Just recently in May, I was at a state park about 30 minutes south of Placerville. While driving on a one lane road surrounded by woods, I saw my first real life big bear. I stopped the car, grabbed my camera and ran after the bear trying to get a picture. The adult bear had its back to me the whole time. The bear dusted me in seconds as it speeded off the road and into the woods. An adult bear can weigh more then 2000 pounds and run up to 40 mile an hour, and it was afraid of me.
While reading the article "How Do I Become A Big Bear?" in the July issue of Ideas & Discoveries magazine, I leaned that if a bear is facing you, it's best not to look it in the eye, and to also to raise your arms in an attempt to make yourself look a big as possible. The article states, that if it's a full grown bear, it's most likely not going to be intimated by you at all, in such a case, the article advises you not to run, and back away slowly, avoiding eye contact.
When your out in the wilderness of a state park, or any hiking trail for that matter, it's best not to be alone, and if you have a small child with you, keep them close by, mountain lions especially like to prey on the very young.
Alone or not, while hiking, make lots of noise. In the distance trails of civilization when I'm alone, I sing Rush songs loud, my horrible singing voice is enough to scare away any beast!
Rattle snakes, lions and even bears are afraid of humans, if they hear you, they run (slither) off or stay out of your site. (In theory)
Female bears are awesome, it's the sole reason bears are smart and live on. Baby bears are born blind and about the size of an adult squirrel. At first, cubs live off their mothers milk, then as they grow older, the mother teaches them how to catch fish with their paws or mouth, and which fruits in the forest are edible and which ones are poisonous. The female also teaches the cubs how to climb trees and swim.
Polar bears have got to be the swimming champions of the world, an adult polar bear can swim for up to 200 miles without a break, but it's Michael Phelps who gets most of the credit for being a great swimmer.
