Discussion: Congrats.

Better than shooting at it as some would have us believe is their right.

Well, I did try to shoot it with my camera, but just winged it.

You would be in violation of an ordinance just passed by the Northampton City Council.

The reference was to shenagins at the WH Reservoirs, that place we run in the woods occasionally.

It's cool that you live in a place that still has bears.

Leslie wants to know if you could gave the bear $5, would he head on down to the local burger joint. She once encountered bears on a Tahoe course and blowing her O whistle scared them away. (It also brought forth several other competitors.)

Bears have come back into Connecticut in big numbers in the last 15 years. They were extirpated a long time ago when all the land was cleared for agriculture and charcoal. They colonize gradually. Females den within 5 miles of where they are born, so it takes many generations for them to move in. We sure have them now, though.

Zack said he saw a bear on a course in Washington State about 8 years ago. He was pretty unsettled by it. I haven't seen one orienteering, but I have seen them maybe 6 or 8 times just running in the woods around here. Always makes my heart beat a little faster.

I encountered a mother and two cubs while orienteering in Washington in 2001. They were heading away from me, and I slowed down to let them put a healthy gap between us. I've also seen one on the Wapack Trail, across the street from Windblown, which is not too far from where I live. That one was making seriously good time down the trail away from me after busting out of the bushes, and I turned around and headed off in a different direction. Never occurred to me in either case that it would be interesting to have a firearm.

Louise was with Leslie when they encountered that bear at Burton Creek. The whistles did indeed seem to shoo off the bear as well as bring over several other orienteers.