It does. You should never hike without one unless you're very, very experienced. All hikers should carry a whistle. It's also good for keeping wildlife away - like bears.
Now, our bears are fucking harmless - unless you're a moron. So, as many people are morons, they should carry a whistle and blow it when they see a bear. You should face the bear and blow your whistle while backing up - after making sure you're not between a mama bear and her cub. If that's the case, you should blow the whistle and move in a different direction while still facing the bear.
We have black bears. They might get to be 300 pounds. They're fucking harmless.
And, I figured you were probably still not feeling all that well. So, I figured I'd open the thread. It took me a minute to find a track that hadn't been heard (at all? for a long time? - I didn't check the archives), but I found something and I'm ready to open the thread.
We have black bears here too. I don't see them by my house too often but they have been seen in the area at times. They are mostly up in the northwoods.
They like dumpsters, trash barrels, and dumps.
That's pretty much a smorgasbord for them. You won't see a bear in all probability. They hide well, hate human interaction, and will run away rather than hurt anyone. They're harmless and have a brilliant sense of smell, so they know you're there unless you're downwind of 'em and spook them.
There is a nature preserve area half a mile down the road with some walking trails and a lot of marshland and they might be some hanging out over there. I know hunters go hunting ducks and deer and other game over there, and when there is a sighting near by it always seems close to the reserve in some direction
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