Even that is unusual behavior; I've seen bears stay put when feeding, at night, but for a mature boar to hold tight five yards from a running truck with a blaring horn and a shouting man in it is highly irregular.
I backed up a little, came forward again, blew the horn again, and shouted again ... and that boar began to pound the ground (maybe you're familiar with that behavior) and pop his teeth! He then stood erect and began to thrash a tree!
As some of you may know, this is extremely abnormal behavior for a mature boar black bear. He wasn't scared; I know what a scared bear acts like. HE WAS MAD, AND HE WAS CHALLENGING ME!
Sadly, I didn't have a firearm with me, or you can bet that I would have moved him on down the pike. As it was, all I could do was go on.
I have no doubt this bear is a habituated dumpster-raider from the farm at the end of the road. His contempt for a man in a truck at what would normally be an intolerably close proximity proves that to me. His behavior also tells me that he is used to observing men up close and has lost his fear of us.
It is my hope that I'll encounter him again when I'll be able to transform him from an aggressive bear into a respectfully scared bear (I can't say more than that!). I do not tolerate bears that don't obviously fear humans ... they're too dangerous, and we live too close to them.
Our farm is adjacent to the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, which is a 110,000 + acre bear sanctuary ... no hunting of bears allowed. I honestly believe, from close observation, that the population of bears on PLNWR is losing fear of man because they aren't hunted. Of course, these bears pour out of the refuge onto bordering farms, like mine.
It's quite an experience to be fifteen feet from a riled-up 500 lb. bear, even if you are securely seated in the cab of your Dodge Ram!
Not to worry; my underwear remained clean. I wasn't scared, but I was disturbed and aggravated. THAT'S JUST NOT NORMAL ... and THAT'S TROUBLING!My wife is a runner ... and she's been annoyed that I won't let her run on our road ... but you see why! This ain't no park around here!
I have a two-part "zero-tolerance" policy toward our many bears, developed from our years of experience in living with them:
I will not tolerate a bear within the confines of our two-acre yard, ever.
I will not tolerate a bear that shows no fear of an encounter with humans.
For the most part, I let them be ... but bears like that boar have to go. He's not the first; there was a young one last year that wouldn't let April get by for a long time. She was in a Toyota Corolla ... I'd like one to try and block the road when I'm in a truck!
