| Dealing with bears: |
| Wandering around in bear country with Joey
and Edgar is kind of like walking into a bar in the "rough part of
town" with a couple of buddies who insist on running over to the
locals and slapping them upside the head while announcing
"HEY, see those guys over there, they're with us."
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| Being true to their terrier blood, they
will chase anything that remotely resembles a rat, no matter how big it
is. (Black or brown and furry are apparently their only cues) When
we are traveling ashore with these guys in bear country, they are on a
long lead and are wearing trolling bells to warn the wildlife.
In numerous encounters thus far, the racket of bells and barks has
alerted the bears to our presence and they have always watched us
curiously, from a discreet distance.
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| If we are hiking up river
valleys during the salmon spawn or wandering on river estuaries early in
the season when the grizzlies are grazing, I usually carry an old
12 gauge pump shotgun. We also each carry a very loud freon 'boat
horn' to help resolve any confrontations.
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| The
porcupine waddled off indignantly. Eddie (above) wasn't very
happy but old Joey was in really bad shape. Dozens of quills driven
through his tongue and lips, some right through the roof of his mouth
with the points protruding from his face and nose. He was very lucky
that his eyes escaped. We were two days travel from anywhere so there
was nothing for it but to pin him down on the aft deck and pull them all
with pliers. It was a real blood-bath. One good squirt for each quill.
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