Are there bears in the gorge?
I know that the bears in Yosemitie are 'highly attuned' to getting food from humans (sntaching packs, breaking into cars, etc.) and 'wild' bears may not know all the tricks, but I'd think that there would be more ransacked coolers and such if there were bears in the Red very often. Could there be bears that are so afraid of people that they won't get near enough to a campsite to pop open a cooler?
Bacon is meat candy.
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pianomahnn
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Peeman, the only bears in this part of the country are Black Bears, though they are often anything but black in color. No Griz/Browns here.
Tom, I believe the bear(s) hanging at the State Park the last few years was tearing through the trash cans. I think they have to be "trained" to go after our food, so it has to attract their attention in the first place. I'm sure they are quite wary of people, too. ALL of the wildlife in YNP are bold around humans because there are so many careless people giving them easy access to food. It could happen here, but I would be more concerned about raccoons getting into your food at the Red.
How many of you know that there is a healthy coyote population in the RRG? Most climbers never hear them, but we were treated to their nightly songs on a backpacking trip through the Red a few years back. Just because we don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there.
I saw a dead bear cub on the parkway last year. Very sad to know there were more killed.
Tom, I believe the bear(s) hanging at the State Park the last few years was tearing through the trash cans. I think they have to be "trained" to go after our food, so it has to attract their attention in the first place. I'm sure they are quite wary of people, too. ALL of the wildlife in YNP are bold around humans because there are so many careless people giving them easy access to food. It could happen here, but I would be more concerned about raccoons getting into your food at the Red.
How many of you know that there is a healthy coyote population in the RRG? Most climbers never hear them, but we were treated to their nightly songs on a backpacking trip through the Red a few years back. Just because we don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there.
I saw a dead bear cub on the parkway last year. Very sad to know there were more killed.
I love the sound of coyotes howling! At Red Rocks, there was one evening when we were bouldering and all of the sudden a bunch of coyotes started howling, and then the neighborhood dogs started howling in return, and all the sounds were echoing through the boulderfield. It was beautiful.
"I snatched defeat from the jaws of victory." --Paul
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Some of the KY bears could be emerging from the repopulated Big South area. The Smokey Mtn. rangers relocate problem bears in the BSF in an effort to spread the larger population into smaller groups. A problem for RRG bears would be in getting natural foods. Bears tend to rely on acorn mast crops and I have never noticed that much in the gorge. I have come upon quite a few while hikin on the Smokies over the years and have to admit it is cool to see them.
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captain static
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Some good information on this website - http://www.beartrust.org/r_kntcky.cfm Here is an interesting excerpt:
Has anyone ever read the book "Playing God in Yellowstone -The Destruction of America's First National Park" by Alston Chase? It is a great book about contemporary wildlife management issues.Ironically, the neighboring states of West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee all support populations of sufficient numbers to allow for annual bear harvests that approach 1000 (Maehr and Brady 1984). Since the early 1980s, eastern Kentucky has produced a scattering of bear sightings (Maehr 1984b), but data suggesting a resident, breeding population is lacking (J. Plaxico, Kentucky Dept. of Fish and Wildl., pers. comm.). Despite the apparently excellent environmental conditions that exist in many parts of the state, eastern Kentucky remains alone among the eastern Appalachian states in not having a resident bear population. It appears that at least two factors may explain this — distance from a colonization source, and intolerance by local human residents.
"Be responsible for your actions and sensitive to the concerns of other visitors and land managers. ... Your reward is the opportunity to climb in one of the most beautiful areas in this part of the country." John H. Bronaugh
