AND WE THOUGHT MIAMI WAS DANGEROUS

An LA homeowner, while walking and texting, encounters a bear.

Watch the video.

(Thanks to ScotMGS, jon harris and Jeff Meyerson)

Comments

[fivver]

Does a homeowner poop in his driveway?

[Not My Usual Alias]

In California, does the bear have the right of way?

[Dan S.]

The homeowner's name is "Vaz."

It was his home, so why did the bear not show Vaz deference?

[ligirl]

*snork* @ fivver

'a man walks into a bear...'

[Ralph]

That bear is not 600 lbs; it's probably about 250. I've chased bigger ones off my deck.

I'm not surprised the guy ran, but that's the wrong reaction -- a bear can outrun a horse in a sprint, and running may make the bear more interested in you. If the guy stood there and yelled the bear probably would have turned around; Black Bears are wimps. Do not try that with a Grizzly.

Bears only have the right-of-way when they are coming from the right. Duh.

[funny man]

According to the Today show, and this report the bear had a twitter account also, and apparently, under the name Glen
Bearian. The last tweet seemed similar to a Schwartnegger "trademark": I" rel="nofollow">

[funny man]

wow, dunno what happened to the last part, but it was
supposed to be:

"I'll be back!"

[Clankie]

" OMG! Jst crpd myslf ! LOL !!! "

[ubetcha]

*snork* at Dan S

[padraig]

Black bear, brown pants. Film at 11.

[Omniskeptic]

Ralph, we'll be looking forward to your video.

When interviewed, the bear said it was texting its boss to let him know it would be late for ... whatever it is bears do. "Work" probably isn't the right word.

[nursecindy]

Alex, what is the day I found religion? Ralph, I know you should never run from a bear but there is no way I'm going to stand there and yell at one.

[LeDud]

I want Ralphs phone # for future bear-encounter advice.

[maryqos]

wonder if Vaz hit the "send" button before scramming

[Not My Usual Alias]

I can surprise people with the volume of my voice. I have given instructions across three soccer fields -- a talent that comes in handy as a parent coach as well as my day gig as a librarian.

I could see yelling "Does your mother know you are here?" to a 250 pound human. To a bear... not so much.

[MOTW]

There's an app for that.

[Steve]

Ralph's right. You don't run from a predator, even one that's mostly vegetarian. Maybe back off, but don't run.
I've run into possibly five black bears at close quarters, less than 15 feet. There's no reason to panic unless the bear shows interest in you, personally.
Only one showed interest, but that was because her cub ran around behind me, so I was between her and the cub.
She apparently recognized the idiocy of the young and gave me a break.
We're about to take a long weekend at a cabin near Gatlinburg, so black bears, here we come!

[queensbee]

yeah. that would give me the runs too.

[O the Umanity]

Actually (as I've learned, and re-learned, ad infinitum frum the many times I've taken the Defensive Driving course (for the insurance deduction, why else?), the driver (or bear) "on the right" does not HAVE the right-of-way ... whut the law sez is that the driver (or bear) on the left SHALL YIELD the right-of-way to the driver (or bear) on the right ...

Lawyers make huge amounts of money on the distinction between the two phrases/concepts ...

Besides, this bear wuz in front of him ...

[Omniskeptic]

The question is, does this apply to all predators? What if you suddenly encounter a Goldman-Sachs executive? Or a used car salesman? Run or shout?

I think Schwarzenegger did some limited amount of running from the Predator, but only to achieve tactical advantage (or as McCellan said during the Peninsula campaign, "I'm changing my base.")

[DrPat]

OtheU, as the driving instructor who taught me lo! these many years ago told me, "One cannot TAKE right-of-way; one cannot HAVE right-of-way; one can only YIELD right-of-way." Thinking of it that way has saved me a lot of head-scratching decisions...

As for brown bears, a relative who hunts and does a lot of camping told me about one time when, hearing a ruckus outside and thinking it was his dog scrabbling for bacon in the cooler, he ran out of his tent screaming, "G-d--mmit! Get the h-ll out of that food!" - only to see a "largish" bear with a flitch of bacon already in its jaws.

It was so startled it dropped the bacon and backed away on its hind legs for several steps before dropping to all fours and galloping out of camp. My BIL "dusted the grit off, sliced the bacon" and made himself some breakfast.