Our neighbor in Terrell County captured a bear on video, this summer, south of hwy 90, east of Dryden and west of Langtry.
Sent cellularly. -Don > On Jan 5, 2014, at 8:17 PM, John Greer <[email protected]> wrote: > > Jerry -- I'll send this to the whole list since some people might be vaguely > interested (a couple have written me for various details, or lack thereof). > > Litter Barrel is south of the hwy, about 200 yds or so east of the > somewhat-less-than-friendly Border Patrol stop. Not only is the litter barrel > gone but also the stile over the fence (which now has been rebuilt). I wanted > to walk over there recently (for a number of reasons) but was encouraged that > I should move on -- I might not be shot. Best now to get permission from the > landowner (Whitehead?) and go in through the wire gate and two-track about > 1/4 to 1/2 mile or so to the east, go up to the windmill and around the hill, > then west somehow up to the cave, which now is in rather dense brush (as I > observed only from the hwy). > > If anyone actually gets out there, will you please have them give me the > contact details (and utm), because I want to get back to collect small soil > samples from the midden (again!) by the entrance and stratified deposits in > the main room (if the hole is still open) for AMS dates -- which I bet are > all probably around 1300 ad. The same is true for Airport Cave (Comstock) > where we found (long ago!) a Late Prehistoric chipping station with a ton of > super-thin high-quality flakes and some arrowpoints back in a narrow side > passage far inside the cave (I was much skinnier then, but a large part of my > back is still on the wall going through the crevice, I'm sure). I have been > told that the crevice is now filled with mud, but I'd like to know for sure. > > As an aside -- one of the last times I went into Litter Barrel, I was sliding > down under the entrance ledge on my back, with my chest against the ledge, > and up beside my left ear (maybe 4" away) came this 6' rattlesnake calmly > exiting the cave. She was clearly nearly as big around as my neck. I just > laid there, unable to run for the toilet paper on what I was sure was my > final trip to heaven. It all came out okay, but the adrenalin was certainly > active. > > In case I don't get to it (probably): > Central TX: We found bear remains (bones) in several rockshelters and shallow > caves (maybe 4-5) that I now cannot remember the locations of. I am positive > I made notes on several (which also contained archeological materials), but > at this point I have no idea where the notes may be (probably in the TARL > files at Balcones). I will surely forward them to TSS if they turn up. I > remember bones (mandible, partial skull, long bones) in a small shelter > southwest of Austin, probably not Onion Creek, but somewhere near there > (presumably Travis or Hays Co.). Also others in a couple of shelters in the > general Pedernales-Lick Creek area, the general area northwest of West Caves > (the preserve) -- an area of profuse rockshelters and crevice caves. There > were others, but in those days of general survey, we were not interested in > every bear bone we ran across, a common attitude -- we are all interested in > what we are interested in, and little else, and we simply look at it, > remember it for a while, and then forget the whole thing! I have no specific > site locations that can be plotted. I have lots of bear encounter stories, > but none from central TX. One thing to look for however (from a site we found > a couple of years ago in Wyoming) are bear scratches on cave walls made by > Indians scratching with a detached bear paw -- the only site we have seen has > the scratches forming a patterned design (which would take a whole paragraph > to describe). Cavers should look for such occurrences, which will be > different from normal animal scratches (including bears and giant ground > sloths, both of which occur in caves). > > Devils: According lots of old-timers there used to be lots of bears on the > upper part of the main river, say from Baker's Crossing north to Pecan > Springs. An old German trapper used to live west of Pecan Springs (before he > was murdered by a couple of no-goods from Langtry), and he used to kill bears > all up around there sometime around 1900 (prob. 1887-1920). I have a > photograph of a bear killed by Dave Baker probably in the 1920s-30s just up > northwest of Baker's Crossing (he lived in the big house by the crossing). In > essentially the same area is a small cave probably a half mile above (north > of) the crossing and a mile east of the river, located in the bottom of the > canyon and used for years as a bear den in the early days -- Dave Baker came > to the country about 1882 or so, and it was an active den at that time. Part > of the small shallow cave had been walled up slightly with dry-laid rocks and > when opened by the early ranchers was found to contain an old Spanish saddle, > presumably left by Indians. When I visited the cave (early to mid 1960s) > there was still bear hair and scat in the back of the shelter-like cave. > There are lots of small caves in that same area with relatively long very > narrow passages used by javelinas, and probably in the past by bears, but I > have not noted any evidence of associated bear use. > > Also in the mid 1960s I observed a black bear on the Rio Grande, probably 4-5 > miles above the mouth of the Pecos (and across from Ocotillo Cave, 48VV188, a > rockshelter that we excavated). He was ambling across the cane-covered vega > on the Mexican side. I have not seen any bear scratches or bear bones in real > caves in the area. > > I once did an article (which Ron Ralph can look up if anyone is interested) > in The Artifact (El Paso Archaeological Society) that discussed early fauna > in Val Verde County. I don't remember what I included on bears (or eagles), > if anything, but I did mention the last bison bull on the divide just west of > the Pecos River, about even with the railroad bridge (for those who used to > practice illegal rappelling). > jg > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Jerry > To: [email protected] > Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2014 4:59 PM > Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Facebook news (and bears) > > Hi John, > > Personally, I'm very interested in your bear observations for Central Texas > and especially the Devils River area. Anything you might want to share will > be put into the TSS database. > > Also, if you remember the location of Litter Barrel Cave in Val Verde County, > we still don't have a good location on it as the road was widened some years > ago and the litter barrel went away. > > Thanks ! > > Jerry Atkinson > Texas Speleological Survey
