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Bear drags 16-year-old sleeping backpacker out of hammock, Park closes trails and campsites

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    • max.patch wrote:

      Rasty wrote:

      hikerboy wrote:

      there was a white spotted off jones beach inlet a few weeks back, made the surfers nervous for a day or so, apparently the shark had been tagged and was tracked to so jersey.i cant ever remember a shark attack off long beach, so i guess the surfers feel safe.
      ocearch.org/profile/mary_lee/Her name is Mary Lee and she basically lives in my neighborhood about half the time. Her range is Mass to Florida to Bermuda.
      dang she gets around!! 21K miles (or 10 thrus) in less than 3 years. 80 miles in last 24 hours. thats a neat website.
      Mary Lee is awesome, and even has her own Twitter account, but I gotta say Katherine is my favorite. Ocearch has a Shark Tracker app that I like to peruse to see who is swimming around.

      For those of you freaked out by sharks just know the odds of an attack (in the US) are extremely low. If you think about the number of people splashing around vs the number of attacks, your odds of getting in a car wreck are much higher. Of course, if you are out hiking the AT your odds of shark attack are extremely low. Well, unless those pesky land sharks are lurking.
      There's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you'll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      OzJacko wrote:

      Dead whales are what they should be eating. Tow the whale into deeper water. Problem solved.
      :)
      Years ago, I watched a program about dead whales and how much the carcass supported sea life. It showed how sea life could sense and locate the carcass from very far away...it was really interesting.
      Absolutely - water is an amazing conductor for smells and sounds. And, whales feed everything from the predators to the teeny tiny microscopic critters. Nature doesn't waste a thing.
      There's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you'll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?
    • OzJacko wrote:

      Dead whales are what they should be eating. Tow the whale into deeper water. Problem solved.
      :)
      Absolutely tow that whale out to deeper water - Nobody wants to smell a decomposing whale!! Takes way too long for that stench to go away.
      There's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you'll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?
    • Hiking south from Grayson Highlands this week it was interesting to hear the rumor mill among the thru-hikers regarding this particular incident.

      None of them had actually read anything of the incident, and most of them admitted that they had heard something about it from a hiker, who had heard about it from another hiker. The resulting stories were pretty outrageously funny.

      I thought it was interesting that a prevailing belief with many was that the bear had merely mistaken the hammock for a bear bag.
      Of course I talk to myself... sometimes I need expert advice.
    • wbir.com/story/news/local/2015…not-attack-teen/29151587/

      (WBIR-Knoxville) Officials with Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) said Tuesday that the bear euthanized after an attack on a 16-year-old teen Ohio teen was not involved in the attack. However, they believe the bear responsible was shot by rangers and may have died of its injuries.
      The teen and his father were on a backcountry camping trip on June 6 when the bear pulled the teen from his hammock while he was sleeping. He received injuries to his head, but will recover.
      its all good
    • Tuckahoe wrote:

      Hiking south from Grayson Highlands this week it was interesting to hear the rumor mill among the thru-hikers regarding this particular incident.
      Actually I've been directly involved with events that have been reported in the news media both on and off the trail and events reported on line. There is very little chance that news media reports or trail rumors or on line reporting has any resemblance to what happened in reality. The National Enquirer has about the same amount of truth and at least they admit to making up 80 to 90 percent.
    • hikerboy wrote:

      wbir.com/story/news/local/2015…not-attack-teen/29151587/

      (WBIR-Knoxville) Officials with Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) said Tuesday that the bear euthanized after an attack on a 16-year-old teen Ohio teen was not involved in the attack. However, they believe the bear responsible was shot by rangers and may have died of its injuries.
      The teen and his father were on a backcountry camping trip on June 6 when the bear pulled the teen from his hammock while he was sleeping. He received injuries to his head, but will recover.
      I hope they got that bear. I'm trying to plan a kayak/hiking trip and was planning on staying at 84, or 83 . I know thing forsure..... I won't tell the wife about this !
    • All I know is if I ever see that Dad at a bar he won't be paying for a single drink.
      "So you got in a fistfight with a bear to save your kid, huh? Yeah, next round's on me."
      Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.