syncro vs brown bear

[alaskadan]

Leaving my house this morning got a 1/4 mile down the road and saw a brown butt moving into the bushes. I could tell it wasn't moose cause it was too short. Figuring it was a brownie i kept pace to maybe get glimpse of it as i went by. When i got to about 100yards from the spot three big cubs ran right out into the road. Right after them comes out mama! She was a big sow. She immediately squared up facing me and started to charge. She covered fifty yards really quickly! By that time i had already considered quite a few scenarios and none were good. As i was going for reverse she stopped, paused and took off into the bushes with cubs in tow. Sorry no pics it happened kinda fast!

[scottbott]

brown pants as well I reckon,the smell of fear!!

[NoNameNeeded]

This is why I want a gopro! For the stuff you don't have the time or extra hand to take a picture of.
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[danbar]

I had a bear jump out in front of my car at 2am up in BC years ago. No charge like this but I can say after avoiding dozens of deer in my life nothing compares to almost hitting a bear.
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'88 SCA High/Pop-top Syncro camper
'61 Meyers Manx

[IdahoDoug]

Wow, a mamma bear with cubs is the most fearsome situation! And a grizzly to boot. Yowza.

My faceoff in a vehicle was with a bull moose. I'd just left the scene of a SAR search and turned off a narrow track onto a rough track in my LandCruiser when he strolled out of the bushes. Seeming not to notice me, he immediately squared up with the truck when he did. Amused, I sat there for a second - smug in my steel box. At which point he tossed his head around and started moving toward me from the 40 foot gap. I noticed how big his antlers were, and that his eyes were level with mine all in the same instant. A video of me would have shown the smile drop off my face in an instant as I grabbed for reverse and yelled "No way, no way, no way!"

He made me back up a couple car lengths before losing interest and stopping. Then I honked at him which literally made him flinch, but he just casually moved off the road as if he owned the place. OK, I guess he does
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[Microbusdeluxe]

Years ago we were in Namibia in our 70 bay. We saw another bay in the campground with a 5" diameter hole right in the front all the way through to the inside. Owner told us he got whacked by a rhino. Game warden came by later to warn us that the rhino in question "is a bit agro" so we should be careful when we were out on game drives. Would have loved to see the look on folks face when that horn poked through the front of the bus.
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'89 hightop Westy Joker syncro 16" now with Bostig!

[syncrodoka]

I was dragging my son's "new" syncro home down highway 5 from Portland a few weekends ago at 55 MPH. Around 2 AM I saw a shadow in the roadway and I flashed the high beams to try to figure out if I was getting loopy from driving 19 hours or if there was something in the road. There was in fact a pretty large bear running down the freeway in my lane. He was going with the flow of traffic so I quickly slowed down and switched lanes and straddled the emergency lane to give him a wide berth. The GF was up and witnessed the whole thing and just kept saying "that was a f'n bear " so I know that it definitely happened.
I know those big guys can run fast but seeing it in real life is pretty humbling.

He was probably crossing the road and got spooked by the trailer making noise and started running- lucky for the both of us. There was a bear crossing sign a mile down the road that the GF and I got some good laughs at.

[IdahoDoug]

I was 17 and on my first ever weekend trip with a girlfriend in central Michigan. Meeting her folks at their cabin on Lake Au Sable. My Triumph Spitfire was acting up and the headlamps were dying down to a mere glow. At about midnight we were only a few miles away and I was straddling the centerline of a very small road to stay out of the ditches when I made out a pair of glowing eyes directly ahead. Realizing they were on the centerline too, I screeched to a halt and instantly regretted it as the to top was down and it registered the eyes were about 7 feet off the ground. A large pale horse hove out of the darkness in a full gallop and swept past close enough to easily touch it. We both looked over our shoulders in stunned silence as the hooves beat a mad drumbeat careening off into the distance. Scared the living crap out of me.
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[alaskadan]

Ha , yeah i already have brown upholstery. Wow good stories. I think I'd take the charging brownie vs a rhino! In a car that is, on foot?, I don't know. Seems like if you play dead for a rhino he might just use that as an opportunity to stomp you into the ground. Whereas the bear theoretically will chew on you a little and leave. Hopefully.

[MsTaboo]

One of these days I'm gonna get one of those dash cameras.
Around here you come across animals all the time. Moose, elk, brown bears, grizzlies, big horn sheep, badgers and of course deer by the hundreds.
It's the moose that scare me the most. All that mass poised atop five foot long legs.
I have some photos but none with the van in them, hence the dash cam.
Anyone know of a good brand?
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[IdahoDoug]

I researched these and unsuccessfully bid on a pair on Ebay a few times. But that was a year ago. I bet they're much better now. I understand Garmin has one thats a GPS and also has the camera/dashcam in it. I wanted a model with a front and rear camera to protect us from liability like getting rear ended and having the other driver lie, etc. But it would be great obviously, for animal encounters as well.

Let us know what you come up with - worthy of its own thread I think.

Years ago, my brother was traveling at night on an interstate at 70 or so when an owl lifted off the shoulder carrying a rabbit. It flew directly across in front of him frantically trying to lift its load. In the headlights, the low hanging rabbit peed and then was clipped by his roof just barely. Gross, I know...

DougM
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[joetiger]

I ran over an armadillo in my '79 Rabbit once in Louisiana. I felt it bump up under the floorboard. I stopped the car and looked in the rearview mirror, and it was walking off the road.
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Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
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[Jake de Villiers]

I recently hit a large red tailed hawk that was taking off from the median and only got to mirror height on the van before I hit it at 65 mph.

The bird absolutely demolished the windshield with its last act...
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[JPrato]

I come across red tails flying in my Cessna. I'm careful to keep them off to the side and below. You definitely don't want to go under one. They seem to busy looking down for a meal and don't see me until I'm maybe 100-150 ft away. When they finally look up and spot me they fold their wings and drop like a rock. Hitting one of those guys going 100 mph in flight could very well ruin both our days!
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Joe

87 Syncro Tin Top project
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