Bears in an abandoned mine? Mountain lions in an abandoned mine? I get asked all of the time if I have ever encountered such creatures underground. Until this mine, my answer was always that I had only ever seen bats, rats and bugs underground in the way of wildlife. Well, I can no longer give that answer. Yes, it finally happened. We ran into a bear underground.
At first, I thought it was a very large coyote or someone’s dog as bears are distant relatives of canines and have heads of a similar shape. However, upon examining it more closely, it soon became apparent that we were gazing upon a black bear. The biggest clue is with the massive teeth, but you can also tell by the structure of the skull, the fur, etc. On the way back out, we took a closer look and were able to see the paws with the huge claws, which answered that question once and for all.
Having satisfied that question though, I still have so many more… How did the unfortunate bear end up in an ore chute hundreds of feet back into an abandoned mine? The simplest explanation is that it wandered into one of the upper levels - perhaps looking for a place to hibernate - and fell down a stope or a winze. However, as you’ll see in the videos of the rest of this mine, there aren’t really any easy ways in the upper levels for a bear to have reached a place where it could fall down into this ore chute. In the level above this one, for example, the bear would have to travel in complete darkness for a couple of hundred feet, then descend two ladders, then travel down a drift for a couple of hundred feet, then climb over a large rock pile, then fall down a stope, then make its way across the stope, then make its way down another passage before finally ending up in the ore chute. And that is the easiest and most direct way the bear could have ended up there! Is it possible? Yes, of course. Does it seem likely or simple? No.
And then there is the question of the bear’s demise… As you saw, it was resting in an ore chute with tons of rock on top of it. Was there a collapse up above that swept the bear down with it? Did the bear fall down the ore chute and, as it was falling, sweep out with its paws and pull tons of rock down on top of it? Did the bear fall down the ore chute and then the rock slowly built up on top of it over time? If so, how long has it been there? For its sake, I hope the end was swift and that the bear was not lost and wandering around desperately inside of the mine in search of a way out.
In case you are wondering, I looked it up and there are black bears in Nevada and that is especially the case in the area where this mine is. So, although it was difficult for me to imagine what bears in the desert live on, the presence of the bear in this part of Nevada was not unusual.
I have to say that the discovery of the bear was the highlight of this lowest level (the haulage adit) of the tungsten mine as that is one of the craziest - if not THE craziest - things I have seen underground. However, the upper levels of this mine are actually quite interesting (no more bears though) in their own right and so I would encourage you to check out the rest of this mine in the upcoming videos. I haven’t edited the rest of the footage yet and so I’m not 100% certain if it will be one video or two, but if my estimate of how long I spent underground is accurate, it will likely be two more videos.
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All of these videos are uploaded in HD, so I’d encourage you to adjust your settings to the highest quality if it is not done automatically.
You can see the gear that I use for mine exploring here: bit.ly/2wqcBDD
As well as a small gear update here: bit.ly/2p6Jip6
You can see the full TVR Exploring playlist of abandoned mines here: goo.gl/TEKq9L
Several kind viewers have asked about donating to help cover some of the many expenses associated with exploring these abandoned mines. Inspired by their generosity, I set up a Patreon account. So, if anyone would care to chip in, I’m under TVR Exploring on Patreon.
Thanks for watching!
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Growing up in California’s “Gold Rush Country” made it easy to take all of the history around us for granted. However, abandoned mine sites have a lot working against them - nature, vandals, scrappers and various government agencies… The old prospectors and miners that used to roam our lonely mountains and toil away deep underground are disappearing quickly as well.
These losses finally caught our attention and we felt compelled to make an effort to document as many of the ghost towns and abandoned mines that we could before that colorful niche of our history is gone forever.
I hope you’ll join us on these adventures!
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