Bears vs. Gangstas - which would win?

Last week when I was out of state for work, the customer with whom I was working asked how I was doing in getting used to Alaska. We talked a bit about the climate (love it!) and the geography (varied and interesting) and so forth. One of the things I mentioned was how much nature mingles with the city. What I told her specifically was that the local paper and its website has a prominent, running feature concerning bears - where they have been seen in the city, how you should handle yourself around them, and so on.

Now, we live in Anchorage, the largest city in the state, but there are lots of wide-open spaces all over the town. Moose are often wandering around the streets near where we live. It is not unusual for Art to see some of them hanging out by the highway "Like they are waiting for a bus" as he puts it. I grew up in a very rural area outside of Allentown, PA, so wilderness is not strange to me. But this is surprising - it is much wilder than the wildest places I have been on the East Coast.

Just a few days ago, a girl participating in an all-night bike race was attacked and mauled by a bear. This is not all that unusual of an occurrance. I was telling this client about this, and she said, somewhat wistfully, "That's the kind of scary news you want to hear." I questioned her on this, and she followed up with "Around here, people get shot by gang members."

She has a point. I think I prefer the bears.