Let's all be safe: Part 1 :

[eagleyankfan]

Originally Posted by Tommy

Well, in my experiance, black bear attacks are VERY rare, but after 50 years of running up and down streams chasing trout, last year I slipped, broke my ankle, No one around, had to crawl to the road, hours pasted before a cop drove by and called the ambulance, my phone was a mile away in the car,
Lesson, put the phone in something waterproof and carry it. Would have saved me a lot of pain, also some other noise device would have been nice.

Hope that wasn't the only lesson you learned.

[Ryan W]

If you want to kill a tick, the best way to do it is by using two coins to crush it. Simply place the tick between two nickels and rub the nickels together. This is easier than flushing, burning , placing in soap, or any other method.

[tycomps]

excellent info andy, my dog got lyme disease last year and in the span of 8 hours it took a happy healthy lab to death's door. scary stuff!

black bear info: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/bearfacts.htm
snakes and turtles: http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/ensp/fieldguide_herps.htm

[Eskimo]

Originally Posted by tycomps

excellent info andy, my dog got lyme disease last year and in the span of 8 hours it took a happy healthy lab to death's door. scary stuff!

Lyme disease can present itself in people with sudden stroke-like symptoms, too. Scarey stuff.

With the exception of drowning, zoonotic disease is the greatest threat to the health and safety of outdoorsmen in this area. Anything else, such as a a bear attack or getting bit by one of NJ's very few venous snakes are remote possibilities. In contrast, Deer Ticks here in the Northeast infected with Lyme Disease are quite common.

While were on the subject of bears, I would like to share these pics of a Black Bear I took this spring. At first I thought it was a beaver in the water. When my myopic eyes focused on the "beaver" I realized it was a bear in the water swimming past my kayak. I pulled up that anchor so fast, I almost hit myself in the head with it. I put some distance between us, pulled out my camera, and shot these pictures.

[tycomps]

hopefully that was taken at the full zoom of your telephoto, where was this?

[Eskimo]

Originally Posted by tycomps

hopefully that was taken at the full zoom of your telephoto, where was this?

I wasn't that close. I cropped the photos to make them easier to see. This occurred on the Delaware River at 'The Gap'. That river is no barrier to NJ migrating into and out of Pennsylvania.

It appears Lyme Disease is on the increase due to global warming. Not only that, but global warming is allowing new species of ticks such as the Lone Star Tick to migrate North into this area. This tick doesn't carry Lyme, but it has other diseases it can transmit.