.

The only think I'll count on the nag to do is alert me to Smokey's presence early.

Nothing says "I don't want to be lunch," like 1600 ft-lbs of force, huh? Maybe a .500 S&W, or a .45-70 (I'm a big-bore fanatic, can ya tell?)

One caveat: A brown bear can outrun a .45-70 uphill.

;)

Concur - I like my Super Blackhawk .44 Mag w/7.5" barrel and Super X soft hollow points. I've had that pistol since 1973 and never had any sort of problem with it...other than my wife thinks it's too heavy and loud for her. ;)

Richard :munchin

touche

No bear expert, but I am on most accounts a horse expert.

Yes, a man on horse is preceived as larger, but I can see a train wreck happening long before is arrives.

One, horse jumps nervously wanting to leave area. Horse leaving in a hurry may result in me flat on my ass, a child thrown or worse, stepped on by horse leaving me or child injured, hurt and unable to do anything.

Two, shooting from horse = a good chance of a miss and another nervous horse scenario.

Three, pepper spray, loud horn, whistle, will result in me srapying my horse in the eyes making him a more of a liability then asset. Horn or whistle not much better. Spraying myself in the eyes, (wind change), resulting in me being bear food, after horse steps on me breaking my leg.

Four, a child running home on the only horse worth a damn, only to tell stories of dad shooting at a bear resulting in shooting his horse in the ear, being bucked off, landing on his ass, horse stepping on leg, dad pulls pepper spray, wind change, dad fought well, but not well enough. Horse returned home shaken, but un-injured, his .44 mag is for sale, cheap, used once in a bear fight.

All things being equal, I've instructed my boys to dismount upon seeing a bear, leave horse to do what any horse might do. Draw weapons from saddle, "Aim small, miss small".

Bear hide on cabin wall, great stories to tell others, of course we change the story each time we retell it.

I like wolves....., they keep the coyotes away.

Ah - the SF way...with the aid of a dram or two of Macallan's Fine Oak 21 Year Highland Single Malt and the promise of a little female companionship, of course. :p :D

Richard :munchin