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Originally Posted by orbsycli
met this guy on mission st. in santa cruz today talkin' about he used to live on the tallest mountain in big sur...talked about the freshest water and how it infused, talked about the bears, mountain lions, rattle snakes, and wolves.
Big sur is on the pacific ocean, and is immediately followed by redwood forest and thousand foot elevations. There is where he dwelled.
Should I fear these creatures being near the coast?
What are some precautions I should take to avoid these amazing beasts?
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Fear is not the right word. Be aware is a better description. Black bear are usually not a problem unless cubs are around. For this area, mating season for bears is June (another risk time). How is the natural food supply going in that region? Oh, and when I used to take trips up to the Boundry Waters, I would stop at the regional office and talk to the guys there about where the problem bears had been reported (camp raiders) and I would suggest you contact some of these guys to see if there have been any issues with wildlife in the area your headed into.
For the BWCA campers are told to hang their food supplies up in trees, out a bit from the trunk (like 6-8 feet). You might want to run a few google searches on camping in the Boundry Waters Canoe Area for some clues.
The stick idea isnt a bad one, but for me, the jingling of bells would bum me out. But I like to listen to the forest. For snake it would be helpful though. You poke the stick around ahead of you as your walking, almost in the same fashion a blind person uses a cane. Most snakes will slither away. Most rattlers will warn with the rattle first. As I understand it, most snake bites are from someone stepping on/too close to the snake where it felt it had to strike to protect itself. The poking stick gives them a warning.
My brother chased a very large rattler one time thinking it was a bull snake. It was trying to sun itself on the top of his tent. Bull snakes can rattle, but they hit their tail on the ground to make the noise. Rattlers hold their tail up and shake it.
