Date:         Thu, 19 Aug 2004 01:31:19 -0400
Reply-To:     Cory Sammons <slagskot@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Cory Sammons <slagskot@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: bears burgling for food?
In-Reply-To:  <opscyh73mx8e4rwi@smtp.wshost.net>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"

On 8/18/04 9:53 PM, "Leon" <korkwood@WSHOST.NET> wrote:

> having frequently camped in Sierras the problems are usualy limited to
> places with high concentration of visitors like Yosemite and Sequoia NP
> etc. I spend more time in much less visited (but just as beautiful to me)
> places and bears are wild there, never bothering people.

What we have to keep in mind is that bears are extremely smart creatures
One reason the hanging food method is not recommended in yosemite is that
some of the bears have figured out how to pull food bags down using the
ropes that are tied to them.  There are even reports of mother bears sending
their cubs out to get at food bags that are on smaller limbs that would not
hold an adult bears weight.
The point is that they are smart and they learn quickly.  One reason they
are such a big problem in Yosemite is that they have learned to associate
coolers and cars with food because so many people have been sloppy about
storage.  So if you are in a less frequented area where bears have not
learned to associate cars with food, and you are diligent about storing your
food properly, you are not very likely to have a problem.
This is definitely a case where one irresponsible person can ruin things for
everyone.  As soon a bear does make the association it will probably
continue to try to get into cars and coolers etc. and will then have to be
relocated or destroyed.
As for food in tents, I think you have to be nuts.  In the backcountry you
should even cook a distance away from your tent and in heavy bear areas, you
may even want to remove the clothes you cook in and put them with the food.
Its interesting that when I was on safari in africa and we slept in little
canvas army tents, the guide said that hyenas and lions would not attack the
tents because they see them as inanimate objects - like big funny rocks -
and donšt really understand that there might be food inside (fortunately)!
He even put the bones from our dinner around the tents one night
(unbeknownst to us) and the hyenas came, took the bones and sniffed the
tents (horrible breath!) but never made any effort to tear through them.  I
think bears are just smarter than this and will rip through a tent in a
second.

A couple of final thoughts - I would think that if a bear were messing with
your van while you were in it, you could probably scare the s**t out of it
by simply starting the engine (assuming you have properly cleaned and
connected all of the ground wires in the past week and your swiss army knife
key chain hasn't destroyed your ignition switch)
Also, check the regulations where you are camping - some campgrounds
consider Westys to be vehicles with the tops down, but tents with them up.
Remember, a large bear on its hind legs can reach over 10', plenty high
enough to tear up your canvas
My 25 cents