OK, I did a search on the drop bears... Those spiders and snakes are the real deal. Here in CA we only have to deal with bears and they don't drop from trees; yet... The cougars (some call them mountain lions) can be problematic, rattle snakes and poison oak (which we are fairly resistant to). The best defense is first to have a good dog which we did have for many years but had to put him down in 2013. Second, be aware of where you are and what your doing and finally some double OO buck and a .44mag... I guess in Australia a flame thrower would be useful for those hanging spiders...
We've had our camp ripped up by a black bear (not the more aggressive brown bear) while we were sleeping in a nylon tent. My dog let us know right away as he was throwing a fit. I went out to see what was going on and Tug my lab had already chased the bear off. At the time I didn't know what it was, as it was about 4am and I couldn't see anything. I put on my head light and took a look around, while Tug stood his ground about 50 feet (whats that like 18 meters) away. I first noticed that the ice chest lid was broken off and tossed aside. My first thought was to blame it on the wife... Then I saw the contents in the ice chest ripped apart and floating in muddy water. I then walked over to the table to get a bigger flashlight and that's when I saw the bear prints pressed into the white table cloth... With the big light I was able to search up the hillside and that's when I saw the big glowing eyeballs... One pop from the 12 ga and he took off...
The cougar incident occurred when Lyn and I were cleaning bedrock in a hole we dug. We were down about 6 feet working quietly while Tug slept on the bank above. All of a sudden Tug leaps up snarling and tears down creek. I climbed out of the hole and started down the creek towards Tug where he was viciously holding his ground. When I looked up I saw a big cat about 3 times the size of Tug run up the hillside into the forest. Tug did not let up for another 30 minutes as he worked his way back toward our diggings. I could see nothing, but Tug could see, hear and smell the cougar. This cat stalked us for 30 minutes. Slowly Tug began to calm down to a low rumble and finally went back sleep. That's when we knew the coast was clear. The Cat smelled us and he was working up the creek to where we were working. Had we not had Tug, we would have been ambushed.
So I guess we all need to be careful in the bush. I don't really mind our (CA) risks as most are big and easy to shoot... Those creepy hanging spiders are big as birds and that's where this CA miner has to draw the line.
We've had our camp ripped up by a black bear (not the more aggressive brown bear) while we were sleeping in a nylon tent. My dog let us know right away as he was throwing a fit. I went out to see what was going on and Tug my lab had already chased the bear off. At the time I didn't know what it was, as it was about 4am and I couldn't see anything. I put on my head light and took a look around, while Tug stood his ground about 50 feet (whats that like 18 meters) away. I first noticed that the ice chest lid was broken off and tossed aside. My first thought was to blame it on the wife... Then I saw the contents in the ice chest ripped apart and floating in muddy water. I then walked over to the table to get a bigger flashlight and that's when I saw the bear prints pressed into the white table cloth... With the big light I was able to search up the hillside and that's when I saw the big glowing eyeballs... One pop from the 12 ga and he took off...
The cougar incident occurred when Lyn and I were cleaning bedrock in a hole we dug. We were down about 6 feet working quietly while Tug slept on the bank above. All of a sudden Tug leaps up snarling and tears down creek. I climbed out of the hole and started down the creek towards Tug where he was viciously holding his ground. When I looked up I saw a big cat about 3 times the size of Tug run up the hillside into the forest. Tug did not let up for another 30 minutes as he worked his way back toward our diggings. I could see nothing, but Tug could see, hear and smell the cougar. This cat stalked us for 30 minutes. Slowly Tug began to calm down to a low rumble and finally went back sleep. That's when we knew the coast was clear. The Cat smelled us and he was working up the creek to where we were working. Had we not had Tug, we would have been ambushed.
So I guess we all need to be careful in the bush. I don't really mind our (CA) risks as most are big and easy to shoot... Those creepy hanging spiders are big as birds and that's where this CA miner has to draw the line.
