Guest Stan Norton Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 I should think it is a safe bet that, in common with virtually every other large predatory or omnivorous mammal on the planet, wood ape populations are certainly under severe pressure from habitat degradation and fragmentation amongst other issues. It would be remarkable if they were not.
Guest DWA Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 I might speculate that the black bear and sasquatch are on a pretty equal footing (i.e., doing rather well, all things considered). I'm not totally sure that the latter isn't being seen as frequently as the former. There is a problem estimating this in any event, but particularly so when the latter is believed to be mythical.
Guest Stan Norton Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 I guess it's all speculation! Not being overly familiar with bears (we killed all ours a while back, clever chaps that we are...) I think that they are clearly very plastic in their behaviour, being able to readily adapt to and exploit a wide range of opportunities arising from our modification of the natural world. Humans being the singular exception, most apes just don't exhibit that level of ubiquity.
Guest DWA Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 My speculation tends to move to "what makes it in the temperate zone vis-a-vis the tropics." Tropical apes just don't exhibit the plasticity that even black bears do, let alone sasquatch. Ursus americanus - like canis lupus, actually - will live pretty much anywhere we allow it. They tend, unlike grizzlies, to leave us alone, even in close confrontation. I've had many black bears leave the scene when a griz would have attacked without hesitation - particularly that time when I had a cub up a pine a foot from my face, and mom fifty yards away, looking right at me. Nothing happened. Typical. They leave us alone, and we...well, we sort of do, but apparently just enough. All that said: we came close enough to killing all our bears too. Had a bigger parcel to clear out, that's pretty much all. But black bears have bounced back like rubber bands with our latter-day live and sort-of let live. Grizz...not so much. Reports seem to indicate that sasquatch eat what bears do; can get things bears can't; always take the high road when they meet up with us...and have the added bennie that no one will tell the game warden or animal control specialist that it's a bigfoot taking his sheep.
Guest Stan Norton Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 (edited) It would be interesting to know whether NAWAC have any census data on bear numbers for X and surrounds and whether, in their experience, bears are any more tricky to see than wood apes in that locale. I.e. if there are considerable numbers of bears (assuming that there are fewer wood apes than bear) in the Ouachitas, are bear encounters rare or not? Does the habitat inherently make wildlife encounters difficult? Edited January 25, 2014 by Stan Norton
Terry Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 I live in an area with one of the largest black bear populations in, I believe I read, North America. Still, bear encounters are rare and usually you'll only catch one crossing a road unless you're having issues with a bear that keeps visiting your neighbourhood because folks don't put their garbage away. Regarding bf, anyone who knows their wildlife and who really gets out there would probably never mistake a bear for anything other than a bear. On the other hand, too many people who report bf don't know their wildlife. Here's classic example of a porcupine in a tree and someone thinking it's a bigfoot. This is what we have to deal with regarding sightings which I fear are in the majority.
Guest DWA Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 (edited) Getting bear data for the Ouachitas and comparing it to sasquatch reports - with the inevitable gap for I'm-sure-not-talking for the latter - would certainly be a start to put the speculation on a more solid footing. It has long seemed to me that the basic difference between animals with similar apparent diets and ecological plasticity might revolve somewhat on intelligence, but somewhat more on the society's blinders with regard to one of the animals. Terry: no question that significant issues with identification are going to be present when things like that video are presented to people who badly want to see proof on their schedule. Given the reports I have read, however, I just find it hard to believe that is going on with a majority of them, particularly when so many take pains to point out how what they saw fit the sasquatch profile and not that for any known species. Edited January 25, 2014 by DWA
Guest Stan Norton Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 Looks like black bears in the Ouachitas haven't been there that long...actually a reintroduction from Canada! Anyway, there seems to be a few hundred or so in the whole of Oklahoma, so the numbers in X at any one time must be on the low side. Still, there are presumably more bear than sasquatch. http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/oas/oas_pdf/v87/p55_64.pdf&sa=U&ei=7jDkUtj8JoG2hQeEtoHIDw&ved=0CCYQFjAF&sig2=7CyThkw8pbIdGWaalXSGFg&usg=AFQjCNFA64GIIuFXJqAAgoCIyW6vQ6NNJg
JanV Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 Brian, I have a question about the NAWAC field study... Have you formed any idea about the creatures sleeping habits? Are they primarily diurnal or nocturnal? Have your members found any evidence of how they sleep? Like communal or single bedding areas? Could the ones seen in the daytime be scouts or guards for the group who are sleeping? Where do you think they live in respect to your cabin area? Do you have any idea how far they come to interact with you? Any ideas you have formulated on this topic and are willing to share will be appreciated.
Guest Stan Norton Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 Sorry, a bit of topic but this is how remote the average Brit is from the concept of bears... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25892733
Guest Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 Looks like black bears in the Ouachitas haven't been there that long...actually a reintroduction from Canada! Manitoba and Minnesota! We have many images of bears on our game cams and have seen them from time to time. They appear to be numerous in the area. Have you formed any idea about the creatures sleeping habits? Are they primarily diurnal or nocturnal? Have your members found any evidence of how they sleep? Like communal or single bedding areas? Could the ones seen in the daytime be scouts or guards for the group who are sleeping? Where do you think they live in respect to your cabin area? Do you have any idea how far they come to interact with you? They appear to be very flexible WRT sleeping habits. We have experienced activity during daylight and nighttime hours. They're most bold in the very late hours just before dawn. We have found some bedded down areas from time to time, but we can't positively attribute them to apes. We haven't found anything like gorilla nests. We believe they do have scouts and sentries, not unlike gorillas and other primates. We have no idea. If only we knew where their "homebase" was. There is a lot of speculation and conjecture about that. We don't even know how large their range is, let along how far they come to observe and interact with us.
hiflier Posted January 26, 2014 Posted January 26, 2014 (edited) Hello bipto, May I suggest a gorge. Something with rock outcroppings for shelter. In winter maybe a place that gets daytime sun which also suggests a winter block for wind from the north and west. I think all three to be a good combination Edited January 26, 2014 by hiflier
BobbyO Posted January 26, 2014 SSR Team Posted January 26, 2014 (edited) Sorry, a bit of topic but this is how remote the average Brit is from the concept of bears... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25892733 I'd say age has got more to do with that than Nationality. Edited January 26, 2014 by BobbyO
hiflier Posted January 26, 2014 Posted January 26, 2014 (edited) Hello BobbyO, Agreed. One thing I did notice right away though was the bear "freeze" when they were leaving. We had a thread on just that characteristic somewhere. Edited January 26, 2014 by hiflier
Guest Stan Norton Posted January 26, 2014 Posted January 26, 2014 (edited) The reaction would have been no different from folks half their age...perhaps a few more choice words, but still the same inherent panic when faced with a large creature. The most dangerous animal in Britain is probably a cow, and has been for the last 300 years or so. Edited January 26, 2014 by Stan Norton
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