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It's good to hear and learn from people who live in areas where there is an established bear population, as I'm aware of their expanding territory here, we had a 200+ black bear across the street recently, the D.E.C. agents tracked and killed it, not sure why, they must have felt he would have been a danger. This is a new thing for us too, now most people here feed the birds, I've tossed a lot of old frozen meat, leftovers, you name it, out into the back yard over the years with no problems, the local family of crows usually appreciates it, I've enjoyed watching some of the critters come by, hawks, vultures, fox, and the darn coyotes, who have really made a presence here, but they come and go. Every night I'll toss a quarter chicken carcass out on the lawn as I seem to prepare a lot of poultry on the grill lately, quick and easy. In the morning the crows come and take it, seems like even the coyotes have enough, they don't bother to come close except when there is a deer carcass left out during hunting season. It is obvious that these habits will have to change as attracting bears to the place is obviously not a good thing, the one across the street is evidence of that. It's amazing that so much wildlife has come back, we never had geese, now they are a pain to deal with, bobcats, bear, deer ( never saw deer as a youngster here ) wolf and mountain lion, it won't be long before these are confirmed in the north I'll bet, sure is quite a bit of area for them to roam in the adirondacks and surrounding areas, trickling into our area, many areas cannot be developed, ravines, valley's and most wildlife take advantage of these passages, even the moose have been through here. I've often wondered what would be an effective self defense weapon against a bear or cat if encountered in the woods or elsewhere, if he sees you first I can imagine your time is too short to make a draw with a handgun or set your rifle sights on his vitals, as even hunters of dangerous game test the odds I think. Assuming the spray might be quicker, I'd still want a firearm, for peace of mind. At home I'm never far from one if I think about it, carefully hidden what I need, and safely stored extra ammo, with some spare home defense always nearby but never loaded. Not to live in a paranoid state either, one can get a little carried away and insecure, but just for peace of mind, sane thing when hiking, or in the field so to speak, seems normal to carry something and adequate ammo, it's another tool in the chest, if ever needed it's there, with the urban sprawl, and spread of crime, seems to be good measure now. I like the .22 revolver, fun to plink with, can carry lots of ammo, seems to be quite accurate with CCI stingers and not a lot of $$ to shoot. Not very effective against big game though. It seems that most of these creatures want nothing to do with humans, except when fed by them, or they are protecting young. The cats must really not like humans as they are sneaky I've observed bobcats from my stand recently and the slightest disturbance, he's bouncing in the air and gone. The thing with large cat is he's going for your throat for an immediate kill, if stalking you like prey, that is gonna be hard to deal with if you don't see it coming. It's shocking that these predators have attacked people, like most animals they run when seeing a human, sometimes the tables are turned, guess it's good to be educated and aware of how to defend yourself if you are in an area where these critters live. One of the strangest tales I've ever heard was on Discovery Channel, some fellow in Africa, possibly Nigeria, sleeping in an adobe style house, became aware that a cat was outside, a Lion, she poked her head in the window, shortly after she leaped through the window and had the guy pinned, only thing was she was so old her teeth were not effective anymore, I can't recall if he killed it with a knife or warded it off somehow, can't even imagine, I'd be putting some bars on those windows!!!!
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