Bears, Tires and Pepper spray

[EDMO 1078]

I worked for a shop in Anchorage. One day we got a call from "Charley" a guide and pilot. He needed a new tire and tube to be flown out to the bush where he was stranded. We took care of him only to get the same call a week later. It turned out to be the same tire on the right side of his Piper. Again we answered the distress call. Two weeks later, Charlie called for 2 tires and tubes as he was stranded again. This time my boss went out with the tires and demanded an explanation.

Charley sheepishly admitted to being the cause of the mangled tires. But it was not while the plane was moving. He admitted that when he would return to the plane with a fish, he would place the fish on the right tire before putting it in the plane. Bears Love Salmon!

That was only the first two tires. When questioned about both tires being chewed up, he said, "Well, I thought if I used Pepper spray on the tires the bear would leave them alone. That damned bear likes pepper on his fish!"

Ed in MO

[akflyer 1427]

Good darn thing he didnt have a salt shaker with him

Bears are pretty funny to watch. They can be curious and just sniff around, or they can get down right mean and tear shit up.. It's a roll of the dice! a 12 gauge with cracker shells work wonders to keep them away 99% of the time.

There is a video of a cop in Anchorage hitting a black bear with his taser last spring. Funny as hell.. bear did a back flip, twitched for a bit, got up and hauled ass outta town! I was rolling as I watch it. Not that I would want to try that in real life, but it was funny to watch. I guess the bears dont like tasers any more than I do!

[Trackwelder 12]

When I was in college , many years ago in Colorado, we had both black and brown bears in the area. They said the only way to tell the difference waas to climb atree, if it follwed you up it was a brown bear, if it knocked it down it was a Black.

The only time I had any trouble we had taken our jeeps up through the Devils Punchbowl on schoffield pass between Crested Butte and Marble Colorado( this is where they got the tomb of the unknown soldier beautiful white marble with veins of gold throughout), It was pretty normal to find vehicles that had gone over the side and their was really no way to recover them so they left them at the bottom of the cliff. Me and a friend decided that there were a couple that were worth salvaging some choice items from and let out our winch cables anchored our lines to our jeps and rapelled down. Got a real nice transmission and transfer case as well as a good Warn Bellview winch. As we climbed out the radio in my jeep quit working, I thought it had run the battery down and didn't think much of it until we reached the top, the bear had ignored the cooler and gone straight for eating my brand new all weather speakers. I guess he wasn't a fan of Hank jr.

[EDMO 1078]

When I was in college , many years ago in Colorado, we had both black and brown bears in the area. They said the only way to tell the difference waas to climb atree, if it follwed you up it was a brown bear, if it knocked it down it was a Black.

The only time I had any trouble we had taken our jeeps up through the Devils Punchbowl on schoffield pass between Crested Butte and Marble Colorado( this is where they got the tomb of the unknown soldier beautiful white marble with veins of gold throughout), It was pretty normal to find vehicles that had gone over the side and their was really no way to recover them so they left them at the bottom of the cliff. Me and a friend decided that there were a couple that were worth salvaging some choice items from and let out our winch cables anchored our lines to our jeps and rapelled down. Got a real nice transmission and transfer case as well as a good Warn Bellview winch. As we climbed out the radio in my jeep quit working, I thought it had run the battery down and didn't think much of it until we reached the top, the bear had ignored the cooler and gone straight for eating my brand new all weather speakers. I guess he wasn't a fan of Hank jr.

Yeh, Shame on him not liking Hank Jr. I grew up listening to Hank Sr. More trouble than bears, were the dang Moose: They would walk under a wing and raise their antlers, and there would be holes in a fabric or dents in aluminum, or try to walk across tail and fuselage in deep snos.

Life is fun around Animals. And repair bills are high!

I had a coon get into my cockpit once - tore hell out of new upholstery - guess it was going for the crumbs I had dropped and not cleaned out.

ED in MO (Alaska before retiring)