"Make sure you don't get killed by a bear!"

Lopéz

Lopéz

Lopéz

Man of Honour
Joined
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This was the last thing my wife said to me before I laughed and walked out of the apartment to go on a train trip to Central Slovakia walking in the woods last weekend.

Yeah yeah, I'm pretty sure people are not getting killed by bears, even in the forests in Slovakia.

And obviously, being used to adventuring in the UK bears are not high on the list of likely dangers.

Well, I was right - I didn't have any bear related dramas, but on the same day, in the same place, someone else did:

www.bbc.com

Slovakia backs plan to shoot 350 bears after man killed in attack

Around a quarter of the country's brown bears will be culled after a man was attacked in a forest.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

Yikes, ok fair enough - maybe I will consider the risk of bear maulage next time I make such a trip.

It got me thinking though - we don't really have any large predators in the UK - no wolves, no bears. The topic of reintroducing things like wolves comes up time to time and I am wondering, how would it affect your relationship with nature and the countryside if it still contained large predators like it did 1500 years ago?
 
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Lopéz said:
This was the last thing my wife said to me before I laughed and walked out of the apartment to go on a train trip to Central Slovakia walking in the woods last weekend.

Yeah yeah, I'm pretty sure people are not getting killed by bears, even in the forests in Slovakia.

And obviously, being used to adventuring in the UK bears are not high on the list of likely dangers.

Well, I was right - I didn't have any bear related dramas, but on the same day, in the same place, someone else did:

www.bbc.com

Slovakia backs plan to shoot 350 bears after man killed in attack

Around a quarter of the country's brown bears will be culled after a man was attacked in a forest.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

Yikes, ok fair enough - maybe I will consider the risk of bear maulage next time I make such a trip.

It got me thinking though - we don't really have any large predators in the UK - no wolves, no bears. The topic of reintroducing things like wolves comes up time to time and I am wondering, how would it affect your relationship with nature and the countryside if it still contained large predators like it did 1500 years ago?
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In certain parts of the UK you may come across a hairy beaver!
50743141726_ec3ab89e9b_o_d.gif
 
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Lopéz said:
Well, I was right - I didn't have any bear related dramas, but on the same day, in the same place, someone else did:
Click to expand...

Ooof my brother sometimes goes walking/camping near(ish) there i.e. Chopok, AFAIK never even seen a bear while in those parts.
 
Cant see any appeal in wandering around a wild area with critters that could easily kill me.

Gotta laugh at kneejerk or even thoughtful extermination of huge chunks of a population of lesser species. It infringed on the uncontrolled population of humans!
 
When I was a kid I went up a mountain near Seattle, saw bear tracks in the snow, fortunately no bear.

On the same mountain one of the adults broke their ankle (Easy to outrun them and survive the bear lol).

Gave me an appreciation for planning that should go in to such trips. The adults that day hadn't considered the risks and had no plan.

Coincidentally I joined the scouts and that gave me some training for such situations, albeit bear free.

As an adult if I was going in nature and we had predators I'd want a gun, and a couple of buddies who also had guns. And much better phone signal coverage than we have now.
 
Plenty of bears round here.

Was in the shower with a bear with a hairy beaver too.. this morning

But... Bears and beavers here :p real ones
 
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I love going for walks around the Ashdown forest (near where I live), but the most vicious things you come across are toddlers, and the occasional randy horse.

A friend of mine lives in Canada and often goes for walks with bear spray / bangers etc... he's not armed, though some of his neighbours do go for a walk with a shotgun which I believe is legal in Canada.

People can co-exist with such animals, you just have to learn how to deal with it sensibly.
 
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Jeez, I didn't realise they had brown bears there. Good to know. I do like being able to walk through a forest in the UK and know that there most likely aren't any bears there.
 
Lopéz said:
It got me thinking though - we don't really have any large predators in the UK - no wolves, no bears. The topic of reintroducing things like wolves comes up time to time and I am wondering, how would it affect your relationship with nature and the countryside if it still contained large predators like it did 1500 years ago?
Click to expand...

I don't really adventure into the countryside but I definitely wouldn't if predators were there. Unless maybe if we're allowed guns. But then again I wouldn't want to shoot an animal so I still wouldn't. Yes I eat meat, so I'm a hypocrite
 
Had a stag deer jump the car at night in big park as I drove through. Wouldn't have ended well if he'd landed on the car.

You'd just have to be better prepared/armed if there were wild animal predators.
 
The UK doesn't have lots going for it, but a lack of seriously dangerous animals besides a freak encounter with an Adder where you leave the snake no choice is good.
 
OspreyO said:
Had a stag deer jump the car at night in big park as I drove through. Wouldn't have ended well if he'd landed on the car.

You'd just have to be better prepared/armed if there were wild animal predators.
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oh yeah i forgot about the deer in essex, ive encountered them a few times but they always just bolt.
 
Looks like being in a built up area is no guarantee of safety either:


Wild boar in Bratislava:

 
As someone who is originally from that part of the country I had a few encounters with bears as a kid 25+ years ago. Luckily never anything serious, think closes one was about 100m away. However it's been getting worse and worse over the years as the law hasn't changed in decades. Iirc the local hunter groups were only allowed to shoot a single bear per a year since 60s when the population was something like 300 bears so it was only a matter of time when it got to this point. Tbh it got to a point where my cousins don't even mention how often they see or hear about a bear in their village or even their gardens.

Freefaller said:
I love going for walks around the Ashdown forest (near where I live), but the most vicious things you come across are toddlers, and the occasional randy horse.

A friend of mine lives in Canada and often goes for walks with bear spray / bangers etc... he's not armed, though some of his neighbours do go for a walk with a shotgun which I believe is legal in Canada.

People can co-exist with such animals, you just have to learn how to deal with it sensibly.
Click to expand...

People can certainly co-exist but you can't compare huge country like Canada with small country like Slovakia where people live lot closer to mountains.
 
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