Bulls versus Bears

Berkeley, Monday, June 12, 2026 10:18 PM

A way of procrastination :(

Grizzly bears were once present in the East Bay.

Of course, now we have several creeks in culverts. Unlikely, there is steelhead trout in several of them or coho salmon. Thus, if around 300 hundred years ago, people wanted to hunt them, likely they did not want to extinct them though. I truly believe that hunting or fishing want what they have hunt alive. So, duck hunters for instance were great for wetland restoration. Those are outdoor people.

I focused in something else, so I might have lost the train of thought in the argument, but damaging the environment and creeks likely had a huger impact on wiping out the grizzly bears from the east bay. Who knows the exact time line? Another topic I would need to learn more about.

I am also curious from where are the bulls or oxen native? And if so, I continue to be impressed by the navigation and loading skills of the early explores. I know that nearby here in the Port of Oakland (Encinal) cargo shipping is a common day by day activity. I am not so familiar with the navigating world, and shipping industry history through water. Particularly, shipping of bulls and horses, if that was the case at some point. Of course, until you start reproducing them in your rancho or coordinating with nearby ranchos.

Folks always have had an audacity for som odd sports, where risk might be reward. There are those stories that in the East Bay and in San Francisco, folks organized a rodeo like style to make a bull fight against a grizzly bear.

Not sure about the timeline, but this might have happened even 200 years ago. So, it is not too old story. I need to find the folks who might have learned or know about those stories from generation to generation.