Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

You also have to factor in that Florida, along with some other states, is under reporting Covid-19 cases per CDC guidelines.

Florida, Other States May Be Undercounting COVID-19 Cases By Not Following CDC Guidelines

 

and to beat a dead horse i have been ranting about, states are calling anything remotely close to covid 19 a death from it w/o proof the deceased had covid 19, so, it goes both ways.

 

Part of the problem is that no one is willing to go look up source material for themselves and they are 100% relying in MSNBC or CNN or FOX or Reuters, etc... to interpret for them. In that case, they kind of deserve the confusion that they are feeling. Nothing Dr. Van Kerhove said should have changed anyone's attitudes towards doing the correct things (keeping distance from others and wearing masks when outside the home and in confined spaces).

This woman NEVER said asymptomatic transmission did not occur despite some (not all) some headlines blaring it out. And, in actuality, she did not "walk back" any of her comments yesterday because everything that she said, in response to the question she was asked, was 100% true on Friday and still is today on Wednesday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/06/09/asymptomatic-coronavirus-spread-who/

 

Are there brown bears out where you hike? If yes, how do you deal with that? We have black bears all over the place, including my back yard. I don't fear black bears so much, but do fear an encounter with my dog. I did some extra talking and singing during our hike yesterday, as we were in some serious back woods.

 

Yes. Interesting that you'd ask. 2 weeks ago we took a hike from a trailhead about 7 miles from today's hike & we saw a bear with cubs. But, rarely ever see them on hikes (in fact, I think that was the first one we saw on a hike in Colo in about 10 years)....there was one in my hood about this time last year. So, it's not much of an issue. My wife used to bring bear spray on hikes. I don't think we have as many as you do & a lot of our forest is thin & you can see pretty far, so surprising a bear is less likely. When we do encounter thicker woods we make noise. It's weird, whenever I am in eastern woods, etc. where it is a wall of green, I feel claustrophobic. I've become addicted to wide open spaces.

 

Ok - I'm totally ignorant when it comes to brown bears, so they seem much more frightening than black bears. We had a momma bear kill a small dog and attack a man in our neighborhood last year. They trapped her and had to put her down, which was really sad. Apparently, they relocated the cubs (no bear drama exists w/o cubs). I've seen a 300+ bear in the yard and one that tried to enter our garage. One was leaving remains in our yard last year, but we never saw it. Have had five sightings in the eight years we've been up here, including one on a hike last summer. Luckily our dog was oblivious until I got her on leash (don't tell the leash patrol!). As long as there are no cubs in the picture, they run away.

 

We hike with browns in Alaska present in a lot of places we hike there. Carry bear spray, make lots of noise or play music on your phone. I wouldn't be quick to dismiss threat from blacks though. I have had more problems with moose than bears. Bears generally try and avoid you unless you are fishing in close proximity and they want what you have on a stringer or on the end of your line. Moose don't avoid you and are much more likely to charge you. They are, in general, much more aggressive than bears. I have learned to always keep a tree or two between you and a moose.

 

We've spend just a little time between Duluth and up a ways into Ontario. Haven't seen a moose yet, but we've tried. As you say, though, they can be feisty so I guess I should be careful what I wish for. I'm mostly afraid of hitting one on the highway, as that can be much more dangerous than hitting a deer. We see deer more days than we don't. Saw our first fawn of the year today. They are everywhere up here and in our yard most days, though that's changed a bit since we got a dog. The deer up here are quite "hearty" too. Some of the bucks are def in the 300 lb range.

Do you have experience with black bears? What are your suggestions for safety with black bears, in relation to grizzlies?

 

@ursidman more qualified than me to answer that question about blacks. We had a black run us off the beach in Valdez one year while we were catching silver salmon. He waited until I hooked up and then came charging in to get the fish. Cut the line and let it go and he gave us the stink eye but three of us had gathered together by then and waved our rods to try and look bigger. He huffed a couple of times and then left right before we did. I believe the same rules apply, make noise, carry bear spray, group together and get big, never run, never get between mama and baby bear. lots of blacks in Florida now too. Had one hit on I75 yesterday in Ft. Myers

 

Harvard doctor predicts another 100k dead from covid by September

 

Minnesota has lots and lots of black bears - and one of the country's best state DNRs and really good bear researchers. Wild black bears will run away as soon as they are aware of you - see you, smell you, hear you. You don't need to worry too much about them. Black bears that are nonchalant around people are worrisome. They have hit the jackpot (food) often enough to drop their fears of man and can be dangerous and destructive to property and livestock and maybe you.

To keep wild bears wild do not ever feed a bear either intentionally or unintentionally and encourage your neighbors to do likewise. They have a tremendous sense of smell and can smell a strong food odor for up to 2 miles. They love birdseed, dog food, livestock food, hummingbird sugar water, dirty grills, AND garbage especially. There are a lot more calories available in a garbage can than in hunting acorns and it takes less time. They are especially ravenous in the fall as they prepare for winter and may consume in excess of 20,000 calories per day.

Bears can be destructive and are capable of breaking into sheds and homes to get at the good smelling stuff. Bears acclimated to humans can be maddening and hard to deter. Air horns can be effective for a while. Paint balls also work, and frozen paint balls work a little better. A hot wire around gardens or livestock is a very effective deterrent but must be maintained. If you frequently encounter them in your yard pepper spray works like a charm - just be aware of wind currents. You can find a motion activated sprinkler on Amazon for not much money and they work pretty well. Keep garbage cans in a hard sided structure or use a bear resistant can (~$200) if your waste hauler allows it. The bear will give it a try, give up, and then go to your neighbor who doesn't have such a can.

In FL all the human attacks have been in human neighborhoods and from bears that were "neighborhood" bears. In those neighborhoods the bears made a living from the food humans made available either intentionally or unintentionally. They lived in the neighborhoods - mostly large, wooded lots - and every day could be found sleeping in front yards and lounging in the azaleas. Occasionally they broke through sliding glass doors to find food. Most of the attacks happened at dusk and occurred as residents were walking dogs (dogs and bears are mortal enemies). Typically, the dogs were off lease and running ahead, encountered a female with cubs or yearlings, a ruckus ensued and the dogs would flee back to mama with the enraged bear close behind. Another occurred when a lady walked into her garage that had been left open and found 3 bears rummaging through her deep freeze (neighborhood bears know what that white rectangle is).

Other than a female protecting young attacks by black bears are fairly rare but serious. A black bear stalking you (or more likely a child) is a serious display of predatory behavior usually by a young inexperienced male. If it attacks, it is for food so the person should fight back. Grizzly bears attack people because they see them as a threat and try to neutralize the risk. Encouraging the grizzly to believe that you have been neutralized by playing dead is recommended but its going to hurt.

A field tech I employed for a summer in Tate's Hell in the panhandle got a job in Montana the next summer where she was attacked by a grizzly bear who got her by the head and shoulder. The bites fractured her skull in several places. She lived only because she was able to reach the bear spray on her belt and sprayed the bear (and herself). The bear ran away and somehow she was able to walk 2 miles to her truck and drive down the mountain far enough to establish contact with her office (answered by another former tech of ours and former UF grad student). She is 115 lbs of badass woman and is back in the field doing grizzly research.

Way more than you asked about. Sorry. Bears fascinate me and I tend to go on and on.

 

There are black bears all over the hills and mountain areas of Arizona. Attacks are rare, but do occasionally happen. This time of the year, when it's the driest, and there are fires, is the only time bears will come down into town. There's a big fire on the NW side of Tucson at the base of Mt. Lemmon (peak around 9,500 feet) that might force some wildlife closer into town. In N. Arizona, there's even a zoo/park where you can drive and get pretty close to the bears called Bearizona. It's in Williams, about 40 minutes S. of the Grand Canyon.

As for Covid, the second wave is coming. What's happening in Arizona and Florida areis just the start, the peak will likely come at the end of Summer according to the new UW model.

 

Thanks a bunch. This is useful, but also very interesting. Esp. noteworthy about early evening and fall attacks. I've never owned bear spray or pepper spray, but might need to pick some up. We will be doing a lot of hiking out in the forest this summer.

 

I live on the edge of the Wekiva Springs State park so we have a huge issue with bears. Seminole county issued everyone bear proof garbage cans but some idiots in my neighboorhood don't always use them so the bears are very active on the night before garbage day.

 

If you are hiking in the forest, the need for spray is diminished. Most of those bears are wild and will be gone before you know they are there (usually). Although I provided pepper spray to my techs, it was only deployed once - against a drunken scrubite in Ocala NF. He was following my female tech around in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, and did not heed her warnings. The spray worked.

 

If the CDC's ridiculously low estimate of a 0.24% IFR is true, we top out at 550,000 deaths in the US when all is said and done. Most estimates for IFR are at least double that.

 

Very well acquainted with Wekiva. The most dense population in the state (from our statewide study) that lives in great bear habitat surrounded on 3 sides by dense human population. There were a couple of human attacks (as I recall) in neighborhoods near there. The FWC - my former agency- did a cost sharing program with Seminole County to buy those cans and it was amazingly successful in that it greatly diminished bear complaints. Bears are extremely intelligent and know when garbage day rolls around. Some HOAs in the area have adopted Bear-Wise covenants and are super vigilant about them and their bear complaints are very few.

 

For sure. My buddy heard a racket outside at 7am one morning in the winter when it was still pretty dark outside. Went out there thinking it was raccoons because whatever he saw was small. Unfortunately for him he walked up on 3 bear cubs. Out of nowhere momma bear put him on his back in 1 second. This guy is 6'3" and 275 and played college football and said he'd never been hit harder in his life. Luckily he was able to hit the bear in the head and the bear took off once the cubs had run off. He got away with some scratches and scrapes only. Very lucky.