Bears in the Night --long

[Knightrider]

I will start off by saying I have an irrational fear of bears. When I was a kid we stayed at Yellowstone and saw some graphic photos and got lectures about the dangers of black bears. If anyone ever asks me anything I am afraid of, it is not spiders or snakes. It is bears.
My two kids and I spent a week camping in a tent at Doe Lake in Ocala National Forest. We had a perfectly wonderful week. But then all my friends left, and it was just me and my kids at the very edge of the campsite in a tent, with nobody near me.
That evening, the camp host drove over and warned me about bears. The host said that when most of the campers leave, the bears come into the camp to scrounge the leftovers on the ground--bits of hotdog or candy or popcorn dropped. And that we--isolated next to the woods--and in a tent, are in a more vulnerable position. What he told me didn't make sense. He said if I heard a snuffling whuffing, and scratching around the tent to wake the children and run for the car and drive to his place. He said to have the key in the ignition and have all the seats cleared off. I said, "Wouldn't it make more sense to pull our sleeping bags over our heads and hope for the best?" "No, nah," he said.

I honestly wondered if he was pulling my leg because I was a newbie at camping.

That evening Chris went to fish (had to give it up because the 6 foot gator was too near the bank), and my 6 year old Katie Ann and I rode with some new friends we had made and their 6 year old daughter. Just after I tacked up, I led my colt Chorro out to mount up. The saddle horn caught the top tether rope. I turned around and saw my saddle on the ground--how did that get there??? I remembered cinching it up tight. I was surprised to find the latigo broken on it. The latigoes were old but sturdy. Now what to do? I had sent the 2 extra saddles home with my neighbor when he left the day before. (note to myself--keep EXTRA TACK on one week camping trips!).

I had the bareback pad so I decided to ride Chorro in that and pray I'd survive. I don't ride Chorro much even English (though I am an English rider) because I come off of him so often. I could hardly imagine riding him in a slippy slicky bareback pad and ponying my daughter on Tico at the same time. But I couldn't think of anything better to do.

So, off we went--me slipping first to one side and then the other while I struggled with Tico's leadrope. Chorro was being extra rambunctious. I was super annoyed with myself for not having another saddle.

The dad of the friendly family said his good paint horse was bombproof and offered to pony Tico. I was truly glad to give up the leadrope and concentrate on staying on my cavorting colt with one hand firmly grasping the mane. Ah, this is more like it.

Suddenly Tico (the little Napoleon) dashed at Copper and attacked him, teeth bared, lashing with front legs and then hind legs. Katie Ann ended up with the reins over her head around her neck and hanging on to the side like an Indian. They stopped and she hauled herself back into the saddle and took the reins over her head.

We all agreed I had better pony Tico. He was used to ponying off Chorro. Luckily, Chorro was done jumping and humping and walked along sedately. Likewise Tico.

We had a perfectly delightful ride, and the two six year olds requested a longer trail, we were having so much fun. Our little friend wanted to show off her loping skills, and I was grateful her parents nixed that. I had enough to do to manage my skittish colt and a megalomanic pony.

Reluctantly we bid each other good bye. They were heading home after the ride. I had so enjoyed the family and new friendship.

Now it was time to face the bear problem. I kept telling myself it couldn't possibly be that big of a deal. After all, people have been camping in tents in bear country for hundreds of years!

The kids dropped off to sleep immediately. THEY weren't worried. I lay in my sleeping bag, heart pounding with irrational fear. THAT was snuffling, whuffling and scratching. I leaped out of my sleeping bag. Tico was munching on some underbrush he hadn't bothered with before. About every 30 minutes I'd hear something and jump up to investigate. Tico windsucking, kids snurlging in their sleep, even nightbirds set my pulse in overdrive.

I wondered if people died being in such a constant state of terror all night. I reminded myself that people got kidnapped, lived through wars, hurricanes, tsunamis, and all kinds of terrors and did not die. I looked at my watch and counted the hours until daylight.

At 11:30 I heard Chorro tearing frantically down the lenth of his tether. "This is it," I thought. I shined my light on the horses. No Tico. Gone. All week we had camped out with never a problem. I pulled on my boots and went searching for a bay pony with not a white hair on him in the dark with bears prowling around. I found him--the light spooked him--and he tore off running. At last I caught him and retied him. Don't know how he had gotten loose.

I tried everything I could think of to calm my fears--envisioned angels surrounding our tent, thought pleasant thoughts, Bible verses, times tables, country western songs. Two more times the horses spooked violently, leaping around on their tethers. I heard their every swallow of water, their every step. I imagined myself writing a book, "The Secret Life of Horses at Night."

At last it was 4:00 a.m. I assured myself that no bears would come around now and that I could sleep. The horses plunged and startled again on their tethers. I was stark staring awake, heart pounding through my chest. Finally it was 5:00 and then blissful beautiful wonderful dawn. We had survived the "bear night." I told myself it was probably all a hoax anyway. I had gone through a night of terror only because I had let myself. Fortunately it was only a memory now.

The kids went fishing and swimming. I stopped by the Triple B officers area to see how to check out. Several people said there WAS a bear hanging about their area (the central part of the camp--NOT on the periphery, as we were), pointing out the bear tracks and bear scat.

So perhaps the bear did come past our camp, scaring the horses, but left us alone. Will we do it again? Absolutely. But next year we'll camp in the main part. We might encounter the bear, but at least there will be lots of other people around.

[Cappysmom]

Wow, I too would be terrified of bears. I often ride by myself and that is my worst fear. Good for you to go camping by yourself with your kids. I don't think I have the nerve to do that. I think your plan for next year to be near other people is probably a good one.

[annem]

Knightrider, you must be crazy

At least you survived.

[CountryMama]

That's one of the reasons I won't go camping in a tent anymore. My imagination becomes extremely active as soon as the sun goes down. I think I've watched to many scary movies in my life.

[annem]

My mind is extremely active without watching scary movies. I tend to worry about the worst scenario. People laugh at me.

[bobalooee]

You are a better woman than I am. I would have packed it in when told of the bear sighting weather I'm in a tent or trailer. You go girl!!

[Crookedblaze]

You are brave to bring horses and kids into bear country!

I always bring my dad camping. He LOVES to go camping, he'll take any excuse to go up into the mountans. We don't camp at spots either - we take a Jeep trail 2 hours into the wilderness and stop at a little ity bitty lake. One night bears attacked our trck, even though the cooler was outside..they must have smelled something in there from the last food the day before.

I slept through the whole thing. Dead asleep. The dog, our black lab woke up, but didn't make a peep...he was hiding in the bottom of my sleeping bag.

[annem]

I remember many moons ago when the kids were very small, we went to Florida for a holiday in tents. When we were told where our sight was (by the river) very nice, BUT was told to watch for the crocodiles/alligators (I don't know which, they are the same to me) I insisted that we were moved. I had visions of one of the kids being eaten whole

[annem]

crockedblaze, that was so funny

[Knightrider]

Hiding in the bottom of my sleeping bag is what I intend to do next time. We are hoping to go again in Sept. and hope that High Horse and Wendy will come too!!!!! By the way, no bear has ever attacked anyone at Doe Lake, so it was definitely my irrational fear, not that there was any real danger. Try telling that to my brain at 11:30 at night!!

[Crookedblaze]

LOL Knightrider, I'm like that too - I will still cry if there ia a racoon outside of the sliding glass door. They scare the crap out of me. And I'm a worrier, I'm always the "what if?" person.

Good luck on your next trip, and have fun

[arabiancowgirl]

Alaska is pretty much known for bears, moose, wolves and caribou Bears are a pretty usual thing to see for our family at least. I'm not really scared of bears, they are just REALLY annoying

[HorsingRound]

Bears eat people, you know. Thus, your fear is not necessarily irrational.

That said, bears would probably rather eat trash than people. (Grizzlies being the exception to that.)

Once on a camp out, I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of pots and pans being banged together, and knew immediately that other folks in camp were trying to "scare" off bears in camp. I went back to sleep, but in the morning found my saddle had been dragged off a ways into the woods--I'd left it out with an apple in the horn bag, and the bear had stuck its muzzle in the pocket and turned the apple into applesauce before being given the bum's rush out of camp. My saddle had some pretty impressive claw marks in the leather jockey--which made for good stories later. Our horses were highlined that night, and the bear had run right past them (dragging my saddle). Our horses were tied up securely and didn't get loose, but in the morning I found them standing in 3 foot deep "divots" in the ground where they'd gone 'round and 'round in circles, screwing themselves into the ground in a panic over the bear.

I learned: Keep your food, toiletries and trash in a secure, bear-proof container. Most places with lots of bears around provide food lockers--use them. And put your trash and shampoo and toothpaste in there too. Don't use your car--they can peel back a door to get inside (or throw your trash away in the dumpsters provided at the camp). Although most bears would probably leave food alone if it were not visible, stored in a cooler, inside a car.

You can try putting your food in a bag and stringing it up in a tree, at least 10 ft off the ground and 10 ft from the trunk, but some places forbid this method because the bears have figured out how to break the ropes--if you use this method, use at least three ropes tied off to three different places.

One of my friends has a cabin in the Sierra, and when he is not around, he stores his supplies in an old refrigerator chained shut. To keep them out of the cabin he turns on a hot wire (powered by a photo cell) strung around his cabin. This works pretty good (unless the photo cell gives out).