General Music Chat

So, in keeping with my theme of "useless threads" (with a nod to Robin...LOL!), I have a lil story for ya.

I just went out looking for ramps in the hills surrounding my house. I took my narrow shovel with me. I climbed all the way down this steep ravine to cross the creek over a big log. As I crossed, I looked down to see this pair of bear tracks, & leaning over for a better look, I fell right on 'em & into the creek & the mud. Of course I messed up the tracks so I can't even take a pic (I didn't take my camera with me on this expedition, & it's a good thing, cuz it'd be as wet & muddy as I got!).

Then, of course, it started raining pretty good, & I had to slip/slide my way back up the steepness to get back to the house & undress at the door so I didn't track anything in. Damn it's cold!

Yuck!

Looks to be a good-sized bear, if the tracks are any indicator. It's prolly not a male, from the reports I got last summer from neighbors about a mama & her cub, but it could be. I saw some scat last week only about 50 yards from the house. That's a lil worrisome, cuz I don't know any real way to repel the critters, other than to shoot 'em up, & I don't wanna do that, not only cuz they're just starting to come back around these parts, but what if it ain't a kill shot? I s'pose I'll hafta start taking my 9mm with me on my walks from now on, just in case things get dicey.

Didn't find any ramps, either, but I wasn't out all that long before I got clumsy.

A guy I know brings pics into the bar showing a big black bear tearing up his garbage & wandering on his wrap-around porch. Ke only lives about 5 -6 miles away. They are getting pretty damned bold, for wild things, all over the country these days, from what I see on certain tv shows. Just what I need - MORE critters competing for my mushrooms! They'll be after my May Apples & my berries next! Oh, woe is me!

I hear ya Phil. We've got 2 different black bear families in the woods where I live as well. They pretty much stay away from everyone...that is until people are sleeping, then they ransack garbage cans, ect. Last fall, the male was drinking out of my bird-bath and knocked it over. Damn things!

The only real thing that you have to worry about is if the momma has cubs and you get between her and them. Then you'd better be a damn good shot and be ready. Keep all garbage and/or anything that may be around your property that attracts them inside or hidden. They'll go after bird feeders as well...

Just be careful when you are out wandering around out in that beautiful property you got there. I would hate to see you end up as dessert for a bear.

They'll be after my May Apples & my berries next! Oh, woe is me!

Ooh you ever used May Apple?

BEWARE!!!!!!! Not for amateurs..

Bear pie anyone??

Mayapples, also called "American Mandrake," are perfectly safe, if you only use the fruit, & discard the seeds & the skin. If you eat them, they'll flook up your belly pretty bad.

The fruit is really good, though. I've used it to make that grape-flavored-pink-lemonade I make by soaking the flowers of red sumac overnight. Add the fruit puree, & you can hardly tell the difference between it & a concord grape, in flavor.

I've read reports of other uses, but after reading about the stuff in some books, I won't bother with them for anything but the fruit.

I guess nobody read my bear story,,,,

I've been gone a cpl days, Glen. I haven't seen it, but I'm trying to catch up. A URL would help a lot.

They make 'bear spray'.
Might as well carry a big sharpened stick if youre carrying a 9mm.
9mm's are for other bipedal mushroom hunters

Well, heck! I was already carryin' a shovel & a camera. Didn't wanna take my 3006, too!

They make 'bear spray'.
Might as well carry a big sharpened stick if youre carrying a 9mm.
9mm's are for other bipedal mushroom hunters

That's why I carry a .357

phil you don't know it but you were being filmed when you were out there abusing those bears.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGRgV4g7r3k

I've never seen a bear, 'cept in a cage or on tv.

I want to, though. I go lots of places where they've been seen. I'm not all that afraid of the black bears we have around here, save for when they have young with them.

I did gat a call from a neighbor last summer that kind of concerned me. At first she said to get my dogs in cuz there was reports of a wild boar out my back yard. Then she called back & said it was a bear & a cub. of course I was out back by then, with my rifle. I high-tailed it inside when I heard the bear report.

I don't consider myself very well informed on the more potentially dangerous wildlife in these parts, & after being bitten by a copperhead & nearly walked over by a beaver, I think that discretion is usually the better part of valor in any situation regarding the wild unknown, but when sonething as risky as a bear is wandering around within 150 feet of my house, I wanna get it outta there!

I have a friend who knows a lot more than I do about this stuff. He actually has a cpl buffalo (bison) in his yard right now, well, last I heard. He's also the guy that gets me the emus to cook, & he's had at least two longhorn steers, one of which I also had a lil argument with, once. I won that one, though. The buffalo scare me more than anything I've met so far. Thier size, thier incredible stink, & the impressions of pure power I get off them are quite humbling. He's also had some pretty big pigs, & they are almost as frightening as the buffalo, believe it or not, when they get riled up.

Had a friend with a little vietnamese pot-bellied pig, & I used to play with it when it was a teensy lil thing. When it grew up, it turned mean as hell & would attack your feet & legs. Very sneaky & resourceful critter. Sometimes it actually could surprize ya with a sneak attack, even though it weighed in at over 200 lbs, which is pretty damned big for one of those critters. I really had to watch out for it. She would sidle up to me, with her beedy lil eyes just glancing my way occasionally, but never actually looking at me. If I let her get within 10-15 feet without confronting her, she'd hit me hard, almost knocking me down a cpl times, & scratch the hell outta my legs. Gawd help ya if you went without shoes in her presence, cuz she loved to bite your feet! Horrible creature!

Cripes I'm sore today!

I went out twice yesterday, totalling about 4 1/2 hours of walking in the woods. Now I can understand if that doesn't sound like much to you, but you gotta remember that a linear mile around here is more like 3 or 4, cuzza the hills' & hollers' ups & downs. At least I didn't fall in a creek!

My ankles are downright sore, & my back is stiff as hell, & all I did was walk! I found nothing I was looking for, though. No ramps. No mushrooms. I did get some fiddleheads, but not enough to cook up.

We're s'posed to get plenty of rain over the next few days. That oughtta help the 'shrooms, but they're getting near the end of thier season. I'm starting to feel a little frantic! I NEED MY 'SHROOMS!

May apple root is dried and rolled up. There is a whole complicated recipe for it.

DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU HAVE A SPIRIT GUIDE or reasonable facsimile there of.

And that is no joke at all. You won't be laughing.