Fear of Bears

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iloveedge

Blue Crack Addict
Joined
Dec 1, 2006
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15,737
Location
Québec
How to over come them?

I've always been afraid of them, but it's worst now. About a month ago, I saw one while rollerblading on the bicycle path close to my house. He was running away from me so I wasn't so afraid. But I haven't been biking or rollerblading since. Haven't been walking either.

Thursday of last week (the 17th), I saw another one. This time, it was in my ward. I live in the basement so I have to go in by the back. So after school, I do like the usual...look around the yard to see if there's one. I didn't see anything so I continued to the door. Then I looked up and noticed a bear. It was about four meters away, on the lawn. But there's this 5 foot wall and he just jumped off!! Like right in front of me!! I didn't get a chance to open the door so I just screamed and ran away...

Ever since, I've been freaking out! So far, in my town, the game wardens have caught 10 bears!! Twice we've found crap on our balcony...and I just keep thinking that one of them is going to break the big patio door and come in the house and stuff. I'm terrified. I'm shaking just thinking about it and writing this message.

Does anyone have advice? This is really affecting me. I haven't been in school for the past week...I can't sleep. Every little sound, crack makes me jump...

Thanks for taking the time to read this :)
 
The big thing you can try is to research bears. Tearing down myths is a big step in ending those fears. Are bears powerful? Yes. Should you respect that they are powerful and dangerous? Yes. But there is information out there about what to do when you are around a bear. You have very little to fear if you give a bear its space and don't threaten it. So my advice is to research bears to end those fears. :)
 
At first when I was reading, I was waiting for a punch-line, then I just grew more and more terrified.

Don't steal their fucking berries.
 
oh my, i can understand why you'd be fearful! there are ways to overcome the fear psychologically if you wish to do so. i forget its exact name, but you can overcome it by exposure. usually this is done (or at least i've heard it done this way) with much smaller things like spiders and rats. first they show a photo of one, and you gradually become more comfortable and eventually can hold one or whatever. not sure how possible that is with a bear, though! :lol:

good luck, though. :hug: i totally understand what it's like to be afraid of something so whether you choose to face the fear or not, hopefully you won't ever be in a dangerous situation with a bear!
 
i don't have any phobias (that i'm aware of!), but i can totally understand not wanting to come face to face with a bear in my backyard. that's possibly the most rational fear you could possibly have.

the closest thing to a phobia would be that i'm willing to look at spiders and stuff, go to the zoo exhibits, but i'm happy to look but not touch. but that's perfectly rational too, given i spent some of my childhood in australia - common sense says stay away from the spiders!
 
:yikes: I've never seen a bear up close but the only thing I thought about while reading your story was that if I lived where you do, I'd move the hell out! :lol:

Sorry I'm not much help. :reject: I could offer you to come to this bear-less country?
 
:yikes: where the fuck do you live?

In Québec, right on the Ontario border :)

oh my, i can understand why you'd be fearful! there are ways to overcome the fear psychologically if you wish to do so. i forget its exact name, but you can overcome it by exposure. usually this is done (or at least i've heard it done this way) with much smaller things like spiders and rats. first they show a photo of one, and you gradually become more comfortable and eventually can hold one or whatever. not sure how possible that is with a bear, though! :lol:

good luck, though. :hug: i totally understand what it's like to be afraid of something so whether you choose to face the fear or not, hopefully you won't ever be in a dangerous situation with a bear!

Yeah I thought of that. My mum talked to the desk lady at the Game Wardens office and asked if it would be possible for me to see one up close. Of course they'd be in a cage but the woman said that most of them are pretty...how to say it...VERY ANGRY! :yikes: Totally wild and stuff. Well, I would be too if someone would put me in a cage or take my kid away...

:yikes: I've never seen a bear up close but the only thing I thought about while reading your story was that if I lived where you do, I'd move the hell out! :lol:

Sorry I'm not much help. :reject: I could offer you to come to this bear-less country?

:lol: We've always had bears around...we'd see one or two...but this year has been totally crazy! :crazy:

Again this afternoon, this guy was walking and the path and later on, some guy screamed HEY! There's a bear following you!!! haha the guy didn't even notice it :crack: IMAGINE!

Thanks everyone :)
 
bears are a mythical creature to me.

though i did have a dream that one was chasing me, and i stood still so as to make it think i was a statue and then i did the crocodile dundee trick.

it's the drop bears you've gotta worry about
 
Bears are coming back in Michigan, yikes! My uncle watched a huge one get up on his deck and raid his bird feeders at his cabin, about an hour north of where we live. When we went up there on vacation I was too scared to leave my dogs in their kennel van or out in the garage like I'd planned. I mean my dogs aren't pansies but a 75lb dog vs. an adult bear :crack: I'm more scared of mountain lions but we don't have them here, bears are a close second!
 
I mean my dogs aren't pansies but a 75lb dog vs. an adult bear :crack: I'm more scared of mountain lions but we don't have them here, bears are a close second!

Dogs are the worst thing to have when there's bears around! They'll run to the bear and then run back to you...with the bear behind him :yikes:

Well I'm proud to say that I slept well last night. I was actually calm going to bed and I slept like a baby :happy:
 
That's my fear, my dogs would try to play with the bear or try to attack it...or worse, find a cub and provoke the mother! I used to let them loose in the woods to chase deer but not anymore.
 
GODLESS KILLING MACHINES

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Altho, on a more serious note, the best thing to do is educate yourself. My cousin has worked in Northern Ontario for the summer and is a city girl. Bears are common up there, they have been taught what to do, and when they see one they just do what they've been taught. Loud noises is key, apparently.

And remember, you don't have to outrun a bear, just whomever you are with. ;)
 
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GODLESS KILLING MACHINES

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And remember, you don't have to outrun a bear, just whomever you are with. ;)

:laugh:

several months back, i found myself about 25 feet away from two cubs while hiking on a trail with a pal! talk about terrifying! not necessarily because of the cubs, but because of what was obviously lurking--a potentially threatened, protective mama bear! this is truly one of the worst scenarios you could find yourself in with a bear.

i nearly flipped out and was about the run like hell in the opposite direction. luckily, my friend kept his composure, grabbed me by the shirt and calmly instructed me to turn around, WALK (briskly), and continue talking to him (loudly). thank god we never did see mama bear (at least not within sight), though she had to be nearby. the cubs simply scurried off into the woods.

in retrospect, i thought to myself: gee, even if i did run, it's my friend who probably would have gotten it and served to buy me time in my attempt to escape. see, i'm a runner. ;)
 
Dad taught us at a young age how to react around the wild critters since we lived in the woods. Came across a bear a few times, backed up slowly, no sudden moves and no issues. If you respect the animal and are cautious, you should be fine. There was one once that watched my mom hang out laundry :giggle:
 
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