Possible bear encounter??

[dragoncjo]

I was down in cumberland county yesterday around the millville area. After being in the woods about two hours I came across something which I believe was a bear. In a densely wooded area I heard a noise which was kind of like a hissing, snarl, breathing sound. I whistled and clapped my hands not knowing what the heck it was. Next thing i heard was an animal that was hauling ass. It was a big animal with a heavy sound when its feet were hitting the ground. Once it was done running it once again made the snarling hissing sound, almost like a dog makes after it is done running and is gased, only much louder. Now my question is do deer make noises like this? It really didn't sound like a deer, it sounded like more of a gallop, it sound like a heavy animal with a bigger surface area hitting the ground. To me deer are much more quiet when running due to there tiny hoofs. It was kind of odd, I go to the woods knowing bear might be there, it was just kind of an adrenaline rush seeing one, especially when you were chased by one when you were 12. Here are some pics of things besides bear, that I saw,

Came across this guy while exploring the area where I heard the mystery animal, something scared him in his shell, he was all sealed up when I found him,

Anyone have any idea on this snake skin, found in the water, about 3.5-4 foot, brown black in color with a white belly. Racer I guess?? Not good at Id snake skins.

 

[bobpbx]

A big buck will snort and huff really loud, then run a bit and do it again. Perhaps that was it.

 

[Teegate]

Always enjoy your turtles! I can't help on your questions. Maybe if the snake one was somewhat bigger, others could give you a better idea.

Guy

 

[dragoncjo]

Thanks Guy, yeah turtles are my area of expertise. I'm trying to get better at finding the snakes so hopefully I will get some more pics of them. I found all those box turtles in an hour while it was raining. Rain stopped and no more boxies. Good news is in a very small area I have found 10 adult boxies and one 2-3 year old. Here is a better pic of the snake shed,

 

[snakehunter7]

looks like a black ratsnake skin, because racers dont have white bellies right?

 

[uuglypher]

I
Anyone have any idea on this snake skin, found in the water, about 3.5-4 foot, brown black in color with a white belly. Racer I guess?? Not good at Id snake skins.

Not sure and can't tell for sure. Could even be a northern water snake.

A few hints on checking out a shed skin:

1. size. the length and circumference of a shed skin are markedly greater than that of the snake that shed it (due to the overlapping of scales front-to-back and side-to-side). A 3-foot, six-inch skin could have been shed by a 2-foot 10-inch snake. The folded-under skin at the overlaps stretches out when the skin is shed, thus increasing its dimensions.

2. check if the scales in the back and upper sides are smooth or keeled. Keeled scales have a ridge running the length of their midline. Some snakes have heavily keeled scales ( pine snakes, watersnakes, garters, ground (deKay's), rough greens, rattlers). Some have moderately keeled scales (black rat snakes, corn snakes), and some have smooth scales (racers, kings, milks, smooth greens, scarlets, worm snakes)
Remember - a shed skin is inside-out, so keeled scales wil appear to have a groove down the middle, rather than a ridge.

3. color pattern - although color doesn't show up well on a shed skin, the basic pattern of the melanin (black or dark brown regions) often is obvious. A few months back there was a pic of a shed rattler skin in which the chevron pattern was clearly obvious.

4. number of rows of scales on the underneath side (ventrum) of the tail:
All the so-called "non-venomous" snkes of the pine barrens have two rows of scales from the anus/vent to the tail tip. The only snake in the pine barrens with a single row of ventral tail scales (just like those ahead of the vent) is the rattler.

5. scales on top of the head between the eyes:
the "non-venomous" species have a generally symmetrical arrangement of relatively large, flat scales on the top of the head between the eyes. The rattlers of genus Crotalus (including timbers) have the region between the eyes covered with small, round, closely-packed scales. The ground/pygmy/massasaugua rattlers larger flat scales on the top of the head like most "non-venomous" species.

Probably more than you ever wanted to know about shed skins, but... useful when you find one. The serious herpetologist will carry the identification further - usually to definitive identification of the species or sub-species - with counts of the labial (lip) scales, periocular scales, and scale rows at mid body and counts of the ventral belly and caudal scales.

Dave

 

[grendel]

I have had quite a few black bear encounters in VA,and PA and one Grizzly in Ak. All these bears just took off when they sighted me.I was surprised at how little noise they made in the brush,especially the Grizzly who went off through some real heavy brush. Maybe if you did encounter a bear there was food or cubs involved and the bear was trying to scare you off.

 

[dragoncjo]

thanks dave, very informative stuff. I have seen a couple bears in pa. The one that chased me was a mother with her cub next to a dumpster. Luckily, my dad and I had a 20 yard run back into the hotel, but she got pretty close to me. I really don't want another encounter with a bear to be honest.

 

[wis bang]

Deer snort loudly as a warning to other deer. It's common to hear it just b/4 the oldest doe leaves, tail up, at high speed. It is amazing how loud deer feet can be when running. Bear are much quieter and run quick on all four. Depending on the cover; deer will snort & bolt w/ 2 - 4 deer sounding like a horserace when they run hard.

Last month, while turkey hunting, I had one trying to draw me away from it's young. It would snort & take off but stop in 2 -3 steps trying to make my camoflaged figure move. All I did was make sounds w/ a turkey call till she was 3/4ths of a circle around me & smelled my scent. I saw one fawn shortly after & walked away...

It's a real nasal snort sounds like a horse blowing it's nose...

 

[dragoncjo]

I guess they were deer then. My initial reaction was it sound like a horse galloping. Also there was a ton of scat a little further down where I found alot of box turtles. You can see the scat in one of the pics next to a box turtle. I was thinking bear based on the sound and the snorting. Not real familar with deer sounds, but I guess this was just a bunch of deer that I scared the hell out of. Thanks for clarifying that.