I was there that day ... and a few more similar to that an Black bear encounters, and a hurt grizz on the Kasilof River and two young cubs roaming thru my back yardI lived in Cooper Landing and I now live back in Kasilof that often have big sized Grizzlies cross thru or even go for a swim ! I love Bear Country ... Just got to be very careful !

ha ha. A crow sort of landed on my head once before landing on the ground. I had long curly blonde hair back then and thought maybe it wanted me to build its nest.

I almost ran into a big orange jelly fish last night in the bay.

I've been within about 25 yards or so of bears up around Yosemite.

But the funniest closest call was when I was least expecting it. I was backpacking with my li'l bro around Big Basin and I figured it wasn't bear country, so there was no reason to string our food up. We kept some stuff in our tent. In the middle of the night, my brother was crawling around and punching the side of the tent and I heard snorting and couldn't figure out what he was doing and thought that HE had been snorting. I was completely oblivious about the wild boars! It just managed to make a hole in my tent. I never got to see it.

My son got mauled by a wolf I took in from a family that had to move to Guam after 9;11 I had handled sled dogs and unusual breeds of dogs before but this was a challenge. Luna was a 100 pound timber wolf cross/ mexican wolf. She was with us for 18 months before she went to gut him. We went away to a wedding leaving Alaska to New York for two weeks and left her in good hands, any way the point is he did not bring her an offering and their are rituals to get back in the pack i learned later. Luna had to be put down but before that she had given us 5 wolf pup girls 2 got homes and 3 i trained very well. They are the good ambassadors of wolves. Though I will never forget they are ferral brained. Been around wolves for nine years and have many stories to tell !

my hampster bit me

In Alaska I had to put a moose out of its misery, was hit by a car and the driver of the truck left the scene because he had no insurance, before cell phones now you have to call the state Troopers. any way Yes they make an awful sound ! It was so sad she was a big 800 pound moose. also it looked like a bear had attacked her earlier cause her back side was bloody with claw marks, probably trying to defend her calf, oh yeah that was such a sad event in my life. But I did get a little moose steak and donated the rest to the soup kitchen. Road Kill on the menue up here in Alaska ... your 49th state.

Iv'e been chased by angry dogs while our riding my bikes but that was the only "nasty encounters with animals" ive ever had.
My one single encounter with a wild animal was actually very poignant!
I was at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence RI( I hate Zoo's!) on a 95 degree hot summer day in 1985 and they had a beautiful grey timber wolf alone in a fenced pen,his water bowl was overturned next to a water faucet and there was NO shade and this poor animal looked like he was dying of thirst!
Relying on my 40+ years of experience with Dogs(wolves are from the same family,"Canis Lupus") I scaled the enclosure fence,got on my knee's...and crawled to the water spigot,the wolf was just eyeing me,from his corner. I filled his water bowl and then held the bowl out in front of me talking softly to this wolf...he approached me,circled me...and then reached out and lapped the water in the bowl as I held it for him,I took a chance and reached out and gently petted his beautiful head while looking firectly into his beautiful blue eyes! I put the filled water bowl down,told him "I will be back for you my freind" and crawled back over to the fence,by this time two screaming Zookeepers arrived with the Providence Police and they arrested me,as they led me away in cuffs I yelled back to my wolf "I'll be back for YOU". The Judge was pretty lenient in Court,she totally understood why I did what I did! and two weeks later I was back at that horrible ZOO only this time,with the owner of a Wolf Rescue Compound from Maine and four members of the Humane Society. There was MY freind! still in that wretched CAGE with no water! The Wolf Rescue guy took my wolf back with him to Maine and the Zoo lost it's permit to house a wolf on it's premises. as my wolf was being crated for transport,I hugged him and said "this is for the best,you will be free now" he looked into my eyes and then licked MY HAND...and I never saw him again except in photographs of him in his new 2,000 acre free roaming Wolf rescue facility. He died of natural causes 7 years later and the Wolf Rescue sent me his obituary.
If anyone here thinks "Grey Wolves are Vicious" just ask ME!

Jake, you're my hero, man!

Oh - Almost forgot these three:

1.) I was hiking in California with a friend around some rocky cliffs when I smelled something really foul - like dead body foul. I said to my friend, "Whatever we do, we can't go there!" and pointed in the direction the smell was coming from. We hiked around for a while, me mostly worried about rattlers, when we heard a growl. I sounded like it was just a few yards away. We kind of started leaving the area calmly when my friend asked, "What that you?" and I said "No, it's probably a cougar - let's get out of here." and we got to the car and away. I got lucky that day!

2.) I was hiking in Colorado up a steep cliff when I reached my hand out and heard a rattle in the bushes. I didn't see anything but drew my hand back pretty fast. Probably just missed getting it bit by a rattle snake.

3.) I was swimming in the muddy Mississippi River in Wisconsin barefoot - never a good idea - lots of old fishing hooks and broken glass by the river banks, as well as snapping turtles. I stopped swimming and stood up on something that did not feel at all like sand. In fact it kind of felt like I was standing on a turtle's back. I pulled my foot away as fast as I could, while feeling a rushing, snapping thing come up toward me from the water. Probably a snapping turtle, aiming for my toe (which they can remove if you're not careful!)

In Alaska my dogs at times have gotten into porqipines, also we have very mean varmits like wolverine and mink, Owls and Eagles that hunt cats and small dogs. Lynx the wild Alaskan Bobcat ,... Yeah it is very wild up here in the far north.