Good morning all. I woke up at what I thought was 5 AM this morning after having turned out the light at 10 PM. Seven hours of sleep, not too bad. As I was pouring my coffee I noticed the clock on the oven said 4:40 AM, not 5:40 AM... I had forgotten to change the time on the bedside clock. Drat. But anyway we made it back from the Smoky Mountains safe and sound, had a good time, ate too much, and got a few decent photos. I've been working on getting my competition submissions ready but here is one of the many bears we spotted while there. I took this one on Wed so it is not eligible to submit. Probably our best bear sighting though. We were pretty close to this one, but we were in the truck. Driving through a neighborhood that the GPS had sent us to trying to get back to the main road. This guy was in a yard, foraging around in the leaves. Paid us no mind at all. We stayed in the vehicle and shot with the window down.
More to come later.
"A moment in time
Immortalized forever
With silver and light"
Wow, I think my heart would have been pumping rapidly if I came across this "Innocent Looking" bear. Looks can be deceiving though. A very cool capture however.
Don, We missed you around here and hope that you share with us the many photos that you took on your trip. I am glad that you had a nice time.
Good evening, Peter. How do you handle kangaroos? Just curious.
Looking forward to a field trip this Wednesday with the photo club. Visiting a beautiful church in the northern suburbs and possibly an older cemetery if weather and time permits.
Here is one from the archives. It was a spring time shot but had some rusty-colored leaves that I thought looked a little like Fall Leaves.
Don, I'm glad it was a good trip. Nice photo of the bear; it reminds me of the time my brothers and I ran across a bear when the family was on a camping vacation. Too long of the story to relate here, but it remains a pleasant and vivid memory.
MFI, I too would like to hear how you handle kangaroos. From what I've gathered, they can sometime inflict serious injuries.
Lorell, I love that image. The greenish/gold light bathes the scene and produces a dreamy mood of older times.
Last week I posted a sunrise photo and someone (I think probably Lorell) commented that she sky was on fire. Here's another photo taken on the same walk; the fire has intensified...
Don't blame me - I didn't vote for him!
Nikon D7500 with Nikkor 18-300 mm; PSE2021, PSCS5 Ny Flickr Albums
Well the most dangerous thing to do with a kangaroo is hit it with your mortorbike or indeed your car. These indirect deaths caused by encounter with a kangaroo far outnumber the one recorded death by actual contact with a kangaroo.
There is only one known case of a kangaroo killing a human.
It occured in 1936 when a hunter’s two dogs attacked a roo and as the roo defended himself the hunter went to their rescue. The hunter saw his dogs being ripped to shreds and decided he'd try to get in on the action.
However, the majority of dangerous kangaroos being only the big bucks. You are safe with the females and bucks too young yet to be attempting any sort of male domination.
First step. Never get too close to or look like you want to stand taller than a big buck. Kangaroos have attacked people on motorbikes and pushbikes because they look taller.
If it looks dangerous, get down on your hands and knees and feign submission. He'll either ignore you or perhaps try to mate with you at the worst.
Well the most dangerous thing to do with a kangaroo is hit it with your mortorbike or indeed your car. These indirect deaths caused by encounter with a kangaroo far outnumber the one recorded death by actual contact with a kangaroo.
There is only one known case of a kangaroo killing a human.
It occured in 1936 when a hunter’s two dogs attacked a roo and as the roo defended himself the hunter went to their rescue. The hunter saw his dogs being ripped to shreds and decided he'd try to get in on the action.
However, the majority of dangerous kangaroos being only the big bucks. You are safe with the females and bucks too young yet to be attempting any sort of male domination.
First step. Never get too close to or look like you want to stand taller than a big buck. Kangaroos have attacked people on motorbikes and pushbikes because they look taller.
If it looks dangerous, get down on your hands and knees and feign submission. He'll either ignore you or perhaps try to mate with you at the worst.
Oh and from the above it may be known that it is wise not to think your dog can win the fight.
Peter, from what I have been told and have seen, Black bears are pretty skittish and will usually avoid humans. I expect that if I had gotten out of the truck the bear would have run off. Of course I wasn't going to test that theory. I do know that DW and I were walking around one day near the truck on a motor nature trail and a bear suddenly appeared... once it saw us, it quickly turned around and went back into the woods. No sign of aggression at all. Of course a mama bear with cubs is a different story.
I love the overall color cast of that image Lorell. Almost seems surreal and somewhat cinematic.
I love sunrise and sunset photos Dave. I might try to find one in the archives that I took on a previous trip to the Smoky mountains. One of the best sunrises I have seen. And of course we saw a few nice sunsets on previous trips out west.
"A moment in time
Immortalized forever
With silver and light"
The closest we come is the fictional drop bear that we tell tourists about. Because the Koala isn't a bear, being a marsupial is a different mammal. Tourists ask is that a Koala bear and we say they are a distant cousin that lurks in the tree until you aren't looking then they'll drop on you and tear bits out of you.
Which of course isn't true though I'd be wary of trying to pick up a koala because they have claws that can dig into trees.
